from 'Further Tales of the City'

HOME

 
"You should write her a thank you note"

From "Further Tales of the City"
by Armistead Maupin

Michael Tolliver is talking to his landlady, Anna Madrigal:

'I stay home and watch TV a lot."

'How is that?'

'How is what?'

The landlady flicked a crumb off the corner of her mouth. 'TV.'

Michael laughed. 'My favourite thing this week was a special report on circumcision.'

'Indeed?' Mrs Madrigal buttered another piece of toast.

'It was a hoot,' said Michael. 'They interviewed a circumcision expert named Don Wong.'

'No!'

'Michael crossed his heart. 'Swear to God.'

'And what did he have to say?'

Michael shrugged. 'Just that there's no valid reason anymore for mutilating little boys at birth. Jesus. How long does it take to figure things out? My mother isn't exactly a modern thinker, but she knew that thirty years ago.'

Mrs Madrigal smiled. 'You should write her a thank you note.'

'The funny thing is . . . I hated it when I was a kid. I was always the only kid in the shower room who wasn't circumcised, and it bugged the hell out of me. Mama said: "You just keep yourself clean, Mikey, and you'll thank me for this later. There's not a thing wrong with what God gave you."'

'Smart lady,' said Mrs Madrigal.

p. 168

Further Tales of the City is the third in a six-part series (Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others and Sure of You) commonly known collectively as Tales of the City and sold in omnibus editions as 28 Barbary Lane and Back to Barbary Lane. The first three volumes have been videoed, but this passage is omitted from the video of Further Tales.

cover cover

Maybe the Moon (1992), loosely based on Maupin's experiences trying to film Tales of the City, is the diary of an actress:

I hoisted his balls with one hand, feeling their weight spill over the sides, then nuzzled the shaft until it began to stir in fits and starts, jerking to life again, the foreskin rolling back with lazy majesty to reveal flesh as shiny and pink as the heart of a conch shell.

p174

Two sequels followed the Tales of the City series: The first, Michael Tolliver Lives (2007) is told in the first person.

Ben caught my eye with a private inaugural smile, then dropped to his knees and tugged Patreese's cock out of the fatigues. He began to rearrange the voluminous foreskin with the tip of his tongue, but I caught only the briefest glimpse of this action...

p133

 

Related pages:

Back to the Intactivism index page.