Doc Kinne reviewed Mary Ann in autumn by Armistead Maupin
Review of 'Mary Ann in autumn' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Yea, it was amazing...for its fans.
But in the end, you cannot read Mary Ann in Autum on its own. It needs the history of the Tales saga behind it. Maupin is known for weaving separate story lines together as a book progresses. Mary Ann in Autumn, however, weaves in a story line that is several books old. There are some stories that can be read by new people where the new person will get the plot and enjoy it on its own, while veterans will appreciate it on a deeper level. This is not that. Oh, the plot is intelligible to a newcomer, but I think the power the plot has between someone reading this for the first time, and someone who has seen these characters grow up since 1973 and 7 books will be the difference between a TNT explosion, and a hydrogen bomb. Especially the book's …
Yea, it was amazing...for its fans.
But in the end, you cannot read Mary Ann in Autum on its own. It needs the history of the Tales saga behind it. Maupin is known for weaving separate story lines together as a book progresses. Mary Ann in Autumn, however, weaves in a story line that is several books old. There are some stories that can be read by new people where the new person will get the plot and enjoy it on its own, while veterans will appreciate it on a deeper level. This is not that. Oh, the plot is intelligible to a newcomer, but I think the power the plot has between someone reading this for the first time, and someone who has seen these characters grow up since 1973 and 7 books will be the difference between a TNT explosion, and a hydrogen bomb. Especially the book's ending.
Having said all that, if you've not read the Tales of the City saga, run, do not walk to your nearest bookstore or library. Now. If you're Gay, take a transporter. If you're just coming out - teleport.
Most of our old friends are back. People have made an issue that one old friend, Mary Ann's former husband Brian Hawkins is not back, and that this deprived us of that particular closure to that relationship. But while I would have liked to have seen Brian again, with what Mary Ann went through in this book, it would have been too much and I fear that that plot line would have gotten a short shrift.
But the people who are there are there and it is wonderful to see them again! I have written before that Maupin's characters in Tales of the City helped me learn how to be Gay when I came out. Now, 30 years later they're helping me learn to grow old gracefully as a Gay man. Who can ask for more?
