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Pryor Rendering
A lonely eighteen-year-old boy growing up in the working-class town of Pryor, Oklahoma, Charlie Hope struggles to cope with his passionately religious mother, the death of his hard-drinking grandfather, his enigmatic late father, and his own confusion over sexual orientation. A first novel.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1996
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211 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 29, 2024
An absolutely dazzling book - please don't be put off by minimalist tags because this novel is so much more than any collection of words could convey. I am not going to repeat what the novel is about - what's the point of the publisher's blurbs provided to Amazon and Goodreads? No specific dates are mentioned in the novel but the small backwoods Oklahoma parishes in which the action takes place are dominated by a large factory offering well paid unionised work with good benefits to any young man who wants it on graduating high school for hard, dirty, mind numbingly dull and repetitive work. It is likely that such work was already a memory, or shortly to be one, when the novel was published in 1996. It is something that should shame policy makers and politicians in the USA that the hard lives of the novel's characters would have only got harder as poverty, desperation, despair, hopelessness and struggle have got infinitely worse in the past thirty years for ordinary men and women.
As a description of the lives of those on the fringes and in Oklahoma in particular - because so much of this novels excellence is in its rural setting - it is wonderful. On top of that it is bildungsroman of great sweetness and power that should make you both laugh and cry. It is the short of gay story that I wish YA gay boys would have the chance to read.
If ever there was a lost or forgotten 'classic' than this novel is it.
As a description of the lives of those on the fringes and in Oklahoma in particular - because so much of this novels excellence is in its rural setting - it is wonderful. On top of that it is bildungsroman of great sweetness and power that should make you both laugh and cry. It is the short of gay story that I wish YA gay boys would have the chance to read.
If ever there was a lost or forgotten 'classic' than this novel is it.
February 13, 2013
I am one of those people who cannot leave their home without help, so I spend a LOT of time reading. I've built my own library and it contains about 2,000 books (of which I have read every one). But next to my bed are my 5 all-time favorite books. Pryor Rendering is one of the five books on my bedside. It was romantic, well written, and truly pictured the turmoil that is puberty. Can't recommend it enough.
May 11, 2025
Writing was roughly pretty and raw despite that I still find the ending underwhelming especially on Charlie's end, there's so much aloneness even with all of the time he spends with turtle man after dewar disappearance like a chunk of him was taken away from him and I can feel it and the ending suppose to be a reassurance and conclusion but idk I'd probably the only one who felt this way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2020
Το πρώτο και μοναδικό βιβλίο του Gary Reed, το "Pryor rendering", από το 1996 είναι ένα κρυφό gem της queer young adult αμερικανικής πεζογραφίας.
Χωρίς να διαθέτει τη διεισδυτική πολιτική και κοινωνική ματιά του Édouard Louis στο "Να τελειώνουμε με τον Έντι Μπελγκελ" , μήτε τον δραματικό και γλυκύτατα τρυφερό τόνο του "Clicking beat on the brink of nada" του Keith Hale, η ιστορία του Reed αφορά ομοίως το μεγάλωμα και το coming out ενός αγοριού, του Charlie Hope, στα πλαίσια μιας επαρχιακής κωμόπολης // μάλιστα , όπως και στον Louis, το κοινωνικό περιβάλλον κυριαρχείται από μια βιομηχανία (εδώ επεξεργασίας ζωικών καταλοίπων ) , το οποίο υπάρχει ως αποκλειστικό μέλλον των νέων του τόπου και άρα ως τέλμα // Ο Charlie είναι το μοναχοπαίδι μιας πληγωμένης εσωστρεφούς μάνας και μοναδική παρέα του είναι ο παππούς του, ιδιοκτήτης μπαρ στο Pryor, γυναικάς και πότης, οπότε ο ήρωας περνά τα παιδικά του χρόνια μέσα στον αντρικό κόσμο της νυχτερινής διασκέδασης των εργατών// Στην εφηβεία του αρχίζει να κάνει τις δικές του επιλογές.
