(pb; 1982: Book Three in the Tales of the City series)
From the back cover:
"The calamity-prone residents of 28 Barbary Lane are at it again in this deliciously dark novel of romance and betrayal. While Anna Madrigal imprisons an anchorwoman in her basement, Michael Tolliver looks for love at the National Gay Rodeo, DeDe Halcyon Day and Mary Ann Singleton track a charismatic psychopath across Alaska, and society columnist Prue Giroux loses her heart to a derelict living in a San Francisco park."
Review:
Another reader-charming entry in the warm, wild and briefly morbid Tales of the City series: worthwhile follow-up to Tales of the City and More Tales of the City.
Followed by Babycakes.
Further Tales of the City, the television mini-series, aired stateside on May 6, 2001. It was scripted by James Lecesne and book author Armistead Maupin (who also has a non-speaking cameo as "Man exiting Glory Holes").
Pierre Gang, who directed More Tales of the City, directed this.
Olympia Dukakis reprised her role of Anna Madrigal. Laura Linney reprised her role of Mary Ann Singleton. Whip Hubley reprised his role of Brian Hawkins (from More Tales of the City). Paul Hopkins reprised his role of Michael "Mouse" Tolliver (from More Tales of the City). Bill Campbell reprised his role of Jon Fielding.
Barbara Garrick reprised her role of DeDe Day Halcyon. Françoise Robertson reprised her role of D'orothea/Dorothy Williams (from More Tales of the City).
Mary Kay Place reprised her role of Prue Giroux (from Tales of the City).
Jackie Burroughs played Mona "Mother Mucca" Ramsey (whose character is absent from the book version of Further Tales of the City).
Sandra Oh played Bambi Kanetaka. In 2006, Oh played Anna, the grown-up version of DeDe Day Halcyon's daughter, in The Night Listener. (Anna's relationship to DeDe isn't mentioned in the movie version of The Night Listener, but it is in the book version of it.)
Joel Grey plays Guido. Parker Posey reprised her role of Connie Bradshaw Fetzner.
Showing posts with label Sandra Oh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sandra Oh. Show all posts
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, May 22, 2006
The Night Listener, by Armistead Maupin
(hb; 2000)
From the back cover:
“... Gabriel Noone, a writer whose late-night radio stories have brought him into the homes of millions. Noone is in the midst of a painful separation from his longtime lover when a publisher sends him proofs of a remarkable book: the memoir of an ailing thirteen-year-old boy who suffered horrific abuse at the hands of his parents.
“Now living with his adoptive mother, Pete Lomax is not only a brave and gifted diarist but also a devoted listener to Noone’s show. When Noone phones the boy to offer encouragement, it soon becomes clear that Pete sees in this heartsick middle-aged storyteller the loving father he has always wanted. Thus begins an extraordinary friendship that only grows deeper as the boy’s health deteriorates, freeing Noone to unlock his innermost feelings.
“Then, out of the blue, troubling questions arise, exploding Noone’s comfortable assumptions and causing his ordered existence to spin wildly out of control. As he walks a vertiginous line between truth and illusion, he is finally forced to confront all his relationships – familial, romantic, and erotic.”
Review:
Emotionally complex, incisive work from the author of the Tales of the City series. (Side-note: one of the characters in The Night Listener is Anna, Noone’s twenty-something Asian assistant. Anna is the adopted daughter of DeDe Halcyon-Day and D’or Wilson. DeDe and D’or were major characters in early Tales books.)
In The Night Listener, Maupin’s writing spans all moods: amusing, touching, laugh-out-loud funny, angry, sexual, melancholy – mostly melancholy, though, as Noone is mourning what seems to be the demise of a ten-year relationship with Jess, whose restless ways have driven him to move out. Whether or not that move is permanent, Noone and Jess don’t know. All they know is that they’re hurting (Jess shows this through his actions; we never “get inside” his head.)
