More on Jim Provenzano's new novel

When we wrote earlier about the latest book by our friend Jim Provenzano, winner of the FGG Legacy Award in 2007 for his sports writing, we forgot that Dan Woog has written a fine review of the book in The Rainbow Times. Here's an extract: It may not be the traditional format for a winning novel: cross-country running. Lacrosse. Wheelchair basketball. Gay romance. But Jim Provenzano’s Every Time I Think of You works. The author – whose previous books focus on wrestling, AIDS and the lust-filled world of bicycle messengers – has crafted a novel about young adults that may not make the list of most librarians’ recommended “young adult novels.” There’s a bit too much sex – gay sex – in this one for some educators’ tastes. And it’s graphic. Yet ­Every Time does what good literature should. It opens readers’ eyes, minds and hearts to corners of the world they may never have realized existed. Confession: Although I am a high school soccer coach, I’d never thought about the impact a devastating sports accident could have on an athlete. Especially one who was in a torrid, but meaningful, gay relationship. The story is set in Pennsylvania, in 1978. Reid Conniff is a high school student serious about running, academics and masturbating in the woods. One wintry afternoon, near his favorite tree, he comes across (in every sense of the term) Everett Forester, a privileged, lacrosse-playing boarding school boy. As is true in most adolescents’ lives (and every novel), stuff happens. There is sexual exploration (Everett has had a lot more experience than Reid), the resultant embarrassment of getting caught, and the arc of both lovers trying to be at the same place at the same time (emotionally as well as physically). There is not, however, a lot of angst about being gay. Provenzano set this story – and _PINS_, his wrestling book – in what he calls “a bubble of time.” Stonewall had already jump-started the gay rights movement, but AIDS had not yet reared its ugly head. The author calls those years “a halcyon moment, when for a teenager it was not horrible to be gay.” Keep reading HERE.