If you’re a Tales of the City fan the very title of this novel will have you salivating with anticipation so without further ado – it’s lovely. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Tales of the City is a collection of novels reflecting the life and times of their author which originally ran as a column in the San Francisco Chronicle beginning back in the ‘70s. It features a group of young people – Mary Ann Singleton, straight as a die and fresh from Cleveland; Michael Tolliver, the complete opposite; Mona Ramsey, a hippyish bisexual; and Brian Hawkins, a little older and very much the ladies’ man – all living in the bohemian confines of Barbary Lane under the loving eye of Anna Madrigal who offers her guests beautifully rolled joints alongside the nibbles. They’re a delight – each one is like meeting up with old friends for a long overdue gossip.
In The Days of Anna Madrigal, the ninth instalment, Anna is ninety-two years old, frail but still the wise old bohemian bird, cared for by the transgendering Jake Greenleaf who lives with her in Noe Hill, Barbary Lane having been taken over by stock brokers. Jake and his new squeeze are off to the Burning Man festival for which Jake has built a tricycle in the form of a monarch butterfly to honour Anna. Michael and his husband Ben are off to Burning Man too, albeit with a degree of reluctance from Michael who’s feeling his age. After eight years travelling the country in his RV, Brian has found himself a wife and is bringing her home to meet Anna, the nearest he has to a mother. Anna comes up with a surprising request – she wants them to take her back to Winnemucca, home of the Blue Moon brothel where Anna, née Andy, spent the first sixteen years of her life. She has some unfinished business to settle.
As you might expect from its title, there is a good deal of Anna’s back story interwoven with the Burning Man shenanigans which are often very funny. Slipped into the narrative are reminders of the characters’ backgrounds, updates on what they’re doing now and cameo appearances. Shawna, Brian’s adopted daughter, is much more to the fore. It’s a bit like the Archers with the older generation giving way to the new, but a lot more fun. And the story behind Anna’s name? Obviously I’m not going to tell you – suffice to say that it’s a poignant one and, sadly, still relevant today – but I will say that the anagram of Anna Madrigal is spelled out for those of us too dense to have figured it out already. I’ll leave it to you to work it out but while we’re on the subject of Maupin anagrams, here’s another to think about: I watched a documentary on him many years ago with the puzzling title Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up. Make of that what you will.
Somehow I’ve never for round to reading Maupin, although I have heard some of the novels serialised on the radio. I suspect you’re going to tell me that I’ve been missing a treat and I know that’s true. Oh the tbr list!
Well, I’m glad we’ve engaged in a little mutual list expansion, Alex! I’ve re-read the series several times. Not great literature but hugely enjoyable.
I have owned a copy of Tales of the City since I bought it when I worked in Waterstones in 1992! I know, I really should get around to reading it, shouldn’t I? I suppose I worry that these early books in the series will feel dated (which is of course entirely my own fault). I would still like to read him very much, he is such a cult figure.
Ah, a fellow Waterstone’s veteran! My copies are falling apart having been read several times by both H and myself over the years. I think they will seem a little dated but I hope that won’t stop you. It would be a lovely wet Sunday afternoon entertainment, and there’s sure to be one of those along again soon.