
Babycakes
Tales of the City, Book 4
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Narrated by:
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Alan Cumming
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By:
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Armistead Maupin
About this listen
Inspiration for the Netflix Limited Series, Tales of the City
The fourth novel in the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin’s best-selling San Francisco saga.
When an ordinary househusband and his ambitious wife decide to start a family, they discover there’s more to making a baby than meets the eye. Help arrives in the form of a grieving gay neighbor, a visiting monarch, and the dashing young lieutenant who defects from her yacht. Bittersweet and profoundly affecting, Babycakes was the first piece of fiction to acknowledge the arrival of AIDS.
©1984 The Chronicle Publishing Company (P)2012 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Only Maupin
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Wonderful book - horrible reader
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My only issue is with the narrator. I love Alan Cumming, completely. However, I found his narration a bit lacking. To be blunt, he voices all the female characters like they are caricatures of drag queens. Their dialogue is over dramatized and brash, no matter the context, which is unfortunate. If you know these characters already, then you can imagine the delivery as it was probably intended.
I love Alan Cumming, but....
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wonderful story
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While Alan Cumming narrates very well for the most part, his low voice does not lend itself to doing female voices. Most come across as caricatures, undermining the written strength of the characters. (They can also really grate on your nerves.) Don't give up on the book because of the performance, you'll miss out on so much more! (And take comfort in the fact that he doesn't narrate any other books in the series.)
Wonderful book
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I really have no criticism of the story or the performance. I think this is my favorite of the first four Tales of the City books, especially now that I myself am middle aged and can relate to the existential dread the characters experience far better than I could in my teens ;)
Best so far
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I ordinarily love Alan Cumming, but...
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Would you listen to Babycakes again? Why?
No, because I can't take Alan Cumming's narration. He's ruining the book and doesn't seem to understand the first thing about acting or character. All of his female characters, regardless of their age, sound like an overly effete, drunk, air-headed, lush of a 13 year old girl. This one's definitely better in book form.How did the narrator detract from the book?
See above.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes, but Alan Cumming made it a chore. His amateurish narration was jarring and pulled me out of the book (which I have happily read at least eight times, like the rest of the series, since it was released).Any additional comments?
Most of these books are better read than listened to, but this one is the most poorly narrated of all. It's impossible to love the characters the way you do in the book when they all talk like completely gushy drunken idiots.Fun Book in the Series Destroyed by Poor Narration
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Babycakes!
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Maupin's 4th "Tales" Book with a Male Narrator
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