Σκληρά νατουραλιστικό έργο σε πολλά σημεία, πράγμα που το κάνει και δυσάρεστο , με τη βρωμιά της βιομηχανίας στην ατμόσφαιρα να αναφέρεται συχνά και να αφήνει ένα γκρι μελαγχολικό αίσθημα να σκεπάζει νεαρές ζωές χωρίς προοπτική, αλλά και καταπιεσμένους ανθρώπους που καταστράφηκαν από την Πεντικοστιανή εκκλησία και την πατριαρχία.
Το βιβλίο στερείται χάρης , αλλά διαθέτει θαυμάσια αγγλική γλώσσα και εξαιρετική ικανότητα περιγραφής στιγμών , που αγγίζουν τελικά και τη μαγεία στα ωραιότερα σημεία του βιβλίου , εκεί που ο έρωτας του Τσάρλι για τον ορφανό Ντιούαρ φτάνει στην κορύφωση // Στιγμές γεμάτες χρώμα και υφάσματα και σερβίτσια και τοπία// παρά την τραχύτητα και το μουντό του κλίμα το βιβλίο έχει τη γοητεία του γλωσσικά και αφηγηματικά .
Χωρίς να διαθέτει τη διεισδυτική πολιτική και κοινωνική ματιά του Édouard Louis στο "Να τελειώνουμε με τον Έντι Μπελγκελ" , μήτε τον δραματικό και γλυκύτατα τρυφερό τόνο του "Clicking beat on the brink of nada" του Keith Hale, η ιστορία του Reed αφορά ομοίως το μεγάλωμα και το coming out ενός αγοριού, του Charlie Hope, στα πλαίσια μιας επαρχιακής κωμόπολης // μάλιστα , όπως και στον Louis, το κοινωνικό περιβάλλον κυριαρχείται από μια βιομηχανία (εδώ επεξεργασίας ζωικών καταλοίπων ) , το οποίο υπάρχει ως αποκλειστικό μέλλον των νέων του τόπου και άρα ως τέλμα // Ο Charlie είναι το μοναχοπαίδι μιας πληγωμένης εσωστρεφούς μάνας και μοναδική παρέα του είναι ο παππούς του, ιδιοκτήτης μπαρ στο Pryor, γυναικάς και πότης, οπότε ο ήρωας περνά τα παιδικά του χρόνια μέσα στον αντρικό κόσμο της νυχτερινής διασκέδασης των εργατών// Στην εφηβεία του αρχίζει να κάνει τις δικές του επιλογές.
Σκληρά νατουραλιστικό έργο σε πολλά σημεία, πράγμα που το κάνει και δυσάρεστο , με τη βρωμιά της βιομηχανίας στην ατμόσφαιρα να αναφέρεται συχνά και να αφήνει ένα γκρι μελαγχολικό αίσθημα να σκεπάζει νεαρές ζωές χωρίς προοπτική, αλλά και καταπιεσμένους ανθρώπους που καταστράφηκαν από την Πεντικοστιανή εκκλησία και την πατριαρχία.
Το βιβλίο στερείται χάρης , αλλά διαθέτει θαυμάσια αγγλική γλώσσα και εξαιρετική ικανότητα περιγραφής στιγμών , που αγγίζουν τελικά και τη μαγεία στα ωραιότερα σημεία του βιβλίου , εκεί που ο έρωτας του Τσάρλι για τον ορφανό Ντιούαρ φτάνει στην κορύφωση // Στιγμές γεμάτες χρώμα και υφάσματα και σερβίτσια και τοπία// παρά την τραχύτητα και το μουντό του κλίμα το βιβλίο έχει τη γοητεία του γλωσσικά και αφηγηματικά .
