Tales of the City cover art

Tales of the City

Tales of the City, Book 1

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Tales of the City

By: Armistead Maupin
Narrated by: Frances McDormand
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About this listen

For more than three decades Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City has blazed its own trail through popular culture...from a groundbreaking newspaper serial, to a classic novel, to a television event that entranced millions around the world. The first of six novels about the denizens of the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, Tales of the City is both a sparkling comedy of manners and an indelible portrait of an era that changed forever the way we live.

©1978 The Chronicle Publishing Company (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction Humorous LGBTQ+ Studies Literature & Fiction Fiction City Comedy San Francisco

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The Pride List of Queer Storytelling

To mark Pride 2023 Audible teamed up with non-profit organisation, Out on the Page, supporter and champion of LGBTQIA+ writers and writing, to release an extensive Pride List of Queer Storytelling. Featuring contributions from some of the UK’s most important and exciting voices from the LGBTQIA+ community, this audiobook is one of the many featured on the list that is available to listen to on Audible.
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Not sure why I seem to be the only reviewer that didn’t think this was great? Frances McDormand is a fabulous actress but her narration is, well, boring. Voices are ok but otherwise it feels like I’m listening to the news.
Maybe it’s just the story that I didn’t get on with - I just don’t feel like I care about any of the characters and the more I listened the less I cared. Well I paid for it so will try again but otherwise I wouldn’t bother.

Struggled to engage

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After listening to all the hype about Tales of the City, which originally had totally passed me by, I took this audiobook (plus books 2 & 3 on holiday with me as I wanted to understand all of the background stories in readiness for the forthcoming Netflix follow up series). However, I found it really difficult to engage with. Despite giving it a good couple of goes, in the end I had to admit defeat and move on to a different book. Fortunately, I was able to send the rest of the series back to Audible!

Struggled to engage

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Would you listen to Tales of the City again? Why?

Until recently, I hadn't ever head of Armistead Maupin or his tales. I stumbled across them in a bookshop and thought they sounded intriguing. So, this was my first foray into the world. I liked it a lot - and hope to 'visit' again soon with the many other books in the series!

I'm not sure how I would have found it if I'd jumped into these at book 2 or 3 - there is a lot of background to these characters that comes through.

At times I was initially a bit confused about which character was which and exactly how they all related - but soon they come into their own and how their orbits relate becomes more obvious.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Unlike many short stories, they hung together well as a coherent whole. I picked it up and left it according to my schedule, but found it memorable enough to come back to.

A great introduction to Armistead Maupin's world

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these are great stories brought to life by a great narrator Frances McDormand. recommended

listen to this.......

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This is one of those books I’ve meant to read for years and so glad I finally did. Maupin creates such a wonderful array of characters, each with their own distinct needs and flaws. His writing is pithy and entertaining.

Great story, superbly acted

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Maupin's engaging stories of Barbary Lane inhabitants looking for love in San Francisco charm and engage. Francis McDormand reads it beautifully - her wry, tolerant voice the perfect match.

San Francisco Tales

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Why abridge this story? The original audiobook is still available on Audible with all the twists and turns and subplots intended by the author. 18 hours and 23 minutes tells a far better story than the clipped and heavily edited version here with its 7 hours and 39 minutes. The narrator is good and I could have listened to her for 18 hours with ease. As it was. I gave up 3 hours in as the plot was disjointed without the build up of the sub stories.

Abridged. What a shame.

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Can't believe I've only just found this series. Wonderful stories and brilliantly performed :) if you're not sure what to listen to next, definitely recommend giving these a try!

Brilliant - pure entertainment

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I loved it as much As I did reading the books. I will be listening to the whole series

Just amazing

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A 2 hour train journey flew by as I enjoyed an audio vacation to SanFran

Couldn't stop listening!

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