The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin
The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin is a portrait of the creator of Tales of the City, examining the life and work of the groundbreaking storyteller, evolutionfollowing his evolution from a conservative son of the Old South into a gay rights pioneer whose novels have inspired millions. With help from his friends, including Neil Gaiman, Laura Linney, Olympia Dukakis, Sir Ian McKellen, and Amy Tan, Maupin offers a disarmingly frank look at the journey that took him from the jungles of Vietnam to the bathhouses of ’70s San Francisco to the front lines of the American culture war.
The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin celebrates the prolific writing career of a beloved literary figure. Author Armistead Maupin is best known for his Tales of the City novels that began as a newspaper column for The San Francisco Chronicle in 1976. Tales of the City became wildly popular for its’ portrayal of gay and straight characters living together in a mythic apartment house run by a pot smoking, transgender landlady. The novels set a precedent for the inclusion of queer people in mainstream American literature. However Armistead’s own “tales” are stranger than fiction, following the evolution of a conservative son of the Old South into a beloved activist for LGBTQ rights. From the Vietnam War, to the Nixon White House, to the bathhouses of San Francisco, Armistead recounts his extraordinary journey from a close-minded individual to an essential, open-hearted progressive, whose voice has inspired millions of readers.