Customer Reviews

PINS

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

i read about this novel in the magazine XY and went out in bought it not knowing very much about it at all. Pins was my first gay novel and im not sure if that is whats influncing my opinion of it, but i thought this book was amasing. as a highschooler who is active in school sports, i found this totally moving and touching. i completely connected with the characters and have been in many of joe's situations so i know how it feels. this novel comforted me and moved me in such a way that i started a gay straight alliance at my school and i couldnt be happier, all of my friend have read this book now and they are all better people for it. if you couldnt tell by this point....i highly reccomend this novel.

I urge you to buy this book. I can't tell you how much I regret letting it linger on my "wish list" for so long. Mr. Provenzano's novel is nothing short of amazing. The writer's ability to describe the main character, Joseph, and his surroundings and feelings are brilliant. I found this story so moving that as I approached the ending I faced it with the same despair one feels knowing that their best friend would be moving away - forever. I miss Joseph and his family everyday since finishing the book. This is a real treasure of a book that I have urged all of my friends to read. If you enjoyed K.M. Sondlein's delightful, "The World of Normal Boys", then you will fall hard for "PINS".

PINS is an incredibly well written story about a young man who is forced to grow emotionally strong in a very short period of time. The themes of masculinity, strength, family, and religion all are addressed in this story of an Italian American high school wrestler. The writing is amazingly vivid, forcing you along with Joseph Nicci and his family & friends. Jim Provenzano writes with unbelievable depth about issues facing many young men without giving easy answers. This book should be read by young athletes, parents of athletes, and others who would relate to this internal struggle of family, religion, and that burning first love.

I never dreamed of coming out as a teenager, but if I'd read this book I might have had the courage to do so. The book's protagonist, Joey, is something of a gay hero, in the humble everyday sense of heroism, which makes him a truly admirable person. His story is a wonderful testament to honesty in more ways than one, and to love-not of the platitudinous, sentimental variety, but the kind that has real strength and muscle, and the power to make a better world. I had to keep reminding myself as I read Pins that this was a work of fiction rather than nonfiction. Provenzano's ability to render a sense of reality to his story is that good; exceptional really. He masterfully depicts adolescent sensibilities and adroitly lays out the family dynamics of the Nicci family (and what a great character Mr. Nicci is. God, if all fathers of gay kids were like him. He's not even idealized--what made me cry was that he was so real, so full of foibles, so flesh and blood). Provenzano has an uncanny ability to capture the thoughts and priorities of young men, so much so that I forgot at times that I was even reading a book. Joey and Dink really came alive. More than once I had to just stop reading for a few moments, shocked at how seamlessly he'd taken me back so many years to thoughts and feelings long buried, touching a very deep chord in my history, which was much like Joey's. This book made me laugh and cry and even get angry at all the unnecessary stupidity in our society. But above all, it made me nod my head over and over again and sigh, `yea, exactly; that's exactly how it was--and is!' I can't pay a higher compliment to a work of fiction than that, and it's why I have a feeling this book will be read for a very long time to come. It belongs in the American coming-of-age canon. Any young person will gain courage from this tale, and any older person will gain a sense of completion. These are things great literature does, and Provenzano has done them with Pins.

One of the cleverest books I've read. While on the outset it reads as a passionate teen coming out tale, it's also filled with deft symbols (horses, saints, soldiers) that adults with a taste for literature will appreciate. One of the most convincing retellings of the Saint Sebastian story since the Jarman and Greyson films. With so many bland books written for the Oprah insta-classic market, this is a quirky and welcome addition.

You don't need to be a wrestling fan or a jock to enjoy this really terrific book. The characters are great and the writing is superb. (The line that sets up the first kiss is pure poetry.) I wish there had been more of Joey and Dink because together they are so very likable. A wonderful story!

What an amazing story. Having wrestled in high school, and been closeted, of course, at the time, it was surprising how he captured what a boy feels while trying to just get along. There are also some poignant aspects of being an Italian and suffering some stereotypes. With its own lingo and private world, "Pins" is a lot like the stories in the news lately, but the view is from the kids who suffer. I want a sequel!

