Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by charleseliot
Sure of You by Armistead Maupin
4.0
Finally, a book in the Tales of the City series that is not marred by a ludicrous and unbelievable plot! In the best possible way, Sure of You has hardly any plot at all: Mary Ann has the opportunity to kick her career into overdrive, but she must leave San Francisco and her friends there behind.
Sure of You was the final book in the series (until Maupin wrote a sequel twenty years later), and I think it's the perfect kind of book to end a series. The energy of the book comes from the characters, and the tension derives from our familiarity with them, familiarity that has been building across five previous books. Instead of a hyper-active plot with a big climax, the book ends on an inflection point in the lives of the characters. Maupin doesn't try to resolve anything or tie up loose ends. We learn some more about the characters, they learn some more about themselves, and then time flows on and disappears into the future.
So here's my scorecard for the 6 original books:
- Tales of the City (#1) - Great fun, very witty, broad social comedy.
- More Tales of the City (#2) - Fastest and most fun. Michael starts to become the emotional focus of the story.
- Further Tales of the City (#3) - My least favourite, if only because the main plot is ridiculous.
- Babycakes (#4) - My favourite. Best use of a non-San Francisco setting.
- Significant Others (#5) - Best structured.
- Sure of You (#6) - Most confident and accomplished artistic achievement.
Sure of You was the final book in the series (until Maupin wrote a sequel twenty years later), and I think it's the perfect kind of book to end a series. The energy of the book comes from the characters, and the tension derives from our familiarity with them, familiarity that has been building across five previous books. Instead of a hyper-active plot with a big climax, the book ends on an inflection point in the lives of the characters. Maupin doesn't try to resolve anything or tie up loose ends. We learn some more about the characters, they learn some more about themselves, and then time flows on and disappears into the future.
So here's my scorecard for the 6 original books:
- Tales of the City (#1) - Great fun, very witty, broad social comedy.
- More Tales of the City (#2) - Fastest and most fun. Michael starts to become the emotional focus of the story.
- Further Tales of the City (#3) - My least favourite, if only because the main plot is ridiculous.
- Babycakes (#4) - My favourite. Best use of a non-San Francisco setting.
- Significant Others (#5) - Best structured.
- Sure of You (#6) - Most confident and accomplished artistic achievement.