August 13, 2008
"Pryor Rendering" is a strange title for this fascinating and moving book about a group of people living in Oklahoma sometime in the 1960s or 1970s. Pryor is the name of the town where the majority of the story takes place, while rendering refers to the plant that processes the remains of cattle for various products. The plant is the looming and dreaded destiny for two male teenagers (Charlie Hope and Dewar Akins) who desire to escape this small, conservative, religious community. These two also fall in love with each other. I found myself drawn into this story slowly as the author went into great detail about their lives, the atmosphere of the south, the various relationships in Charlie's life, and the joy and pain of first love. It's a very vivid picture and the story surprises you with its humor, emotion, and where it finally ends.
April 27, 2021
Rating: 4.5
I rarely write reviews, but having perused a few of the ones meant to reflect "Pryor Rendering"'s appeal, I felt that I had to add my two cents. The novel left me with the sensation of struggling to swallow a lump lodged tightly in my throat. The ending seems abrupt and disappointing, but only initially. The longer I let the last few scenes stew in my mind, the more I felt that their gradual dissolution reflects life, and its baffling ability to leave us itching for more; for something grander and more polished than what it inevitably has to offer. But that's where the truth makes itself so painfully known. "Pryor Rendering" is a coming-of-age story, and it stays true to its form.
What I absolutely cannot wrap my head around is some people's claim that the writing is average at best, or that Gary Reed slowed down the natural flow of his hand to grip a thesaurus for a sprinkling of a few arbitrary words. As someone who consumes a few books weekly, I have come across every imaginable style of writing, from perfunctory, simple sentences to language so dense and sticky that it left me struggling to turn the pages; so lost was I on my quest to reabsorb the same paragraphs over and over again.
Gary Reed's writing falls into the latter category. On more than one occasion, I was left gasping for breath, and quite certain that I could both taste and feel the images that were being carved so smoothly into the page. The memory of vegetation being as thick and muggy "as wet tongues panting with life" inside the story's legendary greenhouse stands out in aching detail. I'm quite certain that I've never been this riveted by a piece of decriptive writing before. Anyone who loves to read, and doesn't resort to picking up a book out of a sense of obligation once a year, will have no trouble with the vocabulary. The claim that a thesaurus is responsible for, or somehow obstructs, the novel's artistry seems preposterous.
In fact, I was hooked from the very first page, despite the rather morose happenings and Charlie's helpless circumstances. Beyond the lulling sense of lethargy that makes up the novel's ambience, a strong feeling of romance and arousal permeates every page. I felt sucked between the lines, completely at the mercy of Gary's immortalized voice. It should be said that it's quite rare for me to achieve this state of abandon while wandering around any book's unknown surroundings.
The story is tender, provocative, imaginative and sensual. The most wonderful part of the entire experience is that I never would have connected these impressions to the novel, remembering how my eyes skimmed the title and licked their way up and down the cover warily. I feel like I've gained something without ever kneading my mind into a state of tragic anticipation.
I rarely write reviews, but having perused a few of the ones meant to reflect "Pryor Rendering"'s appeal, I felt that I had to add my two cents. The novel left me with the sensation of struggling to swallow a lump lodged tightly in my throat. The ending seems abrupt and disappointing, but only initially. The longer I let the last few scenes stew in my mind, the more I felt that their gradual dissolution reflects life, and its baffling ability to leave us itching for more; for something grander and more polished than what it inevitably has to offer. But that's where the truth makes itself so painfully known. "Pryor Rendering" is a coming-of-age story, and it stays true to its form.
What I absolutely cannot wrap my head around is some people's claim that the writing is average at best, or that Gary Reed slowed down the natural flow of his hand to grip a thesaurus for a sprinkling of a few arbitrary words. As someone who consumes a few books weekly, I have come across every imaginable style of writing, from perfunctory, simple sentences to language so dense and sticky that it left me struggling to turn the pages; so lost was I on my quest to reabsorb the same paragraphs over and over again.
Gary Reed's writing falls into the latter category. On more than one occasion, I was left gasping for breath, and quite certain that I could both taste and feel the images that were being carved so smoothly into the page. The memory of vegetation being as thick and muggy "as wet tongues panting with life" inside the story's legendary greenhouse stands out in aching detail. I'm quite certain that I've never been this riveted by a piece of decriptive writing before. Anyone who loves to read, and doesn't resort to picking up a book out of a sense of obligation once a year, will have no trouble with the vocabulary. The claim that a thesaurus is responsible for, or somehow obstructs, the novel's artistry seems preposterous.
