Cyclizen explores the class divisions of metropolitan life, the angst and pleasures of casual sex, and offers a darkly comic take on gay culture and relationships.
As with his previous novels, Provenzano weaves a deeper story, that of the demise of the tribe of centaurs. With clever symbolism, names and plot devices, he retells a mythic tale in a contemporary urban setting.
He edited and published his late uncle John Rigney Jr.'s 1950s novel, The Lost of New York, in 2022. His latest work is the YA novella, Lessons in Teenage Biology, out May 6 (ebook) and June 1 (paperback), 2024.
A journalist in LGBT media for more than three decades, and the guest curator of Sporting Life, the world's first gay athletics exhibit, he also wrote the award-winning syndicated Sports Complex column for ten years. He's currently the Arts Editor at the Bay Area Reporter.
That was a fun read. Not that I was surprised--I've read most of Provenzano's other books and have enjoyed them all--but still, you never know, especially when you're going back a few years to an author's earlier work.
Provenzano has a way with words. At first he seemed to be trying really hard with his turn of a phrase and smart wordplay. In fact, I thought he might be trying a little too hard, but then I had to admit: it works; he's pretty good at it. Very quickly he settled into the prose as he wrote, or perhaps I did as I read. Either way, it's a smart read.
The book isn't heavy on plot, for the most part. It follows bike messenger Kent as he lives his life as a cute gay guy in New York City in the 90s. This book seemed, from my memory anyway, to be more sexually graphic than Provenzano’s other work. That's not a bad thing, by any means, but it surprised me a little. Considering the time and place of the story and this cast of characters, however, it makes sense.
Fresh, bawdy, and as zippy as a bike ride across the island of Manhattan. Nobody writes like Jim Provenzano; passionate & political, with a wry sense of wordplay that cuts to the nerve of unfiltered feeling rather than obscuring it. I’m honestly amazed that this is a self-published venture. Sure, it’s a bit wordy and a bit plotless, but superior to plenty of queer novels I’ve read. Plus if it takes place in New York, 90% of the time I’m in.