Armistead Maupin

Life-affirming humor is another leitmotif in Maupin’s books. "I survive by laughing at myself. I have to do that in order to explain what a big mess I am sometimes," he says. "When your humor is self-deprecating then people find it very easy to identify with. And it forgives them their own sins, when you talk about yours and laugh about them."

In 1992, the novel Maybe the Moon became another international bestseller and marked Maupin’s departure from the Tales of the City series. It chronicles the misadventures of a dwarf actress working in Hollywood and again demonstrates Maupin's incredible empathy with his characters. "The character made the perfect disguise. I could tell the most extraordinary things about myself and never fear being discovered," says Maupin. He dedicated the book to his friend the late Tamara De Treaux, the dwarf actress best known for inhabiting the costume of E.T. in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster film of the same name.

A new tale to tell

His latest book, The Night Listener, has also been inspired by events in Maupin’s own life. "It is sort of part memoir and part mystery story," he says, adding that it is "in many ways an effort to fold in personal experiences and stories that I'd been telling my friends for years, which they said I really should do something with."

The Night Listener explores the question of how we tell stories, to whom, and why. The central character is a late-night radio storyteller in San Francisco. In the midst of a personal crisis the broadcaster receives unexpected comfort from a 13-year-old fan. The young boy, a talented writer, has somehow survived and recorded a life of the most horrible abuse. Through a series of long-distance phone calls the aging storyteller becomes attached to the youth, who seems much wiser than his years.

"I don’t think it is such a big distance actually between Tales of the City and The Night Listener," says Maupin. "They both have the same intention at heart -- to envelope the reader and not let them go until they are done with the book. In The Night Listener I found a story that was capable of that without the soap opera structure of Tales of the City."

The Night Listener became a "New York Times" bestseller and reached No. 1 on the bestseller list in France. Maupin has already started work on the screenplay.

I want to be an institution

After spending time in New Zealand, Armistead Maupin is today once again residing in San Francisco. He is happy to be back in the city closest to his heart. Being in love, he says, and having plenty of good friends in his life are enormously important to him. But he has no intention of simply sitting back and enjoying his success. He is constantly composing and discovering new stories. "I’m a good eavesdropper," he says, "I am always absorbing and taking things in. I am a vampire who sucks things out of people almost on the spot."

"Sometimes," says Maupin, "I have to stop and realize that I am somewhat of an elder these days and that there's some joy in that." He pauses for a reflective moment before revealing his wish, "I hope I'm lucky enough to live for a while and someday be considered an institution. I think that would be a great deal of fun."

Breandáin O'Shea