Customer Reviews

Seventy Times Seven

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At a time when the debate about gay priests is still far from settled, first time author Salvatore Sapienza spins a timely story about a 27 year old gay man who is also a member of the Catholic clergy, but as a brother teaching religion in a Queens NY high school. Brother Victor Fortunato has some doubts as to whether his vocation can coexist with his nonsecular life, in which he still enjoys partying at gay bars with his friends. Openly gay since he was a teenager, Vito has been honest with his superior in the Divinity Brothers about his orientation, who has tried to convince Vito that, even though he has not technically violated his vows, his chosen nonsecular activities are bound to be hurting his ability to commit himself entirely to his vocation. Vito doesn't see it that way, enjoys teaching and serving God, and doesn't want to lose either aspect of his life, although he suspects that his superior may be correct.

Vito looks forward to that summer, when a volunteer assignment at an AIDS service center in San Francisco would provide a change of scenery and a time to put his life in perspective, before taking his final vows that fall. Everything he sees and hears, everyone he meets (including a lesbian former nun) tells Vito to "live life" but don't clarify his vision of what that life should be. But after he meets Gabe, a recently divorced man who is also volunteering at the AIDS center that summer, the picture starts to come into focus.

A remarkably intelligent, poignant, sexy, amusing, romantic and entertaining tale for all, which also brilliantly illustrates and analyzes some of the dilemmas facing the Catholic Church (and religions in general) trying to be relevant and supportive in today's world! Not surprisingly, the book is at least semi-autobiographical, as the author is a former Marist teaching brother at a Queens high school, who left the order and currently runs a gay bed-and-breakfast in Saugatuck MI with his lover. The book may have hit me on a personal level as well, as I am the product of twelve years of Catholic education, including the last four at a Marist-run high school, although my tenure was a good decade before the author's time. But I see the book's appeal as pretty much universal, and recommend it highly.

Seventy Times Seven is a wonderful book. I may not be a Christian but I do know enough about Christianity and Catholic restrictions to appreciate and enjoy this engrossing and moving story.

Vito is such an appealing character that I wish such a person does exist. Maybe he does. His selfless desire to help others and his struggle to find the right balance between his religion and who he really is and to know what God truly wants from him is one absorbing and stirring read.

Ultimately this story is about the celebration of life and love and Vito's final decision just reflects that. I look forward to more from this talented writer. Highly recommended.

I'm still in the middle of reading this book, and I must say, I've never been so touched by a work of fiction before. I've read lots of great fiction, but this one actually speaks to me. I'm a Protestant Christian guy who has wrestled with sexuality all my life. And I also once considered full-time Christian vocation. Even though I don't understand all the innerworkings of the Catholic church, I certainly understand the inner turmoil that Vito endures throughout the story. This is one book I'll definitely refer to my friends. I'm sure that my gay Christian friends will also relate. Those who are not Christian or gay might have a hard time with it, but if they're open-minded about it, they might gain insight into my personal struggles by reading this.

This book contained three themes that interest me greatly....gay, Italian, and Christian religion. So it was a MUST that I read it. Plus it ended up being a love story too! I could have figured out how it would end, after all, it is a book for gay men-it had to be pro gay positive. At least Salvatore didn't bash the Catholic church. I really think that this is an autobiography of Salvatore Sapienza because the information about the author so closely parallels the story in the book. While not directly writing an autobiography, he was probably able to switch things around a bit and make the story juicier for the reader.

I had read a brief synopsis of this book on a blog. Being a good, but former, catholic altar boy, the subject interested me. I was a bit apprehensive that the book would just turn into a typical, over the top sexual escapade. But once I started the book, that apprehension evaporated. The main character, Vito, is very well drawn, and you can believe the things he says and does. I really like the authors ability to let you "feel" the characters. Yes, there is sex, but the sex makes sense in the context of the plot. Its a perfect mix of Life, Love, Work, dreams, family and friends.
I have recommended the book to others, and in my personal blog. I look very forward to reading more from this author. I do wish there was more publicity for the book. It deserves to be read by a much larger audience.
Kudos to the Author. And lets see another book soon!

Seventy Times Seven was a tough read for me. As a somewhat bitterly ex-catholic gay boy who has been battling HIV for eleven years, I found that many parts of Sal Sapienza's novel hit very close to home. After I reached the end, though, I recognized that the journey had been well worth it, despite the emotional bumps I hit along the way.

The story's main character is Vito, a cute gay Italian boy who is just getting ready to take final vows in his Catholic brotherhood. The book chronicles his struggle to incorporate his religious calling with his more sensual, secular urgings. To be honest, I liked Vito. I wanted to sleep with Vito, but I didn't identify with Vito - not one bit. I empathized much more with his best friend Tim, a light-hearted hedonist who seems to take great delight in leading his conflicted friend astray. My guess is that most gay guys who, like me, reached young adulthood in the eighties will also more closely identify with Tim. To me, he is more or less the embodiment of gay eighties culture - chastened somewhat by the looming threat of AIDS, but still trying to live life to the fullest.

