I read the first three books in this series in 2010, then finally read the fourth book, BABYCAKES, a few months ago. I've enjoyed all of them, and this one was no exception. I finished it awhile back and I don't even know why I've taken so long to write my review, but I may be a little fuzzy on the details now as my memory is not the best. Of the main characters from previous books, the focus here is on Brian, Michael, DeDe and D'or. Brian and Mary Ann have moved to a fancy high rise up the hill, and I was disappointed in the person Mary Ann had become. As a local celebrity, she's very focused on her career and success, and the move was due to her desire to live in a setting that she deemed more appropriate for a woman in her position. Brian is a stay at home dad, and while he loves taking care of their daughter, he's become a little discontented. Then he learns that an old lover, a woman who he cheated on Mary Ann with in the past, has AIDS, and he becomes a big bundle of stress, worrying that he might be infected, and might have infected Mary Ann, and how to tell her. He decides not to until the results of his test come back, which means he needs to be away from her for those ten days as he has no way to explain to her why he can't have sex with her until he has his test results. While hanging out with Michael, who is still mourning Jon, they meet Thack, who is in town on vacation. Michael and Thack dance around each other, but in the wake of the burgeoning AIDS epidemic Michael has been hesitant to be intimate with anyone. It's just too risky. However, he's really attracted to Thack, and when he and Brian decide to go to a friend's cabin in the woods, the perfect getaway for Brian, Michael invites Thack to go with them. Meanwhile, DeDe and D'or head to Wimminwood, a women's music festival out in the middle of nowhere, while DeDe's stepfather, Booter, attends a men's retreat nearby. Pretty much all the women at Wimminwood are lesbians, while the men's retreat is full of rich entitled men where a gay man would probably not be openly welcomed. I never cared much for D'or in the previous books, and I didn't care much for her here either. Her character just grates on me, and she and DeDe seem to squabble a lot. I seriously thought they might end up splitting up. A new character introduced is Wren Douglas, a plus size woman often referred to as the most beautiful fat woman. She's written a book celebrating being a fat woman in today's (well, the today of that time) world, and is in town to be interviewed by Mary Anne while on her book tour. She was a refreshing addition to the cast, getting involved with Booter, and then with Michael, Brian and Thack when Booter stashes her in a cabin nearby so he can sneak away from his retreat on occasion to visit her. SIGNIFICANT OTHERS treats the threat of AIDS quite seriously without being heavy handed or too depressing. And at the very end, Mary Anne seemed to soften up a little, so I have hope that in the next book she'll come to her senses and realizes what a snob she's become. Maupin's writing is crisp and involving, and he's wonderful at dialogue. I have the next book, SURE OF YOU, waiting for me, thankfully.
Thank GOD this book redeemed the last one in the Tales of the City series. I was so happy that it practically banished all of the characters who I found to be utterly intolerable in Babycakes-- Mona and Mary Ann, in particular. It was also such a relief to have all our boys back in the Bay Area-- and more D'or finally, too.This installment addresses exactly what its title claims: queer relationships, what counts as "significant" in them, how lovers might trespass one another differently, and particularly, the question of HIV/AIDS and the added stress it puts on queer and heterosexual relationships alike in the 1980s. Maupin's discourse on the AIDS epidemic in this book is still seriously morbid, but I think remarkably more hopeful overall. Several of our characters contend with the threat of the disease, and their fear and hope evinces real empathy from readers. The dark humor that follows also leads us out of the grief that palpated sometimes too opaquely throughout Babycakes. I especially appreciated the extent to which Maupin's take on the unavoidability of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco in this time period does so much to normalize the disease and diminish the stigma so easily attached to it.This installment also made me realize just how much the series can be considered a tell-all about the secrets of the gay community. I was really happy that he didn't try to sugarcoat the sometimes egregious absurdity of separatist communities and that he went to such lengths to demonstrate how these sorts of cult phenomena exist in gay and straight populations alike.It still wasn't my favorite of the series, but overall, I was very satisfied and am now much more jazzed about picking up the last three books.
Do You like book Significant Others (1989)?
This is another enjoyable installment in the "Tales" series. Being based around a "Wimmin's" camp and a businessmen's summer retreat, it seems slightly odd and out of step with the other books, but marks Maupin's growing interest in the inner lives of the characters, rather than the fantastic exploits that they get up to. Even though the experience is unmistakeably American, it still resonates with the Gay and gender politics of the 1980s in the UK.I particularly remember one year when we were going to London from Manchester, to attend the London Gay Pride and were waiting for the specially contracted double-decker buses. A group of us, young Gay men and lesbians, were all laughing and joking together, having found that we had at least one friend in common, and the festival atmosphere was very much evident, even at 6.30 in the morning. When the buses turned up, I naively assumed that we would all pile onto the same bus together - but no! All the lesbians climbed aboard the "women only" bus. It seemed so pointless and divisive to me; the women certainly didn't face any threat from the Gay men, so the only possible reason for segregating themselves was because they preferred the exclusive company of their own sex. If that was the case, why wasn't there a "men only" bus?I'm not digressing here; this idea of seperatist politics as lunacy runs throughout this book. Maupin is always interested in pointing out that, within the diversity of humankind, the common humanity is the thing that binds us together. For me, the best of Maupin's writing is when he meets comedy head on with sentiment, without ever being mawkish. It might just be a line, but it will strike right to your heart and resonate with an experience in your own life; such as when Booter is rescued by Mabel and confesses to her about the death of the man he considered to be his best friend and she says, "Never told him, huh?" "No." Another nod. Another drag of her cigarette. "Doesn't matter," she said. "No, I guess not." "It's just words," she said.
—Mark
Until now this series has been my go to holiday reading, but this instalment has been my least favourite (I'm at odds with everyone else who didn't like Babycakes!). I don't remember LOLing once whilst reading it, something that was guaranteed with the others. The bickering between the couples and the nonchalant treatment of unfaithfulness (it doesn't have to happen you know!) really got on my nerves. The new characters really didn't gel with me (am I supposed to feel something for someone who lost a best friend who was mentioned in only what seemed a couple of paragraphs?), and there wasn't nearly enough of Mrs Madrigal to satisfy me. It just felt like a book that had to be put out, either to make money or continue the series to satisfy fans, which is a shame as I love Armistead Maupin and the (usually) clever, funny and intricate way he writes. Disappointing.
—Paul Young
I was reminded of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City characters during a conversation with a friend so when I walked into my favorite & only remaining bookstore that features second hand books and is shutting its doors soon I looked for some of his titles. This one falls somewhere in the middle of the novels that continue the Tales of the City columns about life on Barbary Lane in San Francisco of the late 70's. If you've never met Mary Ann, Brian, Michael, Mrs. Magrigal et al it matters not as this is a whimsical rendering of life in Northern California in the last years of the 20th century. The plot is thin but there's a lovely depiction of the Bohemian Grove, a men's only enclave for mostly conservative Republican types, and we're reminded of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is now on the back burner of medical concerns (thankfully). It was fun to revisit these characters and Maupin is great with details of city living. Glad to remeet them, and now I'll probably forget them once more.
—Susy
