Comments on: Tales of the City by Armistead Msupin http://www.thebookpirate.com/2009/07/04/tales-of-the-city-by-armistead-msupin/ A blog of Books and Pirates and Writing Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:15:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Rose City Reader http://www.thebookpirate.com/2009/07/04/tales-of-the-city-by-armistead-msupin/comment-page-1/#comment-329 Rose City Reader Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:03:45 +0000 http://www.thebookpirate.com/?p=610#comment-329 Oh, just wait until you get to the "scary" part where they are running around in the rafters at Grace Cathedral. Over the top goofy. Oh, just wait until you get to the “scary” part where they are running around in the rafters at Grace Cathedral. Over the top goofy.

]]> By: Rose City Reader http://www.thebookpirate.com/2009/07/04/tales-of-the-city-by-armistead-msupin/comment-page-1/#comment-200 Rose City Reader Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:03:45 +0000 http://www.thebookpirate.com/?p=610#comment-200 Oh, just wait until you get to the "scary" part where they are running around in the rafters at Grace Cathedral. Over the top goofy. Oh, just wait until you get to the “scary” part where they are running around in the rafters at Grace Cathedral. Over the top goofy.

]]> By: The Book Pirate http://www.thebookpirate.com/2009/07/04/tales-of-the-city-by-armistead-msupin/comment-page-1/#comment-198 The Book Pirate Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:51:26 +0000 http://www.thebookpirate.com/?p=610#comment-198 Hm, maybe since I grew up in a small town I have a greater vision for big cities. <br><br>I like the feeling that he didn't know what he was going to write next for the most part. The second book started getting a little too soap opera though. Hm, maybe since I grew up in a small town I have a greater vision for big cities.

I like the feeling that he didn't know what he was going to write next for the most part. The second book started getting a little too soap opera though.

]]> By: Rose City Reader http://www.thebookpirate.com/2009/07/04/tales-of-the-city-by-armistead-msupin/comment-page-1/#comment-197 Rose City Reader Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:21:43 +0000 http://www.thebookpirate.com/?p=610#comment-197 I read them all straight through when I moved to San Francisco in 2002. SF has the reputation of being a "little city" where everyone knows everyone else, and it must have felt even more insular back in the '70s when Maupin wrote his newspaper column. So maybe he was just trying to emphasize that aspect of SF society by limiting the characters' relationships. <br><br>There is a helter skelter air to a lot of the books -- it sometimes seems like Maupin was making things up on the fly to meet a deadline. And he often worked in contemporary news and local scandals, which must have been fun to read in the paper but seem a little disjointed now. <br><br>But I ended up loving these books. Now that I am back in Portland, I dip into them on occasion to remind myself of San Francisco. Although they always put me in the mood for odd 1970s cocktails like a Bull Shot or a Bucks Fizz. I read them all straight through when I moved to San Francisco in 2002. SF has the reputation of being a “little city” where everyone knows everyone else, and it must have felt even more insular back in the '70s when Maupin wrote his newspaper column. So maybe he was just trying to emphasize that aspect of SF society by limiting the characters' relationships.

There is a helter skelter air to a lot of the books — it sometimes seems like Maupin was making things up on the fly to meet a deadline. And he often worked in contemporary news and local scandals, which must have been fun to read in the paper but seem a little disjointed now.

But I ended up loving these books. Now that I am back in Portland, I dip into them on occasion to remind myself of San Francisco. Although they always put me in the mood for odd 1970s cocktails like a Bull Shot or a Bucks Fizz.

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