As if Noone doesn’t have enough bulls**t to deal with, new issues are becoming apparent with his father, an outspoken man who’s more comfortable with jokes and talking about the Navy and geography than he is with emotional truths – even when they’re staring him right in the face.
Noone’s most prominent relationship is with Pete, who may or may not be a real person. About halfway through, The Night Listener becomes a thriller/mystery. Who is Pete Lomax, if he’s real? Is he really a split personality of Donna, his adoptive mother? Or is it the other way around? And if either situation is true, how dangerous are they?
Despite the slight genre shift midway through, Maupin maintains the warm feel of the novel's first half. The ending might disappoint anyone looking for a an action-oriented finish, but for those readers who appreciate a graceful, emotionally solid ending, this is stunning.
The Night Listener is scheduled for an August 4, 2006 stateside release.
Robin Williams plays Noone. Sandra Oh plays Anna. Rory Culkin plays Pete. Toni Collette plays Donna. Joe Morton plays Ashe. Bobby Cannavale plays Jess.
Patrick Stettner directed, from a script by co-authored by himself, Armistead Maupin and Terry Anderson.
From the back cover:
“... Gabriel Noone, a writer whose late-night radio stories have brought him into the homes of millions. Noone is in the midst of a painful separation from his longtime lover when a publisher sends him proofs of a remarkable book: the memoir of an ailing thirteen-year-old boy who suffered horrific abuse at the hands of his parents.
“Now living with his adoptive mother, Pete Lomax is not only a brave and gifted diarist but also a devoted listener to Noone’s show. When Noone phones the boy to offer encouragement, it soon becomes clear that Pete sees in this heartsick middle-aged storyteller the loving father he has always wanted. Thus begins an extraordinary friendship that only grows deeper as the boy’s health deteriorates, freeing Noone to unlock his innermost feelings.
“Then, out of the blue, troubling questions arise, exploding Noone’s comfortable assumptions and causing his ordered existence to spin wildly out of control. As he walks a vertiginous line between truth and illusion, he is finally forced to confront all his relationships – familial, romantic, and erotic.”
Review:
Emotionally complex, incisive work from the author of the Tales of the City series. (Side-note: one of the characters in The Night Listener is Anna, Noone’s twenty-something Asian assistant. Anna is the adopted daughter of DeDe Halcyon-Day and D’or Wilson. DeDe and D’or were major characters in early Tales books.)
In The Night Listener, Maupin’s writing spans all moods: amusing, touching, laugh-out-loud funny, angry, sexual, melancholy – mostly melancholy, though, as Noone is mourning what seems to be the demise of a ten-year relationship with Jess, whose restless ways have driven him to move out. Whether or not that move is permanent, Noone and Jess don’t know. All they know is that they’re hurting (Jess shows this through his actions; we never “get inside” his head.)
As if Noone doesn’t have enough bulls**t to deal with, new issues are becoming apparent with his father, an outspoken man who’s more comfortable with jokes and talking about the Navy and geography than he is with emotional truths – even when they’re staring him right in the face.
Noone’s most prominent relationship is with Pete, who may or may not be a real person. About halfway through, The Night Listener becomes a thriller/mystery. Who is Pete Lomax, if he’s real? Is he really a split personality of Donna, his adoptive mother? Or is it the other way around? And if either situation is true, how dangerous are they?
Despite the slight genre shift midway through, Maupin maintains the warm feel of the novel's first half. The ending might disappoint anyone looking for a an action-oriented finish, but for those readers who appreciate a graceful, emotionally solid ending, this is stunning.
The Night Listener is scheduled for an August 4, 2006 stateside release.
Robin Williams plays Noone. Sandra Oh plays Anna. Rory Culkin plays Pete. Toni Collette plays Donna. Joe Morton plays Ashe. Bobby Cannavale plays Jess.
Patrick Stettner directed, from a script by co-authored by himself, Armistead Maupin and Terry Anderson.
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