Michael Tolliver Lives [ハードカバー]

Maupin's "Tales of the City" novels had an undeniable impact on my life. I was a closeted college sophomore when I checked the first three books out of the Springfield, MA library in the Fall of 1990. I had a feeling I was coming late to the "Tales" party at that point but was instantly taken with 28 Barbary lane and its inhabitants. I was so square at 19 that the thought of a pot smoking landlady made me vaguely uncomfortable; I don't miss those days or my old rigid self. At the age of 22, the landmark PBS miniseries had me spending my tax refund check on a ten day vacation to San Francisco so that I could check out the city Maupin immortalized on my own. Any misgivings about a pot smoking landlady were gone.

So now, thirteen years after I read the last book in the series, I was over the moon to see "Michael Tolliver Lives." But after reading two negative critic reviews, I was worried. Could this book measure up to my memories? Yes, and then some. "Michael Tolliver Lives" is different than the previous novels in the "Tales" series; this is one man's, first person narrative, unlike the multi-character structure of the other "Tales" books. But "Michael Tolliver Lives" is as wonderful, moving and beautiful as anything Maupin's ever written (quick plug for "Maybe the Moon.") Here are the characters we know and love. Times have changed, but Mouse and Brian and Anna Madrigal, the pot smoking landlady (and some others, but that'd be ruining the surprise) are here and take no time making us love them again.

As the title implies, this is Michael's (aka Mouse) tale. Mouse is as sharp as ever and his wry observations make you realize how much you've missed him. In this book, we learn more about his family: his mother, his brother, his sister in law, and see Michael come to an even deeper understanding of the role he's played in his family's life, and outside of it. This part of the book was one that stayed with me; some of Michael's thoughts are exactly where I have been at times, and that recognition really got to me. (Another nice moment of identification for me is when Michael cites the scene in "Poltergeist" when JoBeth Williams feels her daughter's soul move through her. I thought I was the only one who appreciates that scene.) The novel also reflects the crazy times we live in, as Maupin has always done from the hedonistic 70s to the Reagan 80s to now. It's nice to know that we're all in this together. It's been indescribably wonderful to catch up with our old friends (I've grown to love the pot smoking landlady immensely and wish I'd "known" her personally) and see how they've been surviving. In these post-9/11 years, we need our friends from Barbary Lane. And here they are.

If, like me, you're a huge fan of Maupin's TALES OF THE CITY novels, you're probably hoping his latest book is the sequel you've always dreamed of. It isn't. It's much more like a twentieth reunion, allowing brief reconnections with long missed friends, but not the continuation of an old familiar story.

Yes, Michael/Mouse and Anna and Brian are still around, but times have changed and so has the plot. The exciting ironies of a youthful and madly whimsical age have been replaced by a new and more structured reality guided by middle aged commitments and expectations. If the book teaches us one thing, it's that life goes on even if it doesn't go on forever.

Michael didn't die of the plague as most might have thought he would. The AIDS-cocktail saved his life and he's still living in his beloved San Francisco. He's sold his nursery and is now a successful freelance gardener. He has a new husband, Ben, who is 21 years younger. Ben, who Michael first became aware of on a web site for younger men looking for older guys, adores mature Daddies, and Michael has learned to accept the role. Their relationship is open, but they are very much in love and extremely contented.

Michael realizes that he has two different families, the biological one he left behind in Florida many years before, and his logical one, as Anna Madrigal puts it, the one that formed at the legendary 28 Barbary Lane. His biological family has never really accepted who he is and his logical family has never failed to be there to take up the slack.

Unlike the many stories told in the TALES novels, this is primarily Michaels story, one often filled with tragedy, but still optimistic in scope. Michael has learned to appreciate life's little gifts and his existence is a happy one. He knows where his loyalties lie, and that knowledge never waivers.

MICHAEL TOLIVER LIVES may not be the sequel I hoped for, but it is still an extremely successful and entertaining novel, full of depth and great understanding. Michael has grown up and so has this wonderful world created by Maupin. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

As much as Maupin and his publisher would like to position this sequel to the TALES OF THE CITY novels as a free-standing story, it will be most appreciated by fans of the landmark series of novels set in the San Francisco of the 70's and 80's.

While the TALES series juggled characters and points-of-view, the new novel is written in first person from central character Michael's point-of-view, giving it a voice and tone much more similar to Maupin's THE NIGHT LISTENER, especially in that both central characters are clearly stand-ins for Maupin himself. This new novel, however, lacks both the clever, tongue-in-cheek plot twists of the TALES stories and the dark, ambiguous mystery of NIGHT LISTENER.

This is a sweet and touching story and fans of the series will be pleased to have this reunion with Michael Toliver, Anna Madrigal, Brian and other TALES characters. But the story itself falls flat compared to other Maupin efforts and its one nominal twist lacks resonance or impact.

One caveat -- this novel may be as unabashedly gay in point-of-view and sexuality as anything Maupin has written, so readers unfamiliar with Maupin's work who might be uncomfortable with that will be best served by steering clear of MICHAEL TOLIVER LIVES.

All in all, this is a highly readable, if slight, novel best appreciated by those of us who devoured Maupin's TALES novels.