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1970s: The ninth in the tales of the city of San Franscisco
The Days of Anna Madrigal: Tales of the City 9
What you need to know before your trail
The Days of Anna Madrigal, the suspenseful, comic, and touching novel, follows one of modern literature’s most unforgettable and enduring characters–Anna Madrigal, the legendary transgender landlady of 28 Barbary Lane–as she embarks on a road trip that will take her deep into her past.
Now ninety-two, and committed to the notion of “leaving like a lady,” Mrs. Madrigal has seemingly found peace with her “logical family” in San Francisco: her devoted young caretaker Jake Greenleaf; her former tenant Brian Hawkins and his daughter Shawna; and Michael Tolliver and Mary Ann Singleton, who have known and loved Anna for nearly four decades.
Locations
Reset- America/ USA - CA- San Francisco
- A: Macondray Lane
- B: The Endup
- C: Washington Square Park
- D: Jackson Square (area) - Halcyon Communications
- E: Point Bonita Lighthouse
- America/USA - NV
- F: Burning Man Festival
Travel Guide
San Franscisco
Macondray Lane
The inspiration for Barbary Lane is Macondray Lane – though the location is not where Armistead describes here though..
“The house was on Barbary Lane, a narrow, wooded walk-way off Leavenworth between Union and Filbert. It was a well-weathered, three-story structure made of brown shingles. It made Mary Ann think of an old bear with bits of foliage caught in its fur. She liked it instantly.”
The Buena Vista
(2765 Hyde Street at Beach)
“She came to the city alone for an eight-day vacation. On the fifth night, she drank three Irish coffees at the Buena Vista, realized that her Mood Ring was blue, and decided to phone her mother in Cleveland.”
Washington Square Park
The location where Anna Madrigal met Edgar Halcyon in the “Tales of the City” Novel.
“He sat down on a bench in Washington Square. Next to him was a woman who was roughly his age. She was wearing wool slacks and a paisley smock. She was reading the Bhagavad Gita.
Did you know? : A time capsule was buried underneath Benjamin Franklin in 1979. It contains a copy of “Tales of the City”
Point Bonita
“The beach at Point Bonita was almost empty. At the north end, a group of teen-agers was flying a huge Mylar kite with a shimmering tail.”
Nevada
Some members of Anna’s family are bound for the otherworldly landscape of Burning Man, the art community in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert where 60,000 revelers gather to construct a city designed to last only one week. Anna herself has another destination in mind: a lonely stretch of road outside of Winnemucca where the 16-year-old boy she once was ran away from the whorehouse he called home. With Brian and his beat-up RV, she journeys into the dusty troubled heart of her Depression childhood to unearth a lifetime of secrets and dreams and attend to unfinished business she has long avoided.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Days of Anna Madrigal: Tales of the City 9
Destination : San Francisco, Nevada Author/Guide: Armistead Maupin Departure Time: 1970s
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