270 pages
English language
Published April 27, 2014
Follows ninety-two-year-old Anna Madrigal, the legendary transgender landlady of 28 Barbary Lane, as she joins her former tenant Brian on a road trip to Nevada where she attends to unfinished business she has long avoided.
Fun read. In my opinion the story is weaker than the others. But maybe there were too many loose threads. I wouldn't have mind.
Fun read. In my opinion the story is weaker than the others. But maybe there were too many loose threads. I wouldn't have mind.
Stories, in the end, are personal, and because of that reviews tend to be bullshit.
The Tales of the City Saga helped me Come Out 25 years ago. It taught me the meaning of family - real family - although I constantly struggle in effectively communicating that today. Nearly 18 years later, the series would teach me how to begin growing old, and, in a way that I find eerie to this day, I would find myself living a part of the Tales Saga through my last great relationship. You cannot review something like this. You're too close. It means too much.
All the other reviews have mentioned that this is the End of the Saga. Maybe. Perhaps it can be, and if so, perhaps Armistead did end it in the best way - an ending without an ending. Because, face it, that is so life, and Tales of the …
Stories, in the end, are personal, and because of that reviews tend to be bullshit.
The Tales of the City Saga helped me Come Out 25 years ago. It taught me the meaning of family - real family - although I constantly struggle in effectively communicating that today. Nearly 18 years later, the series would teach me how to begin growing old, and, in a way that I find eerie to this day, I would find myself living a part of the Tales Saga through my last great relationship. You cannot review something like this. You're too close. It means too much.
All the other reviews have mentioned that this is the End of the Saga. Maybe. Perhaps it can be, and if so, perhaps Armistead did end it in the best way - an ending without an ending. Because, face it, that is so life, and Tales of the City is about nothing more than life, if a bit oddly presented. There is nothing here that mandates that the stories end, although, perhaps now, they can.
In the words of Anna herself, "I've said all I need to say to each and every one of you. [...] It's in you now for good. [...] There's nothing you have to say, nothing you have to do...and nowhere I have to be. It's all free time from here on out."
In the end, while Armistead is a good writer, I think this book, more than the others, needs the others to work. You cannot read it alone. Oh, it makes sense - the reading makes sense - I think, but without its history I don't think its possible to communicate its emotional depth.
If you have read Tales of the City, if you are caught up, then read this book. If you have not, don't start here. Your journey starts 2073 pages before and 38 years ago.
