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    Tales of the City Audio Collection: Tales of the City, Books 1-6
    Tales of the City Audio Collection: Tales of the City, Books 1-6
    Tales of the City Audio Collection: Tales of the City, Books 1-6
    Audiobook (abridged)18 hours

    Tales of the City Audio Collection: Tales of the City, Books 1-6

    Written by Armistead Maupin

    Narrated by Armistead Maupin

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The original abridged recordings of the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin’s best-selling San Francisco saga, in one collection!

    For almost four decades Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City has blazed its own trail through popular culture—from a groundbreaking newspaper serial to a classic novel, to a television event that entranced millions around the world.

    Now the original abridged recordings, read by Armistead Maupin himself, are available in one audio collection. The first six stories about the denizens of the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, are both a sparkling comedy of manners and an indelible portrait of an era that changed forever the way we live.

    Found in this collection:

    Tales of the City

    More Tales of the City

    Further Tales of the City

    Babycakes

    Significant Others

    Sure of You


    Editor's Note

    Love letters…

    You don’t have to live in San Francisco to be blown away by this collection of love letters to the beloved city by the bay. Come for the wonderful cast of characters, stay for their thrilling adventures, and be entertained throughout.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateOct 6, 2009
    ISBN9780061977435
    Tales of the City Audio Collection: Tales of the City, Books 1-6
    Author

    Armistead Maupin

    Armistead Maupin is the author of the Tales of the City series, which includes Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others, Sure of You, Michael Tolliver Lives, Mary Ann in Autumn, and The Days of Anna Madrigal. His other books include the memoir Logical Family and the novels Maybe the Moon and The Night Listener. Maupin was the 2012 recipient of the Lambda Literary Foundation’s Pioneer Award. He lives in London with his husband, Christopher Turner.

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    Reviews for Tales of the City Audio Collection

    4/5

    1,249 ratings51 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Just couldn't get past the era. (Set in the 70's). All the references to an era that I didn't care for culturally, fashionably, et al.
    • 3/5
      Interesting book which apparently was considered "gay" lit when it was first published in the 70's. It's actually a story that draws you into the lives of several people living in a house in San Francisco. The eccentric owner lives there as well as several tenants and their lives intersect in diverse ways.I liked it so much I am going to read the two sequels.
    • 5/5
      This is truly one of the most charming books that I have read. Having once lived in San Francisco I think it captures the atmosphere and ambiance of the area beautifully. One of the best moments is when Mrs. Madrigal tells her suitor that those that come to San Francisco are believed to be the people of Atlantis returning. This makes the story feel like a cohesive family unit, which is what Maupin seemed to want to project in the story with the cast of 28 Barbary Lane, specifically with that character.

      While the story feels like you are reading a soap opera I think that is what it is supposed to feel like overall. The story originally was written in the San Francisco Chronicle, so the chapters are very short and present part of the story in a fast and effective manner. This makes the book pretty easy to read.

      While some of the material may seem a bit lewd to some people it feels like it is in a proper place within the story. Maupin sets up each plot masterfully so you are not left scratching your head when something is revealed, instead you simply state to yourself "OH! Now it all makes sense." When you get to the end of the book though you will be wanting to read the next volume because it leaves many things open still, which makes for a good series.
    • 4/5
      This is a real trip. A trip back in time to a certain place. Maupin takes very normal people and reveals why they are wonderful. Their humanness shines. It was almost impossible to put down. I wonder if many of the 1970/San Francisco references would go over the heads of the current generation? The author took subject matter and people who could have had very dreary stories written about them, and instead gave them a heart-warming tale with honesty. A sort of "At Home in Mitford" for alternative lifestyle folks. I enjoyed this to the end and would happily read more by this author.
    • 4/5
      I've been interested in reading this series ever since I saw the television adaptations. It's been a while since I've seen those, now, so I find it difficult to make too many direct comparisons. But I daresay the books are at least on par with what I remember of the teleplays.

