As far as "period pieces" go, I actually quite liked Tales of the City - and its portrayal of a GROUP of people in San Francisco. However, when ONE person - the AUTHOR (Maupin?) is the center of attention, I like it much less. Whiny and self-centered, with a somewhat overblown sense of his own importance (to himself AND those around him), the protagonist of Listener is not, at all, likeable or sympathetic.... I just couldn't get past that to really enjoy a storyline that could have (with a more embraceable hero) been quite intriguing.