Logical Family

July 1, 2017
Friends, lovers, and a few celebrities form the author's logical, though not biological, family.Fans of Maupin's stories of gay life in San Francisco (The Days of Anna Madrigal, 2014, etc.) will find some familiar themes in this warm memoir. The son of a racist, homophobic conservative, the author grew up hiding his homosexuality, knowing the "revulsion, shame, disbelief," and rejection that he would face. Yearning to win his father's love, he became a staunch conservative himself; as a college student in the 1960s, he "railed against Socialists and peaceniks," defended segregation, and enthusiastically spoke out against "radical social agitators." He went to law school to follow in his father's footsteps but was so bored that he dropped out only to pursue another of his father's dreams: to see him in the military. Maupin recalls with affection his stint in Vietnam, where he became chief of staff to a sympathetic commander. His father, "who always said that God created a war for every generation of men in our family," felt proud. His parents worried about his determination to be a writer, just as they worried about their son's "lifestyle" choice, which they could not confront. Maupin's professional breakthrough came when the San Francisco Chronicle commissioned him to write a five-day-a-week series of stories featuring a motley, eccentric, and appealing collection of characters, gay and straight, young and old, living in the author's adopted city. The first installment of "Tales of the City" appeared on May 24, 1976, and changed his life. "The public was hooked on 'Tales' before the year was out," he recalls. Collections of the stories were published and eventually turned into a miniseries starring Laura Linney (a cherished member of Maupin's logical family). Loving remembrances abound--not least of his compassionate mother--as the author celebrates the many people who enriched his life; most famous among them are Christopher Isherwood, Ian McKellen, and Rock Hudson, with whom Maupin became "buddies with occasional benefits." Engaging reminiscences from an ebullient storyteller.

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May 15, 2017

How did Lambda Pioneer Award winner Maupin get from strait-laced North Carolina to San Francisco, lovingly detailed in his best-selling "Tales of the City" series? How did he find his "logical family," those with whom he felt he belonged? And who helped him become the groundbreaking author that he is? With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 14, 2017
The celebrated author of Tales of the City series revisits his turbulent upbringing and path to self-actualization in this engrossing and emotional memoir. Born in North Carolina into a bigoted family that revered its Confederate history, Maupin seemed set for a career working with Jesse Helms in the archconservative media. But after coming to terms with his sexuality while serving as a Navy officer, Maupin moved to San Francisco a few years before the dawn of the LGBTQ-rights movement, where he would eventually write his iconic queer series. Maupin plays fast and loose with his timeline, jumping fluidly back and forth between decades, but never muddies his waters—in fact, the story is told with such clarity that even those unfamiliar with Maupin’s work can appreciate his life experiences. He had steamy trysts with Rock Hudson as well as a long-standing friendship with Ian McKellan, but the true prize here is the cleverness with which Maupin bares his soul. Maupin ties the bonds of joy and heartache he shares with both his families (biological and “logical”), and in so doing he has crafted a nuanced reflection on what it means to love and be loved in a flawed but beautiful world. Includes b&w photos. Agent: Amanda Urban, ICM.

August 1, 2017
Born in the American South and, at first, submitting to that region's traditionally conservative political and social mind-sets, beloved novelist Maupin, as if attracted by sonar detection, spent years as a young man seeking his logical family: the gay community in all its variety of individual and geographical dispersal. He subsequently wrote many novels about gay life, including, first and foremost, his cult-favorite sequence, Tales of the City, which brought to sympathetic light the denizens of an apartment house in San Francisco, overseen by landlady Anna Madrigal, among the first transsexual major characters in American fiction. In this endearing memoir, Maupin recalls the colorful path he followed as he carved out a place within his logical family, including military service in Vietnam and a San Francisco journalist career, during which his Tales of the City characters and situations were created. It is easy to understand Maupin's reputation for geniality, given his openheartedness as a person and his honesty as a writer; and that will make this delightful chronicle attractive to a wide range of readers, whether they're familiar with his fiction or not. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: As publicity mounts, Lambda Literary Foundation Pioneer Awardwinning Maupin's fans will be in hot pursuit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

Starred review from November 27, 2017
Novelist Maupin traces his journey from a conservative North Carolina upbringing to the emerging gay liberation scene of his beloved adopted hometown of San Francisco during the pivotal 1970s. As narrator of the audio edition, Maupin’s vocal styling has a special combination of whimsy and warmth. His impish tone and animated delivery come across as irreverent but not mean-spirited. This delivery shines in the tale of Maupin’s encounter, as a Naval officer in Vietnam, with a lizard species nicknamed for its vulgar-sounding cry and his awkward attempt to recount this ribald anecdote years later to child star turned diplomat Shirley Temple Black. In passages devoted to more serious matters—the AIDS crisis and his own family’s support for homophobic political causes, for instance—Maupin does not shy away from allowing emotion into his voice. Yet the sorrow and regret remain tempered by a sense of ease and confidence, making for a thoroughly enthralling listening experience. A Harper hardcover.

Starred review from August 1, 2017

It was in Maupin's Tales of the City that he coined the term logical family as a phrase to describe the people we find and choose to love, unlike our biological family. There could be no more appropriate title for Maupin's own tale, which relates his coming of age from a rigidly conservative Southern childhood to one of the most notable writers of the 20th century. Maupin writes vibrantly of his youth, his navy tours in Vietnam, his work on Tales of the City, and his acceptance of his sexuality and friendships within the LGBTQ community. But central to this memoir is the painful conflict that can come when one has both a logical and a biological family, for Maupin's growth into himself is always balanced against his lingering emotional ties to his hidebound father and beloved mother. VERDICT Maupin's long career as a storyteller serves him well with his own biographical material, and he leavens the varied events of his life with just the right amounts of humor, thoughtfulness, and poignancy.--Kathleen McCallister, Tulane Univ., New Orleans

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.