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Michael Tolliver Lives (Tales of the City)
 
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Michael Tolliver Lives (Tales of the City) (Paperback)

by Armistead Maupin (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Michael Tolliver Lives (Tales of the City) + Sure of You: Tales of the City Sequence, Volume 6 + Significant Others: Tales of the City Sequence, Volume 5
Price For All Three: £16.95

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Product details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Black Swan (2 Jun 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0552772933
  • ISBN-13: 978-0552772938
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 46,810 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #8 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Maupin, Armistead

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Product Description

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.


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

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Michael Tolliver Lives (Tales of the City)
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Significant Others: Tales of the City Sequence, Volume 5
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Sure of You: Tales of the City Sequence, Volume 6
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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Growing old disgracefully, 23 Jun 2008
By Stewart Baxter (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Hmm. How can I put this?, 22 Jun 2008
By sam155 (Wales) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)      
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.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The return of Micheal Mouse, 29 Jul 2008
By Tealady2000 (Edinburgh) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
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).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Flawed but immensely likeable
Avid readers of the original Tales of the City are bound to be at once tempted and hesitant about this somewhat belated revisit to Armistead Maupin's San Francisco. Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Butterfield

5.0 out of 5 stars A big star in a small venue
An intriguing and heartwarming study written from the perspective of a character that has featured, but not starred, in many of Maupin's books, this is the charming tale of... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Daniel Park

4.0 out of 5 stars Light reading
Like most people, I loved Tales of the City but, for some reason, I missed this book when it first came out a couple of years ago. Read more
Published 5 months ago by viciousidol

5.0 out of 5 stars Still on Form
Could this book live up to the wonderful Tales of the City series? I approached it half-expecting a let-down. Read more
Published 13 months ago by R. Haines

5.0 out of 5 stars Just when i thought all was lost
I stumbled upon this accidentally about 2 years after i had read the "Tales of the City" series and it was like bumping in to an old friend! Read more
Published 15 months ago by J. C. Murray

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to the city!
As a novel its quite a good story and well written but the key success for me was I found I was visiting friends again that I didn't know I'd missed so much. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Philip Thompson

5.0 out of 5 stars Alive and Kicking!
Michael Tolliver is (as the title rather clearly suggests) alive and kicking. Those who thought they would never see him again and imagined him succumbing to AIDS are in for a... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Ford Ka

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