Tales of the City Audiobook By Armistead Maupin cover art

Tales of the City

Tales of the City, Book 1

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Tales of the City

By: Armistead Maupin
Narrated by: Frances McDormand
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.59

Buy for $21.59

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

For more than three decades Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City has blazed its own trail through popular culture...from a groundbreaking newspaper serial, to a classic novel, to a television event that entranced millions around the world. The first of six novels about the denizens of the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, Tales of the City is both a sparkling comedy of manners and an indelible portrait of an era that changed forever the way we live.

©1978 The Chronicle Publishing Company (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers
Contemporary Fiction Humorous LGBTQ+ Studies LGBTQIA+ Essentials Literature & Fiction Fiction City Heartfelt Funny Witty
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Featured Article: Audible Essentials—The Top 100 LGBTQIA+ Listens of All Time


While LGBTQIA+ creators have been around for millennia, it’s only recently that we’ve been hearing more diverse, more queer-authored, and more queer-performed stories about the entire spectrum of LGBTQIA+ experiences and identities. This list—just like the community it represents—is meant to be fluid. But most importantly, it’s meant to celebrate and reflect on the issues faced by LGBTQIA+ people everywhere.

What listeners say about Tales of the City

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    686
  • 4 Stars
    348
  • 3 Stars
    245
  • 2 Stars
    92
  • 1 Stars
    81
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    747
  • 4 Stars
    305
  • 3 Stars
    156
  • 2 Stars
    37
  • 1 Stars
    54
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    633
  • 4 Stars
    288
  • 3 Stars
    221
  • 2 Stars
    84
  • 1 Stars
    72

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Addictive!

Maupin sure knows how to write cliff hangers. (You will understand the double meaning near the end of the book.) How he draws his characters together in kind of a (incestuous) web is amazing and delightful.
I only gave Francis 4 stars because she doesn't change her voice for each character,making it hard to know who's talking on quick exchanges.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

Francis McDormond did an exceptional job on this. The story is compelling and nostalgic. I looked forward to my time listening to it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A tale that draws one in

Heard a lot about this book and the show before finally listened to it! What a great snapshot of a city, its residents and the milieu at that time. Characters remind you of acquaintances no doubt and I cannot wait to watch the TV adaptation now.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Pay close attention

At first, I was afraid it wouldn’t happen. But then, it did. I fell in love with these characters and their stories. I was worried because I’d heard so much about the book, but just wasn’t connecting with it. Names were being mentioned and I had lost track of who they were. That’s the secret to this book: pay attention. Don’t be distracted from it for a moment, or things will happen and new people will show up, and you’ll be left behind. I started it over, and that’s when I fell in love :)
(By the way, the Netflix show doesn’t do it justice!)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Wonderful Characters; Plot MIA

The narration made this book come alive. McDormand is a true talent all around.

The characters were charismatic and (mostly) charming. If you're reading for true SF ambiance you'll love this book. If you're reading for plot, action and wondering what happens next, this book isn't for you.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Book and Series

Love Francis MacDormand as the reader of this book and Further Tales. The All Star cast of Readers is excellent. Can’t wait for the new series of Netflix this June. On to More Tales Now. Enjoy this as well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable, but ot skips quite a bit

I really enjoyed the story and the narration, but the audio skips around quite a bit. I had to rewind half a dozen times.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

fun and fantastic

What did you love best about Tales of the City?

the whole thing is great, and u get to know the chracters so well, and u learn to love and like them

Who was your favorite character and why?

Ms Anna M the land lady she is mystical and magical

What does Frances McDormand bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

she was involved and took that through the whole story

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the relationship between Anna and Ed was my favorite

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Maupin delivers the story, characters, culture and plot to perfection. Enjoyed reading when first published and now in audible. Author and narrator at their best.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

this book is pure joy

First I watched the new Netflix series which made me laugh and cry and feel all the feels, so I immediately downloaded this audiobook, pushed play and listened straight through until the end at 3 am. Next I went straight to audible and downloaded book 2 before even considering writing this review. I am completely hooked, totally invested. I love Maupin's characters who are rich, funny, smart, kind, outrageous... they are real and I want them to be my friends and family.

Tales of the City stars Mary Ann Singleton, a cute, naive and sweet young woman straight off the bus from Ohio. She arrives in San Francisco and quickly finds her way to Barbary Street where she becomes the tenant of Mrs. Anna Madrigal. Anna is wickedly sarcastic, intelligent and funny as hell. She is transgender; a woman who transitioned in the late 1960s long before most people even knew the word. She created a rooming house for outcasts and rejects (most of them gay) and they are her chosen family.'

The book is a tapestry of LGBTQ culture in the late 1970s. Some of the men are very promiscuous (and for readers who want to avoid R rated, gay love, this book will not appeal). Many of the characters are hippies, and all have secrets and stories to share. But most of all the book feels like a love story to a city and a culture. It is enthusiastic, charming, and delightful.

It is not the right book for everyone, but it is quite beautiful and I feel enriched by the experience of reading it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful