Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City"

[The8re phan]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:12pm

Okay, I have been a huge fan of this literary series for years. Has anyone heard if/when we may expect book 7???

And why did the tv movies stop at Further Tales of The City (part 3)??? Will they translate the rest of the series to film??

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:19pm

I love "The Night Listener", glad to hear it's being made into a movie. I wish they would make a film of "Maybe the Moon". I was going to say 'one of my favorite of his books', but I really can't pick one. I love them all the same.

[Calvin]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:19pm

Oh, I loved The Night Listener.

I got to interview him right when that came out (I was freelancing for a gay publication at that time) but I'm sure he doesn't remember me.

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:20pm

I love these books! It's like watching a great trashy soap, but you feel better about it because it's 'literary'

I only liked the first filmed one, though. And it's where I first saw Ms. Linney! I liked her from the get-go.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:22pm

I didn't care for the second Michael.

[The8re phan]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:22pm

Beaver~
Is it a new "tales" novel, or a completely new story????

Please tell your friend Armi that I adore his work, and am seriously suffering from Tales withdrawl.

Updated On: 9/19/05 at 03:22 PM

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:25pm

I'm completely obsessed with the tv series'.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:26pm

"The Night Listener" is a new story...

[The8re phan]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:45pm

Yes.......I read The Night Listener and enjoyed it. I was asking Beaver if the new upcoming book he mentioned was part on the Tales series.

[Kringas]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:45pm

I thought I read something a few years ago in which Maupin said something to the effect of, Never say never, but that he doubted he'd be revisiting Barbary Lane.

Fantastic series of books, number three (Further Tales of the City) being my favorite.

Every once in a while a rumor comes up that the next film is in the works, but then the information disappears. For a while, I thought I understood that Babycakes had been completed, but perhaps it was just in pre-production.

The problem with adapting the later books (I think) is that the main characters of the first three books tend to go out of focus. Not all, mind you, but after book three ****Teeny tiny spoiler***** Mrs. Madrigal becomes nothing more than decoration, and Dede almost vanishes completely. **End Spoiler****

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:46pm

I'm sure beaver can correct this if it's wrong, but isn't the next novel called A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MICHAEL MOUSE...or some such thing.

You can't imagine my excitement.

Oh...and I loved the third film (Further...).

Jim Jones and Sandra Oh in the same flick? Come ON!

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:46pm

OH, sorry, totally missed the "revisions for the next book" comment.

[Kringas]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:53pm

Jim Jones and Sandra Oh in the same flick? Come ON!

Plus Mary Kay Place! And I always loved Barbara Garrick as DeDe, so it was nice to see her take the spotlight in the third movie.

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:55pm

I'm about to make my gayest post ever...so here goes:

Just thinking about the later books (Babycakes, Signifcant Others, Sure of You...ESPECIALLY Sure of You) makes me very emotional. Maupin, for the most part, abandons that Dickensian feel and gets much deeper into these people's lives (particularly Mouse, Brian and Mary Ann). One of the reasons, I believe, Mrs. Madrigal is more on the periphery is that, as their mother-figure, she would necessarily start to fade from their lives as they got older. I think Maupin also took DeeDee as far as she could go and allowed her to take a supporting role in the other stories.

I finished Sure of You on a plane from London to NYC. I was a freaking MESS!

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 3:58pm

I read all the books back to back... I would literally devour them in two or three nights, and then my sister would read them, and we'd talk about them like we were talking about friends.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 4:02pm

I am SO excited about Night Listener coming out on film!

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 4:03pm

How could I forget Mary Kay Place!?!? Genius! I need to get it on DVD. Oscar Wilde Bookshop was out of it (and I'll only buy my gay literary and dvd paraphenalia from that glorious little store...must support the gay stores!)

When I was a sophomore in college, I started to read the first one and just couldn't get into it. The next year, I picked it up again and couldn't put it down. Tore right through the others. I finished Significant Others (probably my least favorite) on a vacation to London and had to buy Sure of You cause I couldn't wait to get back to the States. I made so many people read those books.

One day, my best friend and I decided to watch all six hours of the first miniseries in one shot. We were determined to do something very Barbary Lane whilst watching. Neither of us had pot, so we opted for boxed wine. We thought it had a slightly trashy/retro feel that would work for our day. And it did. Nicely.

[The8re phan]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 4:04pm

robbie, i also read Sure on You on a plane. Was such a basket-case that the stewardess came over to make sure i was okay. She saw the book i was reading, said 'oooooooohhhhh...... i see", and walked away. She returned 5 minutes later with a drink and some tissues

Updated On: 9/19/05 at 04:04 PM

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 4:08pm

THAT'S fabulous!

[Kringas]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 4:14pm

I finished Sure of You on a plane from London to NYC. I was a freaking MESS!

A friend of mine furiously threw that book accross the room when she finished it, because she was pissed off at one of the main characters (not mentioning who, for spoiler reasons).

I understood her point, but I think some of the beauty in Maupin's writing stems from the fact that he allowed these characters to change and grow. And some grew in ways that made them infinitely less likeable than they were we first met them. Much like a lot of real people.

One of the reasons, I believe, Mrs. Madrigal is more on the periphery is that, as their mother-figure, she would necessarily start to fade from their lives as they got older. I think Maupin also took DeeDee as far as she could go and allowed her to take a supporting role in the other stories.

And I totally agree. I'm just saying from a film standpoint, that makes it more difficult. That's part of the reason why Madrigal gets a subplot in the film of the third book, as well as the return of Mother Mucca.

And I loved The Night Listener as well. It's a pretty meta-novel, what with the whole radio series the main character writes, ***'Nother Mini-spoiler***
as well as the (brief) appearance of Dede's daughter Anna. *****

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 4:26pm

I actually threw one of the books as well. But not the last one. I remember sitting in the lobby of my college theatre, reading one of the books (they've begun to blend together...was it Babycakes) in which one of the main characters was (SPOILER) stabbed. I thought it was (SPOILER AGAIN) Mouse...turned out it was someone else. I was LIVID. Yes...I realize that I was, perhaps, a scosche too into the books.

And you're right about the film standpoint. Though I would LOVE to see Olympia Dukakis in white linen on the beaches of Lesbos.

[Kringas]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 4:37pm

I now have the movie's theme music running through my head. It's so ingratiating.

I just did an IMDB search and see that Sandra Oh will be playing Anna in The Night Listener. I wonder if they've beefed up the character. I don't remember much of her in the book. And they must have aged her by about fifteen years as well. No matter, though. Sandra Oh can do no wrong in my book.

Oooh, Bobby Cannavale is in it, too. I swoon for him.

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 4:38pm

Don't forget Toni Collette!

Wait...is Anna supposed to be like 17 or something?

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 4:42pm

Ok... I'm gonna have to revisit "The Night Listener"...

Posted: 9/19/05 at 4:45pm

Robbie - you're so gay.