Back to Barbary Lane: The Final Tales of the City Omnibus [Hardcover]

Armistead Maupin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 1991

"An old fashioned pleasure... there's been nothing like it since the heyday of the serial novel 100 years ago... Tearing through [the tales] one after the other, as I did, allows instant gratification; it also lets you appreciate how masterfully they're constructed. No matter what Maupin writes next, he can look back on the rare achievement of having built a little world and made it run."
--Walter Kendrick, Village Voice Literary Supplement

By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Armistead Maupin's bestselling Tales of the City series stands as an incomparable blend of great storytelling and incisive social commentary. These six classic comedies, some of which originally appeared as serials in San Francisco newspapers, have won Maupin critical acclaim around the world and enthralled legions of devoted fans.

Back to Barbary Lane comprises the second trilogy of the series--Babycakes (1984), Significant Others (1987), and Sure of You (1989) -- concluding the saga of the tenants, past and present, of Mrs. Madrigal's beloved apartment house on Russian Hill. While the first trilogy celebrated the carefree excesses of the seventies, this volume tracks its hapless, all-to-human cast across a decade troubled by plague, deceit and overweening ambition.

Like its companion volume, 28 Barbary Lane, Back to Barbary Lane is distinguished by what The Guardian of London has called "some of the sharpest and most speakable dialogue you are ever likely to read." It promises hours of literate entertainment for readers old and new.

With a foreword by the author.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Armistead Maupin's other novels are Maybe the Moon (1992) and The Night Listener (2000). His Tales novels first appeared as daily serials in San Francisco newspapers, starting in 1976. Tales of the City became a controversial but highly acclaimed miniseries on PBS in 1994, followed by More Tales of the City on Showtime in 1998. Maupin wrote the narration for the HBO documentary The Celluloid Closet. As a librettist he collaborated in 1999 with composer Jake Heggie on "Anna Madrigal Remembers" for mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade and the classical vocal ensemble, Chanticleer.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 720 pages
• Publisher: Harper; First Edition edition (November 26, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060166495
• ISBN-13: 978-0060166496
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.7 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #417,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect ending..., January 28, 2002

By 

Brian Devinney (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Back to Barbary Lane: The Final Tales of the City Omnibus (Hardcover)

When I moved to NYC and was, for the most part, broke, I would spend hours in Lincoln Center Barnes and Noble reading books to pass my time. I spent one glorious weekend with my new friends at Barbary Lane relishing in their adventures and crying at their personal pain and anguish. When I was a bit richer, I scraped together what money I could and bought the full anthology. These are true rich characters that you find yourself revisiting at least once a year at their wonderful home with perhaps the most divine landlady in existence. Even now on my umpteenth reread, I still find myself crying at the start of the fourth book (and trust me you will too) and hating Mary Ann by the end of the sixth book (hard to believe but she is one vicious woman). Even after finishing the sixth book, I do wonder about the live of my favorite Russian Hill residents and what they're up to....and I'm sure you will as well.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Oh god, the 80's, April 7, 2003

By 

tmp "snippy reviewer" (Solar System, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Back to Barbary Lane: The Final Tales of the City Omnibus (Hardcover)

I read the each of the 3 "Tales" books when as were published, wishing that I could be old enough to run away to San Francisco to live the wonderful, zany life on Barbary Lane. The final three books are excellent, but not as easy to read. Armistead Maupin is a writer, not a panderer. He doesn't give us necessarily what we want: he gives us an acurate account of the times. The characters that we grew to love suffer the fates that real people do in their adulthood. Marriages crumble, lovers die, friends drift apart. While we might hate Maupin for reflecting a reality that we wish were'nt true (and boy, I hated him for "Sure of You"), you have to give him his due.

These are excellent books- true must reads. But keep a stiff drink and a lot of kleenex handy.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Set of books - required reading for all, January 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Back to Barbary Lane: The Final Tales of the City Omnibus (Hardcover)

Once I read the first book I knew that I would have to read the whole set as soon as possible - they are my favourite books of all time - the writing, characters are so real - you feel that you are living there with them in Barbary Lane. The books have the ability to take you through the whole spectrum of human emotions and you actually care about the characters and what happens to them and how they will end up. It doesn't matter if you are gay or straight these books would appeal to all. The effect on me of these books were profound - they set me on a journey of self discovery and a love of reading - they will do that for any of their future readers.