Pinhead: A Love Story [Paperback]

Timothy James Bazzett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 21, 2008

That Reed City Boy is back! Fresh out of the army in the fall of '65, Tim Bazzett feels like he has fallen behind his former friends from high school, many of whom are already married and working, or nearly finished with college. Older than most of his fellow freshmen at Ferris State, Tim feels out of step and flounders about trying to find his proper place as he immerses himself in a work-study routine which only leaves him more isolated and lonely. Then, in his sophomore year, he joins the Ferris Vet's Club and re-enters that world of rough camaraderie of the shared military experience. Tim's social life improves, but his grades slide, until he meets the girl, and starts straightening out his act and turning his life around. The Ferris State campus and the sixties from a small-town perspective are vividly evoked throughout this alternately hilarious and poignant narrative. Sex, booze, rock and roll, and spring break on the Florida beaches - it's all here, along with first cars, making new friends, scrub crew shenanigans, grassers and the excitement of first kisses and coppin' that first feel. An eloquent and irreverent paean to the joys and uncertainties of lookin' for love - and finding it - Pinhead will take you back to a simpler and more innocent time of life. So dig out your favorite old albums and set the needle in the groove. Pour yourself a tall cool one, kick back, open up this book and get ready to remember.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A delightfully nostalgic work ... Straightforward, frank, honest - yet delicate and sensitive ... Like listening to a friend telling an absorbing story." -- Dr. Herbert L. Carson, Professor of English at Ferris State University, 1960-1994

"A gutsy book; a realistic portrayal of hard work, hard times and good times ... I highly recommend it." -- Pat Nowak, author of Forty Cars that Owned Me

"Like American Graffiti, a barrelling road-trip into a long-ago America, told with bravado and unfailing honesty - a hoot!" -- Doug Stanton, author of NY Times bestseller, In Harm's Way

"Male readers will laugh out loud ... Female readers will just shake their heads and wonder if men ever really mature." -- Grand Rapids Press

"The title and subtitle sum it up - funny and romantic ... Bazzett's writing is engaging and candid. A memorable memoir!' -- Ruth Doan MacDougall, author of the national bestseller, The Cheerleader

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Rathole Books (March 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097711192X
• ISBN-13: 978-0977111923
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,166,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in 1944, Tim Bazzett grew up in west Michigan and spent three years in the army after high school, completing tours in Turkey and Germany. He then attended Ferris State and Central Michigan Universities where he earned a teaching degree and an MA in English. After teaching for five years at Monroe County Community College in southeast Michigan, in 1976 Bazzett reenlisted in the army, staying five years that time, serving again in Germany and earning a second Master's degree from Eastern Michigan University. Following his discharge he worked for the next 21 years as a Russian linguist and intelligence analyst at the National Security Agency in Maryland. He retired from federal service at the end of 2001 and returned to his home town in Michigan where he began to write. Since 2004, Bazzett has published three memoirs and a biography. Another memoir will be published in 2010.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surviving the 1960s, August 14, 2010

By 

Roderick McGillis (Calgary, AB) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pinhead: A Love Story (Paperback)

Yes, PINHEAD is the third of Timithy Bazzett's memoirs, chronicling the period in his life at College and just prior to his marriage in 1967. As usual, the prose is familiar and even intimate. This writer presents himself easily; he has the gift of the gab. His story of the years from 1965 to 1967 is lucid and detailed. Noteworthy are the recurring references to popular music of the time, noteworthy partly for the absence of Bob Dylan. I think it may have been Dylan who remarked that anyone who remembers the 1960s wasn't there. Well, Timothy Bazzett certainly was there, as his account, generously sprinkled with photographs of family, friends, and documents indicates. The 1960s here are the 1960s of love, lust, and desire. The desire on record here is the desire for home and family. Not everyone at the time desired simply to get stoned. Bazzett's story is the story of hard work, dedication, frugality, and love. He writes of such things as purchasing his first brand new car, working odd hours to earn money just to get by, discovering the joys and anxieties of genuine love, locating his first apartment, exploring the world of young men seeking young women, and consuming prodigious amounts of alcohol. This book is honest, forthright, and compelling. It is a book not only about Timothy Bazzett, but also about the foibles and the heart of humanity.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the third in a fine series of memoirs, October 17, 2008

By 

David W. Straight (knoxville, tennessee United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pinhead: A Love Story (Paperback)

Reed City Boy takes Tim Bazzett from his birth (and earlier) through high school; Soldier Boy describes his life in the Army Security Agency--basic training, advanced training, on assignment in Turkey and Germany. Pinhead continues the sequence. Bazzett got out of the Army in 1965 and shortly thereafter started in at Ferris State College, which was about 15 miles from Reed City, so he could commute from home. Reed City Boy was about youth, Soldier Boy about the transition into manhood, Pinhead is about college and love, and continues Bazzett's tale up to 1967.

These memoirs are a delight to read. Bazzett is articulate, writes well, and has a wonderful memory for details. As with the previous two books, this is also loaded with black-and-white photos. So here Bazzett recounts taking courses at Ferris, his part-time work as a janitor (and later, other kinds of work). He describes how many of his friends his own age were married (in 1965 Bazzett would have been 20 or 21, by my calculations)--things were different back then. Bazzett himself wanted to meet the right girl and settle down. He does, in the book, meet Terri, and describes how he was instantly smitten. Terri was a fellow Catholic, and also a student at Ferris. Bazzett is always forthright and frank about things--so it's fascinating to think that their kids have (I presume!) also read these passages.

You get a very enjoyable story of real affection, respect, and love here between two good people. Having the wealth of old photos is a great addition--there are dozens of photos of Terri, Terri and friends, Terri and Tim. There's a chapter on "Discovering Terri's Dark Secret"--Terri's real first name is Treva. I had been disconcerted a bit when I browsed ahead through the photos and saw "Tim and Treva", and I wondered whether Treva was a second wife and what had become of Terri. But obviously I need not have worried. There will, I hope, be further memoirs in the series--they have been a real pleasure to read!

5.0 out of 5 stars Tim Bazzett does it again!, February 24, 2010

By 

R. Lynn (Ashland, Va.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pinhead: A Love Story (Paperback)

PINHEAD is the third of three (so far) installments of Tim Bazzett's life story. Like the first two, this one was a book I could not put down. It is very well-written and it brought back memories of my life in the 1960s. He brings up things such as old TV shows, drive-in movies and just small town life in general when things were much more innocent than now. Also, Tim has a way of writing in which the reader feels that he is sitting in the same room telling a story. Hopefully, there will be a volume four coming out soon. I can't wait!