      What I love about Maupin's writing is the way he is able to connect the reader to the characters right away. It didn't take long to get pulled into the world that he's created for these people and to ride along on their journey. While the story shifts frequently between the characters and their perspectives, it's never a jarring transition and everything seems to build together toward some rather surprising ends. Definitely prepared to pick up the next book in the series.
    • 4/5
      This was ridiculous and sweet, quirky and silly. Reading it was just FUN. I loved the characters, the kitschy San Francisco 70s setting, though the Mona-going-off-with-D'Or bit kind of wore on me (and maybe got a bit TOO ridiculous). Anyhow, I've got to get the next one in the series, but hold on to it for a day when I need these people to life me up again.
    • 4/5
      Pure comfort reading, and I was due for a reread of this series.
    • 4/5
      I, too was sucked in by the PBS American Playhouse presentation of "Tales of the City". After watching, I had to run out and get my hands on the book, right away.

      I read this series during the winter, many years ago. Very lively, light, entertaining reading, best for people with active imaginations, because the reader must be able to follow where Maupin leads.

      The characters are very endearing; I love the scope of the personalities involved in the storyline.

      I have recommended this book to the wrong people in the past.
    • 4/5
      First published in 1978, Tales eventually would become a series of 9 books, the first 4 were originally written as part of a newspaper series and the last 5 written as novels.The city is San Francisco and the time the 1970s. When a young woman comes for vacation from Cleveland and decides to stay, she winds up in an apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane. Other tenants include a sweet gay man, a secretive man living in a very small apartment on the rooftop, a pot growing landlord who seems to have special powers, as well others, all searching for love and acceptance. Issues of the time swirl though the short chapters including abortion, sexual orientation and the poor treatment of women in the workplace. One review said that opening this book is like opening a time capsule and for those of us that were young adults during that time I think it's true, but I also think it's relevant today.The Tales series have had several movies and TV series made from them over the years, including adaptations by PBS and Netflix.
    • 4/5
      I still love it--I've loved it since it was lent to me in 1988--but some of it hasn't aged particularly well. That's okay with me; one of its best qualities is its very firm place in time, and the subsequent books carry that on. But I wonder if new readers will get out of it the same things I do just because I remember the 70s pretty well.

      One thing I noticed this time is that Mary Ann is set up from the very beginning to be exactly who she turns out to be in Sure of You, which I haven't read since it was first published because... well... I hated who she turned out to be. I didn't remember until I got there how it ended, but now I remember that the last time I read it this bothered me too--does Mary Ann feel absolutely no responsibility to tell the authorities and get some help for Lexy (the little girl), even if it means she'll have to answer uncomfortable questions? Ugh. Even for the one of the Me Generation in the Me Decade, that seems pretty callous.

      Anyway, even by the time I read it in 1988, it was pretty difficult to imagine moving to San Francisco and finding a place of your own. The people I knew who were moving out there then had multiple roommates and *still* paid more rent than I could even imagine affording. So even by the time I first read it, it had a nostalgic feel. Now, of course, it feels like (and is) a gentle, distant past that will never come around again. But I love to visit it from time to time in these books.
    • 5/5
      WOW! Recommended by a friend. I put off reading this book because it seemed like such a commitment to read the entire series. What a shame that it took me this long to read. Mr. Maupin makes the characters come alive and I feel as though I am in San Francisco living out their days with them. I could not put this book down and finished in 2 days.
    • 4/5
      my god, this was SO much fun.

      camp, cheeky, sexy and full of drama. the characters all have weird names and there's a LOT of them but they all start to intersect and interact (and interfere) with each other's lives in a way that is totally delicious. i adored it and think it's kind of in the spirit of like queer as folk or the l word only better.

      full of twists, turns, lightning-fast dialogue and such a beautiful love letter to san francisco.

