Reviews with content warning for Self harm - Tales of the City

Recommended to me by a bookseller who mentioned it got them through COVID when they were too scatterbrained to focus on reading. A couple weeks after that conversation I found myself unfortunately in the same position. I gave it a try (accidentally downloading the abridged version without realizing it) and found the lighthearted little vignettes of queer folks in San Francisco worked like a charm.

I was surprised how progressive it was for its time, and grateful for the glimpse into queer history. I'm a sucker for found family tropes and recognized Mrs. Madrigal in quite a few of my own friends.

It was also a reminder of a time in my life when some friends and I took a budget trip to San Francisco, sleeping on couches and eating dehydrated soup rations just to be able to see the city. I felt like I was there again. The city came through almost like its own character. It was the comfort I needed, with one exception.

There was one component of the book that was racist and which was not handled well. (Spoiler for this book and a little for book two as well.)

The racism of the transracial character isn't really addressed at all, nor why it was problematic for her to take on a Black identity or appropriate a lot of Black culture and make a ton of money off it. It was good that Mona broke up with her, but she seemed mostly upset about the lie, rather than the act itself. Maupin seemed to have been a big fan of Black Like Me. As if transracialism was an easier way for him to write about racial issues than just including a BIPOC
character in the first place. When Maupin brings the character back in the next book, he doubles down on the lack of consequences, letting her off the hook entirely and painting her as still slightly exotic. It left a bad taste in my mouth and is the reason I took off a star.

As a side note, I was bored enough and nostalgic enough over the city setting that I found the 1993 miniseries streaming free online and watched all eight episodes in two days. It was *remarkably* faithful to the material, staying close to the author's writing in a way I think modern miniseries don't bother with. I want to read the rest of the series so I can then watch the rest, especially the 2019 Netflix miniseries with Elliot Page and a lot of the original actors.

Content Warnings

armaget's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This primarily gives me nostalgia for back when I was scared to read any books with sex, drugs, or gay people or I'd get in trouble. All those books felt like a fever dream, (there was one about New York City, one about New Hampshire ((or a certain hotel there)),) but this gave off the same vibe. So, hazy and kind of forbidden fruit, though now it's just regular fruit I guess.

Still, it really does feel like a book I'd totally forget most details about in a couple of years, except for maybe some fond memories. But now that I indeed know that books about sex, drugs, and gay people won't kill me or make those around me kill me, I don't know if it will have that same appeal later on.

Also I think the humor was hit or miss for me, because I tend to interpret subtle dark humor as incredibly depressing. And the character arcs all ended abruptly and kind of sadly (there are sequels but I don't think I'll be looking out for them) and so I don't know, it was ok.

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