Synopses & Reviews
A hilarious and touching new installment of Armistead Maupin's beloved Tales of the City series
Twenty years have passed since Mary Ann Singleton left her husband and child in San Francisco to pursue her dream of a television career in New York. Now a pair of personal calamities has driven her back to the city of her youth and into the arms of her oldest friend, Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, a gardener happily ensconced with his much-younger husband.
Mary Ann finds temporary refuge in the couple's backyard cottage, where, at the unnerving age of fifty-seven, she licks her wounds and takes stock of her mistakes. Soon, with the help of Facebook and a few old friends, she begins to reengage with life, only to confront fresh terrors when her checkered past comes back to haunt her in a way she could never have imagined.
After the intimate first-person narrative of Maupin's last novel, Michael Tolliver Lives, Mary Ann in Autumnmarks the author's return to the multicharacter plotlines and darkly comic themes of his earlier work. Among those caught in Mary Ann's orbit are her estranged daughter, Shawna, a popular sex blogger; Jake Greenleaf, Michael's transgendered gardening assistant; socialite DeDe Halcyon-Wilson; and the indefatigable Anna Madrigal, Mary Ann's former landlady at 28 Barbary Lane.
More than three decades in the making, Armistead Maupin's legendary Tales of the City series rolls into a new age, still sassy, irreverent, and curious, and still exploring the boundaries of the human experience with insight, compassion, and mordant wit.
Review
“No other work of fiction featuring major gay characters has been. . .so influential, as the Tales of the City books.” The SunBreak.com
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“Mary Ann in Autumn is a return to form...The resulting book is a heart-warming and life-affirming tale that should please fans as well as those new to the series...[Maupins books] continually remind us that we are all connected.” Chicago Sun-Times
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“Even more satisfying than Michael Tolliver Lives, [Mary Ann in Autumn] is a juicy, twisty tale thats of the moment (Facebook plays an essential role) as it takes us back to the heady days of our beloved San Francisco fantasyland.” Modern Tonic
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“Maupin cranks up the hijinks and sharpens the social commentary. . . . Fasten your seatbelts, Tales fans. Its going to be a bumpy, but entertaining ride.” USA Today
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“You dont review a new installment of Armistead Maupins Tales of the City seriesyou rejoice in it...[These] are not fictional characters but dear friends and soul mates, as permanently a part of this towns heart as cable cars, the Folsom Street Fair, and Maupin himself...” San Francisco magazine
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“Mary Ann slips right back into the warm, bantering world of [Armistead Maupins] earlier books. All his kale-eating, sustainable-gardening, Snuggie-joke-making characters are familiar, even if this is your first go-around with them.” New York Times
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“Tenderhearted and frolicsome...A tale of long-lost friends and unrealized dreams, of fear and regret, of penance and redemptionand of the unshakable sense that this world we love, this life we live, this drama in which we all play a part, does indeed go by much too fast.” New York Times Book Review
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“A must read for fans of the [Tales of the City] books and Armistead Maupin.” The Seattle Gay News
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“Maupins quirky yet engaging characters still speak to him.” Los Angeles Times
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“The graying of the Tales of the City cast wont sadden readers. This affectionate novel, with its carefully unfolding story line (and perfect ending), will work its warmth and charm.” Booklist
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“[A] resilient and enjoyable series. . .” Seattle Times
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“Sure-to-please...Maupins edgy wit energizes the layered story lines. His keen eye for irony and human foible is balanced by an innate compassion in this examination of the life of a woman of a certain age.” Publishers Weekly
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“This sassy, irreverent book explores the boundaries of the human experience which was the hallmark of Maupins earlier work. The main point is that Maupin has lost none of his magic and his characters remain an indelible part of our pop culture.” The Tucson Citizen
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“Fans of the [Tales of the Cities series] will be happy to climb back into the hilly citys stories. Those new to the series will also find it easy to slip into the pace of easy charm and irreverent characters in these compassionate, unordinary lives.” The Oregonian (Portland)
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“Maupins chronicle of interconnected lives and tangled personal relations is as engaging and warmhearted as ever.” Kirkus Reviews
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“This novel shows the beloved characters of Barbary Lane approaching middle age and beyond with grace and thoughtfulness. . . . The charm of the Tales has not waned. . . . A must for fans, but new readers will find it an accessible entry point.” Library Journal
Synopsis
Inspiration for the Netflix Limited Series, Tales of the City
The eighth novel in the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin's best-selling San Francisco saga.
Following the success of his New York Times bestseller Michael Tolliver Lives, Armistead Maupin's Mary Ann in Autumn is a touching portrait of friendship, family, and fresh starts, as the City by the Bay welcomes back Mary Ann Singleton, the beloved Tales of the City heroine who started it all. A new chapter begins in the lives of both Mary Ann and Michael "Mouse" Tolliver when she returns to San Francisco to rejoin her oldest friend after years in New York City... the reunion that fans of Maupin's beloved Tales of the City series have been awaiting for years.
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Los Angeles TimesSynopsis
Twenty years have passed since Mary Ann Singleton left her husband and child in San Francisco to pursue her dream of a television career in New York. Now, a pair of personal calamities has driven her back to the city of her youth and into the arms of her oldest friend, Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, a gay gardener happily ensconced with his much-younger husband.
Mary Ann finds temporary refuge in the couple's backyard cottage, where, at the unnerving age of 57, she licks her wounds and takes stock of her mistakes. Soon, with the help of Facebook and a few old friends, she begins to reengage with life, only to confront fresh terrors when her speckled past comes back to haunt her in a way she could never have imagined.
Synopsis
“An enormously talented writer. . . . By writing about whats seemingly different, Armistead Maupin always manages to capture whats so hilariously, painfully true for all of us.” —Amy Tan, author of
The Bonesetters Daughter“Maupin writes with warmth, acuity and tremendous wit. . . . Read him.” —Publishers Weekly
Following the success of his New York Times bestseller Michael Tolliver Lives, Armistead Maupins Mary Ann in Autumn is a touching portrait of friendship, family, and fresh starts, as the City by the Bay welcomes back Mary Ann Singleton, the beloved Tales of the City heroine who started it all. A new chapter begins in the lives of both Mary Ann and Michael “Mouse” Tolliver when she returns to San Francisco to rejoin her oldest friend after years in New York City…the reunion that fans of Maupins beloved Tales of the City series have been awaiting for years.
About the Author
Armistead Maupin is the author of the bestselling Tales of the City series, of which Mary Ann in Autumnis the eighth book and which includes Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others, Sure of You, and Michael Tolliver Lives. Three television miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney were made from the first three Tales novels. Maupin is also the author of Maybe the Moonand The Night Listener, the latter of which became a feature film starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette. A stage musical version of Tales of the Citywill have its world premiere at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater in May 2011. Maupin lives in San Francisco with his husband, Christopher Turner.