I first met him some 25 years ago when I was in grad school at the University of Wisconsin/Madison and had not spent time with him quite a few years. So when I heard he was around, I went looking for him. When I found him, I spent a couple of days catching up on what has been going on in his life, as well as the lives of the rest of his circle of friends. Michael is ten years older than me, and he grew up in Florida. He moved to San Francisco some 30 years ago, and our lives have been very different. But we have had, and still continue to face, many of the same issues as we grow older.
Michael, however, is a fictional character, Michael Tolliver of Armistead Maupin's classic Tales of The City series and is the protagonist of Maupin's newest novel Michael Tolliver Lives. As soon as I heard it was available, I went out and used a gift card my niece had given me to buy a copy at the local Barnes and Noble. While I knew it would not be as lighthearted as the first few books in the series, I hoped it would be less , well, depressing, than the last one, Sure of You. I was not disappointed.
From the start it is different from the earlier books because Michael is both the main character and the narrator. The novel is less frenetic, and we get a chance to see Michael from his own perspective, that of a 55-year-old gay man both looking back over his life and looking forward to the future. It is not always upbeat, but neither is it depressing. It is about life and the issues people face as they grow older.
Maupin's keen observations and sharp wit are present. He takes aim at anything and everything, still able to make me laugh out loud with his humor (and earning me some strange looks on the train during the morning commute). During the course of the book Michael catches us up not only on his own life but the lives of the friends we came to know so well through the course of the series. And yes, Anna Madrigal is still very much a part of the circle.
It was a fairly quick read--about four train rides in and out of New York City. And like most of the other books in the series, it left me wanting it to go on a bit longer. Maupin had said there would be no more books in the series. Michael Tolliver Lives feels very much like a closure to Tales of The City series, yet there is also the opening left for future possibilities. Maupin has also hinted there might be more books about the characters we met there. I hope he does write more so that I can visit my old friend again.
Peace,
Jeffri
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