And speaking of gay eighties cultural references - Sapienza uses them liberally, but not gratuitously, throughout the book. He weaves the pop songs and mega-stars from that time right into the story, using them as metaphors for the various issues that Vito struggles with along the way. This gives the novel the quality of a modern-day parable, and though I'm sure I'm not the only reader who wanted to shake Vito by the shoulders from time to time and scream "Are you out of your mind?", I found his crisis, as a whole, to be genuine and believable.

A fine first novel by Sal Sapienza. It had a nice, steady pace, well developed characters and just enough pathos to engage readers emotionally without carrying them into the realm of soap opera. Seventy Times Seven roughed me up a bit emotionally, but in the end it left me feeling hopeful about myself and about life in general. Can one ask any more of a novel than that?

Sal Sapienza'a debut novel, Seventy times Seven, takes readers into the conflicted world of a young brother in the Catholic church. The story is one of balance as young Vito comes to terms with his sexuality, constantly at odds with church dogma and certain church elders.

Readers feel what Vito feels, especially after his arrival for a summer in California, the turning point that keeps the pages flipping. It's an engaging, understandable, and satisfying read for people no matter what section of the Bible they're fond of quoting.

Can an openly gay Brother stay true to God and to himself?
That is the spiritual and sexual dilemma that propels Sal Sapienza's novel, "Seventy Times Seven.''
Set in the early 1990s, Sapienza illuminates with sweet elegance and piercing insight the challenges of 27-year-old brother Victor "Vito" Fortunato who teaches religion to 25 freshman at Mount Saint Vincent High, a Catholic school in Brooklyn.
Fortunato isn't your typical brother. Instead of cloaking his sexuality, Vito unleashes it. He celebrates his gay pride. He likes to drink with his guy friends at the bars, dances shirtless. He wears Obsession the cologne and sleeps naked in his comforter. He's even been a third party in a threesome when he was younger.
Basically, Vito is your fun and foxy, good-natured Italian progressive Brother. He hopes that his forward-mentality will change the staid and tradition-driven Catholic church once he becomes a full-fledged priest.
Months before he is to take the final vows to become that priest, Vito decides to volunteer at an AIDS service center in San Francisco. There he meets a divorced landscaper named Gabriel and falls in love. They engage in a romantic and passionate affair and Victor must decide how he really wants to live his life.
The power of the book is how Vito copes with his commitment to God and to himself. By being true to himself, does he betray his higher power? Or by committing "holy" to God, does he dishonor himself?
The book serves as Vito's spiritual guide, as he questions which path to take. He wants to bridge his two worlds and feel complete, fulfilled and devoted to each.
But the book is also the road of forgiveness, which echoes the book's title. In the book's beginning, Vito teaches his class of 14 students, to forgive those who have wronged us which is taken from the Biblical passage.
Besides the internal spiritual tug of war Vito struggles with, I also enjoyed the pop references sprinkled throughout the book which harken back to the early nineties which Sapienza has fun paying tribute to.
We see mentions of a new Fox show "Beverly Hills 90120" and NBC's former "Saved By The Bell." Sapienza also uses songs from Madonna (Like A Prayer) as a literary tool to show the reader Vito's state of mind. (Who better than Madonna can personify the intersection of sexuality and spirituality and that you can have a little of both.) And that is what Vito captures in the book. That it's okay to be gay and religious. You don't have to give up one to have the other in your life.
There aren't many novels that truely explore the state of homosexuality in the Catholic Church the way Sapienza does.
He doesn't crucify the church but he explains through Vito's eyes what is wrong with the Church and how it needs to change to better encompass and represent all of its members, gay or not.
Seventy Time Seven is a tender and touching read by first-time author Sapienza. Gay and religious fiction would benefit with more of his spiritual tales.

Salvatore Sapienza embarks on a daunting task with Seventy Times Seven: a tale about the healthy mingling of sex and spirituality. In a society where sex--especially homosexual love--is often portrayed as evil, books such as this one fulfill a critical need. Many of us struggle to perceive God as the source of love rather than punitive rage as taught by people more concerned with hell than emotional or spiritual health. Seventy Times Seven has its erotic moments but is not an erotic novel. Instead Sapienza gives us an enjoyable and often humorous story peopled with likable, realistic characters who demonstrate how acceptance of one's sexuality augments rather than detracts from healthy faith; hating any aspect of ourselves diminishes our ability to love others. While the writing can be simplistic, Mr. Sapienza has accomplished something very good with this novel.

Seventy Times Seven is a wonderful read. One encounters spiritual conflict and self doubt, sexual tension and love in the context of a gay Brother who has yet to take his final vows in the Catholic Church. Vito, the conflicted Brother is a fully formed character. The author does not bash the Catholic Church, but rather addresses its shortfalls -- all in the context of Vito's self doubt as to his true calling and his search for how to do God's work.

As a younger Brother, Vito has difficulty relating to older gay writers -- a potentially interesting insight into the author himself. The book is balanced in the telling of its story. Characters are believable and by-in-large not one dimensional. The ending one might predict, but I read this novel believing Vito's choice of finding his place doing God's work could go either way -- in secular life or as a Brother in the Church

I enjoyed this novel greatly and recommend it highly.