Sure of you /

The author's six-novel chronicle of gay, straight, single and married life in San Francisco, which began with Tales of the City , comes to a clever, wistful conclusion here. PW praised Maupin's ``unerring ability to capture the exact tone of smart urban conversation.'' (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

This sixth, and final, volume of the Tales of the City series finds the now-former residents of 28 Barbary Lane dealing with the late '80s. Michael, after finally finding love with Thack, now must cope with being HIV-positive. Mary Ann's success as a talk-show host puts a fatal strain upon her marriage to Brian. Mona, with Mrs. Madrigal, vacations on the island of Lesbos searching for spiritual roots. Just as the characters have grown and matured over the course of the series, so, too, has Maupin's writing, producing a work that both serves as an appropriate ending for a terrific series and stands on its own as a novel. The publisher will repackage and re-issue the rest of the series upon the publication of this book. Recommended. Quality Paperback Book Club alternate. -- James E. Cook, Dayton & Montgomery Cty. P.L., Ohio (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The sixth and final volume in Maupin's engaging Tales of the City series Finds that old San Francisco gang of his locked in fortysomething angst--and even happiness. The 1980's are drawing to a close and so is the marriage of series regulars Mary Anne and Brian. Mary Anne hosts a locally popular morning TV show but is being wooed by her old lover Burke--now a powerful TV producer--to come to New York and go national. Brian, recovered from his AIDS scare in Significant Others (1987), runs a nursery with gay friend Michael, or ""Mouse,"" for whom AIDS is an omnipresent reality--he's tested HIV positive. When Mary Anne breaks the news that she's leaving San Francisco--and divorcing him--a distraught Brian moves in with Michael and his housemate, Thatch. In the meantime, their old lesbian buddy, Mona (daughter of former 28 Barbary Lane landlady, Anna Madrigal), finds happiness on the island of Lesbos--as does Anna herself, with an old Greek who looks like Cesar Romero. In the end, Brian comes to grips with Mary Anne's desertion, Michael weathers a Kaposi's sarcoma scare--and life simple goes on. Trendy to the nth, of course, but also sad and sweet and sometimes very funny--as in Maupin's viperish portrait of the menswear designer whose marriage of convenience hides his homosexuality from the world. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.