Madeline
While reading Michael Tolliver Lives, I was taken back to the years when I was living in San Francisco and pretty deep in the gay scene, for a young straight college girl. The book, Michael Tolliver Lives, is map of San Francisco from a gay man’s perspective in the 2000s. The places he frequents and lives are outlined with such detail that it was like I was walking down the street with him. Having a number of gay friends in San Francisco during this same time, I could not help but relate to each and every place and their stereotypes. Reading this book caused me to reach out to friends who I do not communicate with regularly and say “You need to read this book.”
Premise of Michael Tolliver Lives
I picked up Michael Tolliver Lives thinking it was the first book in the series, Tales of the City. Two chapters in I realized this book had nothing to do with the description and there seemed to be too much backstory for this to be the first book in the series. Sure enough, I was reading not the first book in the series but the seventh. But this book was so good, I decided to finish it regardless of the number in the series. Word of warning if choosing to do this, it’s hard to keep everyone and their relationships straight.
Michael Tolliver Lives is about a gay man living with HIV and his relationships with the people around him. There is one of his closest but elderly friends, Anna. His husband whom which he has an open relationship with, Ben. His straight and very sexual friend, Brian, and his daughter with a sex blog, Shawna. His born again christian brother, Irwin, and puppet toting wife. And many more characters that weave the story that surrounds Michael Tolliver.
My Special Times In San Francisco
I lived in the Mission district and in close neighborhoods the entire five years I lived in San Francisco. For those who are not familiar with San Francisco, although the Mission district is large, it neighbors the Castro, the gay district. The roommate I lived with my entire time in San Francisco is gay and we had a number of other gay and transgendered men live with us as well. Basically, I was a fruit fly (not a fag hag, as I am to cute for that, so I’m told).
If you wanted to go to a gay bar, I had all the details. Do you want to dance? If so, is it a Thursday or a Weekend. Are you looking for a view of the city or cheap drinks? What is your type? Do you like Bears or Twinks? Hispanics or the white boys? You want to get late night food too? Not a problem! I had the Castro down pat. And reading Michael Tolliver Lives, he had the Castro down pat as well. If this was not a fictional character, we would have been dancing side by side to Madonna at Badlands.
Final Thoughts
After realizing I was reading the seventh book in the series, I knew I needed to start from the beginning and read all of them. Michael Tolliver Lives was an easy read and I expect I can get through the other books just as quickly. I’ve already started the first book in the series, Tales of the City, and I can confirm it’s just as good; however, more difficult to relate to as it was written and takes place in the late 60s. That being said, expect a number of write ups of the series coming real soon.
