December 17, 2012
This book is certainly not lacking in number of pages (about 370 in my edition), but it was told in short vignettes, and from enough interesting third person perspectives that found it easy to plow right through it (plus, being officially finished with my first semester of grad school helps). This book was sitting on the shelf in my dad's basement for years, and when I came upon it as I was constructing my list, I instantly recognized it. I assumed that it was a collection of short stories, but that is not the case. Rather, it tells several stories about characters whose lives intertwine in a variety of ways.
The book is set is mid-1970s San Francisco. This is post-free love, hippie San Francisco, when it was starting to become known as a sort of haven for gays and liberals. This is the San Francisco of this book, a San Francisco that causes Mary Ann Singleton to drop her life in Cleveland and move there (permanently?). She takes up a room at 28 Barbary Lane, a small boarding house run by the eccentric Mrs. Anna Madrigal (who is not married; she admits to Mary Ann that this is a created name, one that she took up after some, um, significant changes in her life). Mrs. Madrigal is awesome. She grows pot and gives it to her tenants as gifts, she is lenient on the rent (especially when Mona and her friend Michael/"Mouse" are having money problems), and she is a motherly type who really cares for her "family" (as she affectionately refers to her tenants) at her house.
The book definitely presents San Francisco in the way that people imagine it to be, with public bath houses (with rooms for random hook-ups), and the casual public usage of drugs (and not just pot), and the "antics" of a gay community trying to etch out its identity in society. Identity is a big thing in this book, as many characters explore their sexual identities (Mona, who is more of an asexual "fag hag" than a person who is gay or straight; Michael, who is unable to come out to his parents, and feels inferior to his string of boyfriends; Beauchamp day, who cheats on his wife DeDe with men and women; even Edgar Halcyon, who has an affair with Anna and admits to her that he'd performed in drag in the past), but also who they are as people (Dorothy's story is especially strange in this regard). Mary Ann, as the somewhat naive MidWestern girl, definitely questions her identity as she struggles in a strange city.
I could connect with Mary Ann a little bit. For example, I also did not know the correct pronunciation for "Beauchamp" until it was explained in the text (that doesn't make me naive; I've always had a problem with unfamiliar word pronunciation, and besides, it's a weird and pretentious name). I've had nights (many nights) when I've sat around and wondered what I'm doing with my life. I've struggled to find my place. But I did feel that the situation with Norman was pretty obvious (I called that from a mile...at least the part about his involvement with Lexy). I also felt that the author really copped out on the ending to that particular tale.
I was most impressed with all of the different perspectives in the story. It does leave me with unanswered questions about some of the characters, especially DeDe and Beauchamp, and Dorothy, and Mrs. Madrigal. The author definitely left it open to sequels, and when I looked it up, I found that he has written several (I think seven?) other books continuing the stories of these characters in some way or another. Perhaps I will read one some time...but it will have to be added to the bottom of an already very long list.
(on the left) From a gay pride parade or march in San Francisco. I considered posting a picture of some really hot guys wearing very little clothing, but you know, that seemed a little sexist to me. I'll keep it (quasi) classy on this blog.
(on the left) The famous San Francisco cable car system was referenced in the book. Mary Ann actually used it to get around...I wonder if local still use it, or if its just a tourist thing now? You know, Maya Angelou was the first black cable car conductor in San Francisco. I think I read that somewhere once...
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