Book Club Discussion #1.1: Welcome to 28 Barbary Lane!

Hello All!

Considering I've been very much looking forward to this post I have to admit I don't know how to do this part.

:eusa_doh:

I found a webpage that has a discussion guide but it's more for an end-of-the-novel discussion than a 1/4 way through discussion.

I guess I just want to start the conversation going by asking a few general questions as helpful prompts but please PLEASE feel free to say whatever comes to mind about the book!

• What do you like/dislike about the novel so far?
• Have you read past the section for this week?
• Favorite characters so far?
• Favorite lines of dialogue?

From the first chapter I had a shiver of excitement for Mary Ann and for the story. This is a completely different time (the 70's!) where moving to a place like San Francisco on a whim and finding an affordable place so quick was completely plausible! I lived across the bay for a while and it wasn't cheap at all for not so great digs. We meet Mary Ann right when she's made the decision to change her life and move away from everything she's known. We don't quite know why except that she wants a change and sees something about SF that draws her in.

Mary Ann's mom: "But you won't be... the same!"
Mary Ann: "No. I hope not."

I'm sure with the particular group of people in this club, we can identify with her desire to find a place where she can feel she can become the person she wants to be.

I like Mrs. Madrigal the most so far, just because she seems the most down to earth and interesting and mysterious too. Everyone else is a little too much a stock character (though fun). My favorite non-human characters, though we haven't really "met" them yet: Dante and Beatrice. :lol:

I haven't read past the current section yet but that's because too many library holds came in at once and I'm juggling them all.

Favorite line so far: "We shared a fabric softener. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

So, what say everyone?

 

Right? I think it so perfectly captures the mood of the times, the tone of the book, that always present friction between parent and child, and just taps into that universal desire to just be yourself. Oh, the possibilities!

 

Yeah, I like how expectations of Edgar were flipped (is he having an affair? Oh, it's a completely different kind of secret!) and how it turned what I thought would be a one-note character into something more.

I don't like Beachamp (and it bugs me that I have to correct my own pronunciation to bee-chum, even if it is just in my head :tantrum and I was so surprised Mary Ann went along with him and everything. He seems kind of one-note so far but maybe that will change later like it did with Edgar.

I like the short chapter/dialogue heavy storytelling, it's a different way to tell a story and I'm guessing it's a stylistic carry over from its first life as a daily newspaper serial. I'm not sure if this style is kept up in the other novels but it works well so far.

 

Fun facts about things found in the first section:

Mary Ann's mom mentions the McMillan and Wife tv series, probably because it takes place in San Francisco. It happened to star Rock Hudson, a big movie star from the 50's and 60's who I had no idea did this television series in the 70's. He hid his being gay from the public all his life and was friends with Armistead Maupin.

Here's the intro from one of the episodes:
[YOUTUBE]jhZ4w8Kg4J4[/YOUTUBE]

DeDe mentions a musical called Beach Blanket Babylon. According to Maupin's website, he wrote the original dialogue to the musical when it first started, years before he started writing TOTC.

Kinda interesting Maupin-related in-jokes I think.