I just recently finished the book, and i can say that i'll be re-reading this book a lot, even if it's just little parts of it. And what makes this book unique to any other book, and i mean ANY, is that i can REALLY put myself in Joey's shoes. Being a high school wrestler, and in-the-closet bi, i really felt how Joey felt during the whole book, from the wrestling invitationals and duals (i've been through them), to the stereotypes and the cliques that come out of wrestling in high schools, and even some of the parts of the book that i personally haven't been through, such as the court proceedings and when Anthony was beaten up, seemed so real, i guess it's because i could already feel, see, and sense everything in the beginning that the rest of the book went the same way.

The book kinda gave me a new perspective not only on me as a wrestler, but also as a person in general, because i now know somewhat of what might be not only some of the benefits, but also some of the consequences of being an openly bi wrestler, if i ever come out of the closet in the mere future. But for now, i can only go into Joey's life and experience life as a gay wrestler through his point of view.

I would reccomend ths book to any straight, gay, bi, or in the closet atheletes, wrestler or not, to read it, because it gives readers a persepective on homosexuals and homophobia in sports, especially in high school, the effects of such things in sports, and maybe a way to break down the stereotypes and thoughts that come about when such topics are mixed together. I plan to watch the play in San Francisco, and i hope that this comes out as a movie so the book can become even more real to life than it is already.

The most amazing teenage jocks story ever told!

The lovechild of "The Front Runner" and "Garp."
Bittersweet, heartwrenching, over-the-top, grapplin' gonad-grabbin' literary Jersey hip way cool fiction about high school wrestlers -gay ones. Say no more.

I bought this book after a New York newspaper called it "a miracle of writing." If a gay kid can be out on his high school team without getting whomped by inbred morons, it would be a miracle.

No On Knight! This is a stay-up-all-night because you can't stop wanting to know more about the treacherous dangers these kids go through. Oh, it's funny, too.

A number of years ago, I gave up on these "coming of age" gay books because they really seemed to be about parts of the population that were alien to my experience and probably most people's--upper middle class families with emotionally distant fathers, sensitive lads, and an income that would make the Cleavers seem like poverty row, or variations of fundamentalist, southern Gothic hell. Sterotyped views of religion and family (always bad) seemed to predominate in this genre and there was always some form of suicide. This book came to my attention via reviews of the author's more recent book. The reviews led me to think it was worth a chance and it was.

The focus of the book is on a high school wrestler coming to grips with his sexuality. He's something of a jock, but ultimately finds that identity even more uncomfortable than his sexuality. The family of this kid is actually fairly normal and loving. For once, it's the father who gets what's going on and accepts more than the mother. They are working class, white ethnics who have moved from a declining urban neighborhood to one of the small houses in an otherwise well-off suburb where the protagonist and his parents feel ill at-ease. There is a suicide subplot, but it's a bit more nuanced than usual, although, in some ways, it seems like a semi-lame attempt at capitalizing on recent headlines. It's part of an ending that ties things up a little too neatly and quickly. A more ambiguous end, without the discrimination-laden semi-suicidal stuff would have worked better and fit the rest of the narrative.

Despite the weak ending, I think this is a terrific book. the writing is spare and descriptive without being showy. Most of the story evolves in a realistic way and at a realistic pace. The book's underlying themes about acceptance have some universal appeal, however, the book is sufficiently graphic in its sexuality that it would not work for some people who are only seeking the universal message. It's a great book for those of us who didn't grow up on the set of "Ordinary People" or in the cast of a bad Faulkner novel. It also has appeal for those of us who are missing a few "gay genes", although the later sections that address this (which revolve around a support group) could have developed from the realistic time frame of the earlier 2/3 of the book. The book also addresses religion, specifically Catholicism, with far more realism and subtlety than most queer lit books. The persistence of belief in the face of recognizing harsh doctrine and the ways in which clergy try to approach homosexuality (good and bad) are highlighted here. Militant atheists and people who who lack a background or other feel for cultural Catholicism will be put off by this. All I can say is that, it's one of the most real aspects of the book and there are plenty of other queer coming of age stories to validate other worldviews.