Madlands

Take the classic Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin, bring it to Madison, set it on Willy St instead of in Mrs. Madrigal's apartment building and change the decade from the 1970s to the 1980s. Instantly, you've created the book Madlands by J. Allen Kirsch. This book follows a group of loosely related characters through academia, sexuality, religion, jobs, drugs, weather and many events you may have experienced if you have ever lived in Madison, Wisconsin. Anything UW or Madison related is mentioned in this novel from the Farmer's Market, beers at the Union, walking down State Street, shopping at the Willy Street Co-op and the annual summer Art Fair to little things like the view of the lake from the Capitol before the Monona Terrace (which is funny to think about now). I enjoyed this book although there were some story issues - some lagged and others were dropped when the characters were no longer part of another's story. In the end though, it was really fun to get to read a good fiction book about the city I call home because The Dive From Clausen's Pier totally doesn't count.