Tales of the City #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, and #6 by Armistead Maupin

Amy  


Tales of the City         
More Tales of the City 
Further Tales of the City               
Babycakes                 
Significant Others     
                                             Sure of You               



fiction

Tales of the City is a short novel about several people living in San Francisco in 1976.  It showcases the pre-AIDS culture of sexual freedom of the time and is, really, just a soap opera.  However, it is populated with lovable characters all struggling in one way or another. They make the novel enjoyable.  And many of them cross paths in unusual ways.  I can imagine it would have been fun in the format it was originally published, as a San Francisco Chronicle series by Armistead Maupin in the 1970s. 

This novel came to my attention as one of the Great American Reads novels and sounded interesting.  I’m glad I read it and will likely read at least one more in the series.  I thought it was good but think I would have enjoyed it more if I’d read it closer to the ‘70s and as a younger person.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by the talented Frances McDormand who is one of the few Triple Crown actors (winning two Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award).  As you can imagine, her acting was terrific.  However, I would not give her awards for her narration.  She does not have enough different voices in her arsenal and speaks very quickly much of the time. This makes it difficult to understand who is speaking during the conversations between characters—particularly when one or both of the characters are male. She does a better job differentiating female voices, but still not terrific.  Therefore, since her narration specifically caused consternation several times, I give her a B-.  Sorry Frances but outstanding audiobook narration requires a specific set of skills aside from acting ability.

The sequel, More Tales of the City, continues the stories of the characters we met in Tales of the City and picks up where the first novel left off.  We meet a few new characters who are as enjoyable as the original characters. This novel was better than the original.  The juice was juicier. The mysteries were more mysterious.  The fun was more fun.  If you liked the first novel, I’m quite sure you’ll like this one. I’ll definitely read the next one.

This installment was narrated by Cynthia Nixon. She did a great job with some unique female voices. However, her male voices were not as distinguishable. Her voice acting was terrific.  I give her an A-.

Further Tales of the City, the third installment in the Tales of the City series, continues the stories of the characters we know and love, picking up a few years after the second novel left off.  As before, we meet a few new characters and even get a fictional look into the lives of two well-known American individuals, Rock Hudson and Jim Jones. This one had the most structured plot so far.  However, it was extremely far-fetched, too coincidental, and overly convenient.  Yet, I continue to want to read more of the series. I’d like to know what happens to the characters.

This sequel, like the first novel, was narrated by Frances McDormand. She was better in this one so that I could distinguish different characters during a conversation.  But she still doesn’t have a lot of unique voices. I’ll give her a B+ for this one.

Babycakes starts 2 years after the third novel.  While the soap opera continued,

it felt wrong right off the bat.  There were overly descriptive sections which were boring. If I had been reading myself instead of listening to an audiobook I would have skimmed.  Several of our favorite fun characters were not much fun and put themselves in difficult spots and/or made poor decisions. It was also a heavier novel with the AIDS epidemic finally in the picture. Sadly, the storylines were all pretty ho-hum.  I’m disappointed in this sequel. I think I'll take a break and then probably try another sequel to see how things turn out with the characters eventually.

The audiobook was narrated by the amazing Alan Cumming and I had high hopes.  Instead, his nasal voice was gross at times. Several of his women’s voices were deeper than the male voices. His voice acting was mostly good but it couldn’t make the story seem more interesting.  Additionally, his treatment of a few of the beloved characters wasn’t in line with the treatment given by previous narrators which was frustrating and enhanced the unfortunate feeling that they had new personalities in this novel. I’ll give him a B+.

Significant Others is another fun installment. Life throws some curve balls at our beloved characters. There is not much new to say about the series. 

Cynthia Nixon narrated and, as with #2, did a great job.











Sure of You was supposed to be the final novel in this series so it served to close

the story arcs of the characters.  It reached its goal but was pretty boring and vilified one of the main characters which didn't make me happy. Of course, I'll read the next one.

The narrator, Eric McCormack, was the best one I've heard for this series. He was terrific! He lad lots of character voices and wonderful voice acting. Bravo! A+!