      a total delight!
    • 3/5
      This feels unfinished, which might be as there are other books with a similar title. Marianne comes from the stick to San Francisco for a week and stays for much longer. Starting with her, it tells tales of her and her extended circle of aquaintance. It is entertaining, but has an air of (I'm struggling for the right word here) innocence or naievity in the various sexual relationships here (everyone has sex with almost everyone else with gay abandon!). It seems to be set in the second half of the 70s, prior to the Aids crisis being uncovered and so there is a freedom that would seem to be mistaken in later years. At times it is funny, at times sad, at times there is an eye roll moment. Marianne is a very safe centrepoint, and her affair is the one element that seems out of character, almost.
    • 5/5
      Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin is the first volume in a group of novels that consist of stories written originally in a serialized form that appeared as installments in the San Francisco Chronicle. In this volume, the stories were inspired by his observations of life in the city during the mid 1970’s and feature a group of people who are loosely interconnected, but the star of the book is the city of San Francisco.There is a marvellous mix of characters from gay to straight, old to young, male to female. They are sympathetic, vibrant and realistic. Their stories run the range of emotions from playful to sentimental, humorous to touching. The author effortlessly carried me back to the 1970’s with a simple whiff of Charlie perfume, a mention of a movie called “Young Frankenstein” and a stray pamphlet encouraging one to vote for Jimmy Carter.Like a small time capsule, Tales From the City captures that short period in San Francisco when the hippies had moved on and AIDS and HIV had yet to appear. Maupin captures the rhythms of the city that he writes about and with it’s authentic setting and whimsical stories, I enjoyed this book immensely.
    • 3/5
      This is one of the PBS Great American Reads 100 best books.It tells the story of the various occupants of a building at Barbary Lane in SAN Francisco in the late 1970s. The writing style consists of short 3-4 page chapters and mostly dialogue between the characters. Characters include Anna Madrigal, the bohemian landlady, Mary Ann Stapleton, a secretary from Cleveland; Michael Tolliver, very gay and promiscuous waiter; Mona, an advertising executive, Brian, a womanizer; Norman, mystery man; Edgar Halcyon, owner of the Halcyon advertising agency; Frannie, his alcoholic wife;Dede his daughter, married to closeted Beauchamp...All of the characters’ lives interact in the city for a period of 6 months. This is period before AIDS is in the news so promiscuity is a way of life.IMHO, not a great book but I can understand how became an important book for the bohemian, gay west coast culture.
    • 4/5
      Originally published as a serial in the late 1970's, this novel remains an entertaining read. The characters are clever, realistic and easy to relate to in spite of the passage of time and, as one would expect from a serial, the story incorporates enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing a little bit which is always a treat.
    • 5/5
      This series has been on my radar for a long time, and most recently again with a family members move to San Francisco. I really enjoyed this book and all the quirky characters. I'm so happy there are more yet to read because I'm not ready to say goodbye to them just yet!
    • 3/5
      A fun read, and also interesting to imagine it being published in a newspaper more than 20 years ago.
    • 5/5
      This is truly one of the most charming books that I have read. Having once lived in San Francisco I think it captures the atmosphere and ambiance of the area beautifully. One of the best moments is when Mrs. Madrigal tells her suitor that those that come to San Francisco are believed to be the people of Atlantis returning. This makes the story feel like a cohesive family unit, which is what Maupin seemed to want to project in the story with the cast of 28 Barbary Lane, specifically with that character.

      While the story feels like you are reading a soap opera I think that is what it is supposed to feel like overall. The story originally was written in the San Francisco Chronicle, so the chapters are very short and present part of the story in a fast and effective manner. This makes the book pretty easy to read.

