<p><strong>By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Armistead Maupin''s bestselling <em>Tales of the City</em> novels—the fourth, fifth and sixth of which are collected in this second omnibus volume—stand as an incomparable blend of great storytelling and incisive social commentary on American culture from the seventies through the first two decades of the new millennium.</strong></p><p><strong>“Tearing through [the tales] one after the other, as I did, allows instant gratification; it also lets you appreciate how masterfully they''re constructed. No matter what Maupin writes next, he can look back on the rare achievement of having built a little world and made it run.”— Walter Kendrick, <em>Village Voice Literary Supplement</em> </strong></p><p>Armistead Maupin''s uproarious and moving <em>Tales of the City</em> novels have earned a unique niche in American literature and are considered indelible documents of cultural change from the seventies through the