Product Description

Michael Tolliver, the sweet-spirited Southerner in Armistead Maupin's classic "Tales of the City" series, is arguably the most beloved gay character in fiction. Now, almost twenty years after ending his groundbreaking saga of San Francisco life, Maupin revisits his all-too-human hero, letting the 55-year-old gardener tell his story in his own voice. Having survived the plague that took so many of his friends and lovers, Michael has learned to embrace the random pleasures of life, the tender alliances that sustain him in the hardest of times, "Michael Tolliver Lives" follows its protagonist as he finds love with a younger man, attends to his dying fundamentalist mother in Florida, and finally reaffirms his allegiance to a wise octogenarian who was once his landlady. While Maupin insists that this book is not, strictly speaking, a continuation of "Tales of the City", a reassuring number of familiar faces appear along the way. As usual, the author's mordant wit and ear for pitch-perfect dialogue serve every aspect of the story - from the bawdy to the bittersweet. "Michael Tolliver Lives" is a novel about the act of growing older joyfully and the everyday miracles that somehow make that possible.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #82880 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Review
The central figure in Tales of the City returns two decades later and brings us up to date on most of the popular series' other characters as well.Michael is now 55 and HIV-positive, but his meds keep him healthy, along with shots of testosterone administered by 33-year-old live-in boyfriend Ben, who thinks older men are hot. They even got married at City Hall, though of course Michael's born-again mother, brother and sister-in-law down in Florida flinch every time he refers to Ben as his husband. Fortunately, he's still got the emotional support of former landlady Anna Madrigal, now 85 and in fragile health, and straight pal Brian Hawkins, sole owner of the nursery they founded together. (Back when Michael thought he was going to die, he decided he'd rather plant gardens.) Brian's ex Mary Ann, a fellow alum of 28 Barbary Lane, long ago decamped for Connecticut and a stockbroker husband, but their daughter Shawna carries on the San Francisco bohemian tradition as a cheerfully bisexual blogger who chronicles "her escapades in the pansexual wonderland." So things are good and not so very different from the old days on Barbary Lane as Maupin brings his characters into middle age with his customary blend of ready humor, frank sex scenes (that always seem kind of sweet) and unrepentant antagonism toward the red-state Americans who hate Michael and his kind. Those folks include Michael's biological family. Michael's mother, meanwhile, is dying of emphysema, and Michael, who's faced his own mortality, as well as that of lovers and friends, must now grapple with an impending death that connects him to people with whom he otherwise has nothing in common. Michael's detested father, though dead for many years, provides a startling final plot twist that enables Michael to make tentative peace with brother Irwin, and Anna's heart attack prompts Michael to declare allegiance to his true family. Thirty years later, he's still proud of the life he's made and the city that made it possible.Rueful but never regretful, warmhearted and witty: a treat for Maupin's many fans. (Kirkus Reviews)

Synopsis
Michael Tolliver, the sweet-spirited Southerner in Armistead Maupin's classic "Tales of the City" series, is arguably the most beloved gay character in fiction. Now, almost twenty years after ending his groundbreaking saga of San Francisco life, Maupin revisits his all-too-human hero, letting the 55-year-old gardener tell his story in his own voice. Having survived the plague that took so many of his friends and lovers, Michael has learned to embrace the random pleasures of life, the tender alliances that sustain him in the hardest of times, "Michael Tolliver Lives" follows its protagonist as he finds love with a younger man, attends to his dying fundamentalist mother in Florida, and finally reaffirms his allegiance to a wise octogenarian who was once his landlady. While Maupin insists that this book is not, strictly speaking, a continuation of "Tales of the City", a reassuring number of familiar faces appear along the way. As usual, the author's mordant wit and ear for pitch-perfect dialogue serve every aspect of the story - from the bawdy to the bittersweet.

"Michael Tolliver Lives" is a novel about the act of growing older joyfully and the everyday miracles that somehow make that possible.

From the Inside Flap
Michael Tolliver, the sweet-spirited Southerner in Armistead Maupin’s classic Tales of the City series, is arguably the most beloved gay character in fiction. Now, almost twenty years after ending his groundbreaking saga of San Francisco life, Maupin revisits his all-too-human hero, letting the 55-year-old gardener tell his story in his own voice.

Having survived the plague that took so many of his friends and lovers, Michael has learned to embrace the random pleasures of life, the tender alliances that sustain him in the hardest of times. Michael Tolliver Lives follows its protagonist as he finds love with a younger man, attends to his dying fundamentalist mother in Florida, and finally reaffirms his allegiance to a wise octogenarian who was once his landlady.

While Maupin insists that this book is not, strictly speaking, a continuation of Tales of the City, a reassuring number of familiar faces appear along the way. As usual, the author’s mordant wit and ear for pitch-perfect dialogue serve every aspect of the story – from the bawdy to the bittersweet. Michael Tolliver Lives is a novel about the art of growing older joyfully and the everyday miracles that somehow make that possible.

Customer Reviews

A long time coming but well worth the wait
Tales of the City are my favourite series of books ever, in the whole world. Maupin takes an excruciatingly long time to write novels and this is only his third since he 'ended' the Tales of The City series all those years ago. Luckily for us, he felt the need to update us on the doings of Michael Tolliver, or Mouse as he is affectionately known in the books. It is no good starting this book if you've never read the others, as the story and characters are as comfortable as an old pair of slippers and you really need to know the back plot to make sense of it. In the first few books, the plot line was often enough to carry you through not being familiar with the characters, but here we are just catching up with old friends and tying up some loose ends. Despite this if you like, 'lack of action', Maupin still has all the characteristics that make him such an excellent writer, compassion, love and tolerance, along with the ability to create wonderful characters and a thoroughly believeable world. It was worth the wait.

Trip down memory lane!
I, too, bought this book and then put it on the shelf for a few weeks. I was afraid that it wouldn't do justice to my memories of Tales Of The City. Then one night I picked it up and read it, cover to cover, in 4 hours. The minute I started to read, Michael had a voice. I could hear it in my head - the voice of Marcus D'Amico, who played Mouse in the original mini series. He was my narrator through the entire book and it was wonderful to pick up the threads from years ago. Granted, some of those threads were tied off quite quickly and set aside. I would have liked for this to be more of a continuation of the earlier books. But on its own merits, it's still a great read and past Tales fans should be glad to see it. I hear there may be another book in the works. I hope so!

Tying up the loose ends
For me this is definitely a new Tales of the City book. Maupin writes with his usually flowing and easy to read style, concentrating on the late middle aged Michael Tolliver and the aging Anna Madrigal.

Though the Mouse Tolliver of earlier books seems to have morphed into Maupin himself more than I would have liked, the plots surrounding the characters are bound to change as their increasing age dictates. For me that is one of the stronger points of the book - Maupin manages to let us know what's been happening with all the characters from the earlier books in the intervening years without needing to go into details or to deviate away from this books central plots. Where other reviewers found that a rush job, I found it a neat tying up of loose ends.