Customer Reviews

Michael Tolliver Lives (P.S.)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Michael Tolliver Lives" is essentially about a miracle. That HIV-inflicted Michael is still alive after twenty years, not to mention being happy and productive, is reason enough to celebrate. I've always admired Maupin's literate humor and crisp characterizations, and even with his newly elegiac tone, the novel is upbeat and daring. Anna Madrigal is still lovingly depicted as the engaging, eccentric "logical" mother, and we're sad when she begins her inevitable decline. Though very much of another era, the old "Tales of the City" gang unites with its eye on the future. This is done with deceptive ease. A new era is previewed while not quite slamming the door on the old one. Michael Tolliver lives, and so do his cohorts. That bodes well for Maupin devotees as well!

Yes, Michael is different than he was back in the day but aren't we all? This book was sweet and funny and reminded me why I love Armistead Maupin so much. I hope that some of the people writing the critical reviews do not expect to be the same as they grow older. We all evolve--it is what is wonderful about life.

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 pleasant surprise. Michael copes perfectly well with the virus and he finds out that life still has a lot of surprises in stock for him.
Let's start with Ben a boyfriend for whom a partner some years senior is a major turn on. And to whom Michael is now officially married. He still has friends (though some live quite far away) and a thriving social life including... senior but by no means senile Anna Madrigal.
But the book is not only about care-free middle age and the joys of being gay in San Francisco. Maupin quite skilfully (we know he can do it, don't we?) introduces several more sombre and serious subjects, the most important of which is coping with the loss of the near and dear. He does it so cunningly that giving any details would be a terrible spoiler so just stop reading this and get the book!

I know it's cliche; but I laughed, I cried, I finished this book within 24 hours (if not for work, I would have read this in one setting.) There are some truly magical reasons for living in SF, and Mr. Maupin not only embodies these ideas, but he's able to write, share, and remind us what they are. He's able to remind us what family really means, how we all have to take the good with bad, and evolve. Thank you Mr. Maupin!

This was a real romp down memory lane, and I really enjoyed it. Having lived in San Francisco when "Tales of the City" was being written, I have always enjoyed the series. However, after the first couple of books the plot line became too far fetched for me. Reading "Michael Tolliver Lives", brought back so many places and events that I hadn't thought about in years. As I continued reading, I felt like I was back in 'The City' catching up with old friends.

Well written and at times, touching account of a man's relationship with his mother who finally comes to terms with the fact that he's gay. Interesting insight into a conservative Floridian family, especially that of the older brother, and the rather shocking secrets that it has--perhaps just as shocking as being gay. More interesting insights into gay relationships that seem to be more permissive than heterosexual relationships but what do I know? This is San Francisco after all!

After having read the "Tales of the City" series many years ago, a friend told me about this book. I loved the earlier series and this book whisked me back to 28 Barbary Lane within seconds. Another quick read that I couldn't put down. Now I want to go back and read the others! Thank you Mr. Maupin!

Clever follow up sequel to the successful "Tales Of the City" series from the 1980's. Find out what your favorite characters have been up to and how they've aged into the 21st Century!

Every moment while reading this novel was filled with that feeling I get when I meet a long lost friend on a subway platform -- Unexpected, unplanned, but the best moment of the week. Michael has aged like all of us, and is happy -- or as happy as Michael, or any of us can be. Finally a novel that doesn't revolve around HIV, while touching respectfully on it. What a pleasure to get back in touch with Michael, Anna, Marianne, Brian, and a whole new generation of characters, while catching up on all the others. Anyone who enjoyed the others for that sense of reading them and seeing old friends will love this novel.

I fell in love so much with the Tales of the City series (which I recently discovered) that I preordered this book. I read it the same day that the book arrived pretty much in one sitting. It's definitely Maupin's voice coming through but something just seemed off in this book. Maybe it's the twenty years or so since he last visited them... maybe it's the modern world being reflected in his current book. Whatever the case may be I thought this book was shallow and smutty.

What I loved about the original Tales books is that he treated subjects that could so easily be smutty, with clever and witty insight. He left the reader laughing... not squirming. Frankly this book made me squirm. Maybe that was the objective. Maybe this is the way Maupin always wanted to write but couldn't or wouldn't. Maupin can certainly write however he wishes but this is not a book I would recommend to anyone but die hard Maupin fans... and even then I would recommend it with some hesitation.