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: #27291 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From the Back Cover
Michael ‘Mouse’ Tolliver, the sweet-spirited Southerner in Armistead Maupin’s classic Tales of the City series, is back. Now a fifty-five-year-old gardener, he brings the groundbreaking saga of San Francisco life up to date.

Having survived the plague that took so many of his friends and lovers, Michael Tolliver has learned to embrace the random pleasures of life, the tender alliances that sustain him in the hardest of times. While he has found love with a younger man, he must attend to the harsher realities around him: his dying fundamentalist mother in Florida, and those whose lives have not unfolded so happily. And in so doing, he finally reaffirms his allegiance to a wise octogenarian who was once his landlady.

With mordant wit and an ear for pitch-perfect dialogue from the bawdy to the bittersweet, Michael Tolliver Lives reveals the art of growing older joyfully and the everyday miracles that somehow make that possible.

‘Maupin remains a great storyteller, a magnificently unrepentant liberal, and a wise, witty observer of the differences which make us human’
Sunday Telegraph

‘More than enough charm, wit and pathos to keep even a Maupin virgin enthralled…The echoes of the previous novels will send them scurrying back to discover what they’ve been missing’
Independent

‘Anyone who enjoyed [Maupin’s] earlier books will welcome this opportunity for a return trip to its setting…Has the warmth of a reunion long overdue’
New York Times

About the Author
Armistead Maupin is the author of Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others, Sure of You, Maybe the Moon and The Night Listener. Three television miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney were made from the first three Tales novels. The Night Listener became a feature film starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette. Maupin lives in San Francisco with his husband, Christopher Turner. For more information on Armistead Maupin and his books, see his website at www.armisteadmaupin.com

Customer Reviews

Growing old disgracefully
How we'ver missed both Mr Maupin's writing and his wonderful creation, Michael "Mouse" Tolliver! A return to form made me quickly realise the strengths in Armistead Maupin's writing: the quirky scenarios, the real characters of every human hue except "normal" - whatever that is - the laid back, humourous style and the simple laugh out loud one liners sneaked into the dialogue here and there. Mr Tolliver is now older and more thoughtful, but still retains his values, beliefs and unique style, surrounding himself with real friends, a new partner - and all their problems - to support him through life, and challenging the American perspective that family is everything. In fact Michael's family is a bit of a nightmare and he's successfully managed to move on from them. There are also overt challenges to the loony-fringe christian elements, a helpful different perspective in my view given their damaging influence on US politics. Utterly readable and frank, I do hope Mr Maupin allows us to share more of Michael Tolliver growing old disgracefully!

Hmm. How can I put this?
In my eyes Armistead Maupin can do no wrong. Or so I thought. I have loved his Tales of The City books and come back to them over and over as classics and favourites. However, delighted as I was when I saw a sequel had been written, I couldn't help feeling a few things were different. Obviously the single first person narrative is a chnage from the multi stranded stories in TOTC but that needn't necessarily detract from the book. I think what made me ever so slightly uncomfortable was, dare I say it, what can only be described as self indulgence. There felt to me as if there was more author than character in Michael Tolliver at times. There was far too much detail about his marriage. I know that sounds odd, this being about a happily married man and that man being the main protaginist, but bear with me. I just found the sex scene a little too much to bear, as if I was watching when I shouldn't have been. I am no prude, otherwise why would I be such a fan of TOTC? I just felt like it was an intimacy I didn't need to share quite so graphically and in quite so much depth. After all, I get that they are happily married. I got it long before the sex scene. My friends know I am happily married, but I don't give them a long and detailed account of our sex life.

The other thing that bothered me slightly was the heavy handedness in which Maupin makes his points. In the book, Michael argues with his fundamendal Christian brother and sister in law. Whilst I agree with his points of pro-tolerance and his anti-hypocrisy stance, it sounded a bit preachy. After all, it is doubtful that this book is being read by intolerant religious fundamentalists. Its preaching to the converted.

I also felt that I wanted more detail about all the Barbary Lane crew, rather than skimming in a handful of paragraphs over halfway in. I was thrilled there were lots of Mrs Madrigal scenes though, and touched by the scenes between Brian and his daughter. Once again, the descriptions of San Francisco are like a poetic love letter, and the city is very much a character itself.

Not much happens, but not much needs to, if you are a fan like me, you just like being immersed in the TOTC world as you are in this book. Overall, I loved the company of these much loved characters, but felt it was almost an autobiography (we know AM has a a younger husband- does he need to keep talking about it through his novel?), and the arguments, though valid, were stodgy and heavy handed. There is still a vein of humour and lightness throughout though, and overall, I did enjoy reading it. Like life itself, everyone is older, wiser and sadder, but still essentially, themselves and making the best of this bittersweet life.

The return of Micheal Mouse
Fans of Armistead Maupin's 'Tales of the City' will be eager to find out what became of Michael Tolliver and the rest of the crazy characters from San Francisco. This book is quite a departure from the TotC series because it is written in the first person and therefore we really hear Michael's voice for the first time (although to be honest I wasn't sure if I was hearing Michael's voice, or just the author's, since their lives seem to share many similarities). Furthermore this book is mostly about Michael - there are just brief updates on the others (only Anna, Brian and Shawna play much of a part). Nevertheless this is an easy, fun read, outrageously rude in places and absolutely hilarious in others. If you haven't read any of the Tales of the City series, you're better off starting with those (and you're in for a treat).