Outlines: Armistead Maupin (1999)
Published as part of Absolute Press’ chicly packaged Outlines series of gay lives, this commission made use of Patrick’s friendship with the Tales of the City author and charismatic gay activist to winkle out a deeply personal version of his biography.
Lively, shamelessly partisan, it startled both men with the things it dragged out of their pasts. By coincidence each was currently working on a novel (Gale’s Rough Music and Maupin’s The Night Listener) that drew heavily on their ambivalent relationships with their parents and families. The almost psychotherapeutic experience of spending several days recording the unsparing conversations that would feed the biography sent both authors back to their novels with fresh energy.
Publisher: Absolute Press
ISBN: 9781899791378
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Reviews of Outlines: Armistead Maupin
This is an intimate book, yet Gale manages to strike an even balance between personal details and biographical facts; the two writers’ friendship enhances the story rather than getting in the way; Patrick Gale also writes warmly about Maupin’s long-time friendship with Terry Anderson and presents a loving portrait of a rather remarkable fellow writer.
Gay Times – Peter Burton
This is a wonderful biography of the man by Englishman Patrick Gale, who is himself a popular gay author and a close friend of Armistead Maupin. .. . There’s a fascinating account of his meeting and subsequent affair with Rock Hudson; Maupin’s sex life, his lover’s battle with AIDS, his friendships with Andy Warhol, Christopher Isherwood and David Hockney make this book a breathtaking study of a remarkable life. If you know the Tales books, this is an absolute must!
Axiom – Mel Pick
