Book Review: "More Tales of the City" by Armistead Maupin

Yes, it's the second book in the series and don't worry - my page isn't just going to become a list of Armistead Maupin novels even though I might want it to. I'm going to spread them out mainly because I don't want to finish them too quickly and be left with whatever heartbreak awaits in the end. I don't want to be randomly thrown out of San Francisco too soon. But then again I could not resist diving into the next in the series. In More Tales of the City our Mary Ann Singleton is kind of dumpy and out of it, so she decides to take a trip to Mexico - oh, and she's taking a friend with her!

So yes, even though Mary Ann gave it a few moments of thought, she doesn't want to crawl back to Ohio to her parents, she wants to stay at Mrs Madrigal's complex and when she goes on the trop to Mexico, she meets more interesting characters. One of these people is a man named Burke Bradshaw and he has amnesia (though sometimes I am a bit on the fence of how serious his amnesia really is - don't hate me). His past suggests that there were some very serious things at play there - things involving secret government operations. On top of this we have Mouse (Michael Tolliver) who has broken up with his boyfriend Jon Fielding (yes, the two characters from the previous book). He also confronts his parents with his sexuality. I feel sometimes that Mouse might be part of the author himself because he had to change his mind and values part way through his life because of those around him and thus, we got some really good literature out of it. It's all quite sad for him but I'm sure that there's something more there.

Mrs Madrigal and Mona Ramsey have some sort of connection and when Mona has an unkind confrontation (that I won't spoil here), she moves to Nevada to learn more about this and thus, shift herself and along with her identity the whole dynamics of the life lived under the landlady. But of course, we need to focus somewhat on Mary Ann and before we know it, she seems to be trying to uncover a cult and its mysterious links to a person called Deery Day. She not only wants to learn about the cult but she's looking to become a journalist. There's definitely something more there. Armistead Maupin has woven a brilliant web and opened a ton of questions that we can only answer by reading the next books.

When it comes to the connection between Mrs Madrigal and Mona Ramsey when I tell you I could not believe it but it was such a brilliant realisation... I am lost for words. I'm not going to tell you quite what happens but it is not what you think. It will come to you soon because you'll notice that Mrs Madrigal is strangely protective of Mona, it also becomes apparent that there are some parallels in their characters that need exploring. Again, it is not what you think at all and you probably won't guess either. You will realise that these two characters aren't only very important they also both share a sense of perceptiveness that makes them very intelligent people. It becomes more and more apparent once Mona goes to Nevada and I won't tell you exactly what happens there but it involves a place called the 'Blue Moon Lodge'. It is not just about appearances, it is about so much more.

Mona has to be one of my favourite characters in modern literature because there's so much to her. She is a complex character that you don't realise at this point because she's a little away from the scenes with Mary Ann. Mary Ann seems a bit more to the front and more relative to the reader but you really want to focus on Mona. There's photographs involved and pieces of information previously unknown which brings Mona Ramsey as a character, out of her shell and pushes her into the main character role. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed reading this book. There are no words.