Patron saints, headlocks, thrash metal, crash diets, dogpiles, nutpulls and only the occasional assault.
PINS, the audiobook; narrated by Paul Fleschner
Set in Little Falls, New Jersey in 1993, PINS weaves the classic story of a Catholic saint into a compelling modern life - and near-death - account of Joey Nicci, a fifteen-year-old Italian-American wrestler. After befriending Donald "Dink" Kohrs, Joey and his new posse get involved in pranks and partying that eventually get out of control, resulting in the death of a maligned fellow teammate.
The ensuing legal battle and media frenzy alter Joey's life and his self-perception as a gay teenager while shattering his fragile love for fellow teammate Dink. Like his patron saint, his battle against his own teammates forces him to suffer for his beliefs. His survival becomes a literary miracle.
A compelling story of a loving yet confused family, coaches and teachers struggling with multiple issues of violence and homophobia amid the clan-like world of teenage athletes, PINS brings together elements now frighteningly common in the media: bullying jocks, assaults on weaker students, faculty and families unwittingly allowing such behavior.
Called "prescient" and "heartfelt" by two of today's leading writers, PINS layers symbols from the worlds of animals and religion, yet while achieving a unique literary style, it remains accessible to the group for whom it speaks - gay teenagers.
Excerpt
The boy’s buzzcut swirled out like a tiny universe whose only limits were two stubby ears. For weeks Joey had been trying to stir up the bravery to say something to him, until his math teacher asked what was so distracting.
New school, new town, new home, new league. Pick one, lady.
The Advocate
PINS stands for 'Person In Need of Supervision.' It's also jock talk, a catchphrase of high school wrestling, the team sport that has Provenzano's teenage boys watching their weight like fashion models. By the end of the book, "pins" means, more grimly, the pins through a young trauma victim's neck, holding it straight.
Holding adolescent bodies together is one of the subtler motifs that play across Provenzano's coming-of-age drama.
Wrestling's the ultimate gay sport. But queer love is complicated, especially for 15-year-old jocks. Not until Joey and Dink's involvement in the beating death of the wrestling team's designated "faggot" can the two boys touch each other in a way that highlights love rather than competition.
Provenzano has a swift and flexible style that cuts against sentiment and reveals, in moments of grace, something like true feeling. He's also funny. He has an ear for teenage banter, and he's tartly lyrical about Jersey towns, Italian families and homemade mix tapes with titles like GRAPPLE and AURGH. Most urgent, he shows how gay bashing is still an outlet for kids who grew up in the so-called gay '90s.
- John Weir, The Advocate, Dec. 6, 1999
San Francisco Chronicle
Jim Provenzano's debut novel finds love in an unlikely corner. PINS records a fumbling, tentative passion between 15-year-old Joey "Neech" Nicci and Donald "Dink" Khors, teammates on a wrestling squad in suburban New Jersey. PINS manages to break new ground by exploring the clannish, conflicted homoeroticism of wrestling culture.
Provenzano clearly loves their obsessive, sweaty world. Joey knows he's found a home within the practice room's "warm padded cell, moist, guy-scented, soft on the floor, walls, the last bastion for boys who cannot stop playing around." But his place on the wrestling circuit is far from comfortable or secure. Joey finds himself forced to take part in homophobic attacks on his team's weakest member. The hypocrisy demanded of Joey ultimately lead to devastating consequences.
While PINS does occasionally have the earnest feel of advocacy journalism, it stops short of becoming a public service announcement about gay teens and self-esteem. Provenzano avoids solemnity by tilting gently at the tacky clutter of adolescence. In the end, Joey's no saint; he's just a decent kid who loves his friend and who gets aroused watching "Who's the Boss?" reruns.
- John Perry, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan 14, 2000
New York Blade
What starts off as yet another "coming-of-age" tale of gay youth in suburbia takes a dramatic turn and careens into a full-fledged miracle of writing. PINS seduces the reader into thinking that sex is the only thing on its mind. By the time Provenzano is through with his story, however, some universal truths have been examined and harshly displayed.
Joey is an Italian Catholic 15-year-old who has moved with his parents from the mean streets of Newark to the suburbs of New Jersey. In an effort to fit in with the rest of the world, Joey joins the high school varsity wrestling team, where he finds a new group of friends. One friend, Dink, especially interests Joey. Another member of the squad, Anthony, reveals to Joey that he is gay, but Anthony’s whining nature is off-putting to Joey.
Just as Joey and Dink fall into each other’s arms, Provenzano’s plot switches gears. Violence and murder erupt. Lives are torn apart. The relative safety of suburbia is questioned. Family, religion and God are all put to the test. Guilt weighs heavily on Joey’s wrestling shoulders, something he can’t shrug off. Joey’s descent from "good boy" to "troubled youth" is astutely realized in Provenzano’s writing.
Finally the author takes readers on the road to redemption. Joey and Dink’s relationship might never be the same, but that could also be said of the reader who has grown to know and care about some very realistic characters drawn mercifully without halos or happy endings.
A young technician mourns his lover until he meets another man - a man with a secret. But there are other secrets as a jealous ghost returns to protect his turf.
When the powers-that-be make the decision to return a selfish party-girl, Zara, to Earth on three missions of redemption, can romance and mayhem be far behind? One hot and trendy gay nightclub, two bickering angels and three unlikely pairs add up to
A young technician mourns his lover until he meets another man - a man with a secret. But there are other secrets as a jealous ghost returns to protect his turf.
