Novel: PINS

Written by Jim Provenzano, "PINS" is a double entendre, which is revealed in the middle of the book when the novel takes a shocking turn. The story tells of Joey Nicci, a fifteen year old second generation Italian, who is a member of his high school's wrestling team. In the beginning of the novel, Joey and his family had just moved to the tree-lined town of Little Falls, NJ, from the working class city of Newark. Joey's father is a blue-collar worker and his mother is a home-maker. He is about 8 years older than his little brother and also has a baby sister. Joey is a good kid. He even take care of his young siblings, even though his little brother is a royal pain in the butt. The book takes an overall look at Joey's life: from his relationship with his family, to his love for wrestling, his love for Dink-his best-friend and cruch, and his insecurities. Joey is a talented wrestler and makes varsity even though he is only a freshman. His weight category is only 126 pounds, which he tries desperately to maintain, especially since he doesn't want to wrestle Dink, who is in the 130 pound category, for his spot on the varsity team. I find novels about sports intriguing and "PINS" delivers. The author's description of a wrestling match is flawless. He shows the lengths wrestlers will go to to maintain their weight category: from starvation, to having edemas before matches. Provenzano does not shy away from the homoeroticism of wrestling either.

"PINS" is much more than a coming out novel. It deals provocatively with homophodia and peer pressure. It is also refreshing to see a young gay character who does not beat himself up about his sexuality. I mean he does not have an internal struggle with his sexuality, he accepts that aspect of himself. He does however struggle with society's views of his sexuality. This book has many touching moments, and not at all formulaic. I can't think of any coming out novel that is quite like "PINS". It is not to be missed. Happy Reading.