I have such affection and nostalgia for the Tales of the City books and the subsequent mini-series so much so that when I was in NYC this fall, it was a no-brainer that I would see Laura Linney in a play just to see "Mary Ann" in-person. So when I opened the book (well, okay clicked onto the screen) and saw that Armistead Maupin had dedicated this volume to Linney, he pretty was going to have to do something abominable to make me not love this book. The book quickly took me back into the lives of these characters and their beloved city of San Francisco, it was like meeting up with old friends and not missing a beat.

Alas, we have all aged since the original books and while the characters are a wee bit older than myself, there was still a lot that I could personally relate to and there are a sprinkling of new characters to keep it fresh, though some(Michael's biz partner Jake and non-biz partner Ben) were first introduced in Maupin's first dip back into the Tales waters in Michael Tolliver Lives.

While he provides helpful reminders of the characters' histories, I can't imagine anyone jumping into this book and knowing what the heck is going on or getting any of it, particularly Maupin's penchant for happenstance/serendipity in connecting up everything some some way, some how. I am sure even some fans may feel like Maupin should have quit while he was ahead, but for me as long as he wants to write about these characters, I'll be reading.