      While some of the material may seem a bit lewd to some people it feels like it is in a proper place within the story. Maupin sets up each plot masterfully so you are not left scratching your head when something is revealed, instead you simply state to yourself "OH! Now it all makes sense." When you get to the end of the book though you will be wanting to read the next volume because it leaves many things open still, which makes for a good series.
    • 3/5
      A friend recommended this book and I got hooked on the quirky characters of Barberry Lane. Entertaining and engaging. I read the 6 books in the original series one after the other. You do want to read them in order as the relationships between these friends, lovers, spouses, build through the series. Some implausible plotting as the series progressed and I got tired of them. The first two are the best.


      Date read reflects when I finished the first book, but I had read all six within a couple of months.
    • 1/5
      a collection of shortest daily life stories. funny sometimes.
    • 4/5
      I think I've read all the collected columns. Lots of fun - probably dated by now.
    • 4/5
      Perhaps this book doesn't deserve such a high rating but its stories of 1970s pre-AIDS bohemian San Francisco was the right book for me at the moment. If you are offended by crude language, casual sex or drug use, this book probably isn't for you. Although I was younger than these characters in 70s, I was old enough that many of the pop culture references (such as to the TV shows Maud and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) made me nostalgic. Frances McDormand does a good job narrating.
    • 5/5
      I read this several times over 20 years ago and came back to it as a "comfort" read. It did not fail.This is such a wonderful, free wheeling book about a life and time (1970's San Francisco) that is increasingly remote, but which is brought convincingly to life. The story is episodic and reads as a collection of short stories with an inter-connected group of characters (far too much overlap for coincidence, but this does not detract from the stories), which is unsurprising as I understand it was originally serialised in the San Francisco Chronicle.The characters (Mary Ann Singleton is perhaps the lead character, but also the others, including the wonderful Anna Madrigal) have a warmth and humanity, with human frailty, that endears them to you and the style is just so smooth and easy, which is perfect for the subject matter.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this work very much. I hesitate to call it a novel, since it is a string of episodes, a soap-opera for the page, telling the stories of interwoven lives in San Francisco in the 1970's. Maupin is warm and funny and seems genuinely fond of his eccentric cast of characters. I greatly admire the way he keeps all plates spinning in the plot, and the dialogue is a joy. I have already ordered More tales of the City.Also listened to the audiobook but found it difficult to follow without the book in my hand.
    • 5/5
      When I started this, I assumed that the chapters (originally published serially) were just delicious character vignettes, and I was afraid that they would just be too dated to identify with. As I progressed, the it became obvious that one can always connect with good characters, and suddenly the intertwined nature of the group morphed into a plot in which I was invested. So much fun. I was thrilled to hear that More Tales of the City carries on with the same characters.
    • 5/5
      I started this book over the weekend to take a break from all the vampire books I'm reading. I thought at first this book must have been written in the early 1990s because the descriptions of San Francisco are spot on. I was surprised to see that this book dates to 1978! My goodness -- the City hasn't changed! I'm laughing my ass off at this book. I'll have to read the other books by this author. It is so much fun to read a novel about a city that is just minutes away. I would give this book a 20 if I could. The City and Peninsula haven't changed from when this book was published. The book might have well been published last year because so much of what is described is still around and still as wacky. The wonderful variety and types of characters portrayed in this book haven't changed either. The ending was quite a kicker!
    • 3/5
      I've never watched 'Sex In The City' or 'Ugly Betty', but I know enough about them to equate this book and the entire series to that vein. It's raunchy, gauche, loose, gay, crass even -- in every sense of the word, soap opera-ish! Oh, not to forget scandalous! But it's set in San Francisco in the 1970s (I'm not going to spell it out any clearer), so while I understand it's not everybody's cup of read, I enjoyed it.

      * I'm on to Book 2: 'More Tales Of The City', and it gets better as more plot intricacies are revealed.
    • 4/5
      A fast, fun, light read with plenty of quirky characters. It's so San Francisco.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed this book even more than I expected. The San Francisco setting, however fictitious, was interesting, and the characters suprised me pretty often. I don't read many short story collections for some reason, enjoyed these. It was nice to come and go from the book without feeling like I'd missed much.