In fact, I was hooked from the very first page, despite the rather morose happenings and Charlie's helpless circumstances. Beyond the lulling sense of lethargy that makes up the novel's ambience, a strong feeling of romance and arousal permeates every page. I felt sucked between the lines, completely at the mercy of Gary's immortalized voice. It should be said that it's quite rare for me to achieve this state of abandon while wandering around any book's unknown surroundings.
The story is tender, provocative, imaginative and sensual. The most wonderful part of the entire experience is that I never would have connected these impressions to the novel, remembering how my eyes skimmed the title and licked their way up and down the cover warily. I feel like I've gained something without ever kneading my mind into a state of tragic anticipation.
May 31, 2020
I really loved this novel: its Oklahoma setting (seems highly authentic to this old Okie); its deliciously slow pace (hard to pull off these days); and its lead character, nothing less than a gay Holden Caulfield (albeit a darker, more sombre and altogether deeper figure then Salinger's original). The writing is tender and evocative, yet realistic and at times both brutal and brutally honest. Reed has a wonderful ear for Oklahoma down-home dialect.
September 6, 2024
This book remains a mystery to me. I found it in a lending library (because the Mark Steinmetz cover photo had a seductive quality to it, obviously) only to research it further and realize there was no trace of the author or information about this book online except for here, on Goodreads.
Now that I’ve finished it, it feels like a painfully forgotten classic—the type of book that should be taught in schools and read around the world yet remains almost untraceable. Reed’s prose and intimate storytelling skills (not to mention stunning representation of the American southwest and all it contains and erases) is comparable only to Donna Tartt or Ocean Vuong, yet predates both authors publishing their first books by a number of years. The meditations on dual consciousness, memory, nostalgia, and the painful endeavour of coming into your own in a culture of intense sublimation was masterfully written, as if Reed took my own childhood memories and granted them profound reflection and poetic expression in ways I could never begin to articulate.
The southern gothic atmosphere of the whole work is a triumph in and of itself. I haven’t read a book in a long time that felt so intimately tied to a landscape I was unfamiliar with, yet crafted such an clear portrait of the place in my mind. The narrative itself had an almost mythological curve to it, a style of writing, particularly when situated in the American South, I can only compare to Toni Morrison or other authors who set the American derilict as a stage for magical and incomprehensible stories to play out. It also felt very “Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess”in a way that feels almost eerily prescient to rural queer narratives of coming of age that exist today. It was shocking, almost, and I’m convinced Chappell Roan must have read this book to write Pink Pony Club otherwise this is just a fun cultural coincidence, but I digress.
While this book has certainly aged a bit (namely due to the inclusion of dated language, albeit the context always supported anything offensive from being truly problematic), there is a timelessness to the book’s overall style. There were too many gorgeous lines of wisdom to underline in my first reading, and way too many moments of truly impressive literary craftsmanship to even begin to summarize. I hope to read it again and I hope more people do too. Penguin should reprint this book, probably as a classic of some kind. Also will the real Gary Reed please stand up because who are you and where are you I have questions for you!!
Now that I’ve finished it, it feels like a painfully forgotten classic—the type of book that should be taught in schools and read around the world yet remains almost untraceable. Reed’s prose and intimate storytelling skills (not to mention stunning representation of the American southwest and all it contains and erases) is comparable only to Donna Tartt or Ocean Vuong, yet predates both authors publishing their first books by a number of years. The meditations on dual consciousness, memory, nostalgia, and the painful endeavour of coming into your own in a culture of intense sublimation was masterfully written, as if Reed took my own childhood memories and granted them profound reflection and poetic expression in ways I could never begin to articulate.
The southern gothic atmosphere of the whole work is a triumph in and of itself. I haven’t read a book in a long time that felt so intimately tied to a landscape I was unfamiliar with, yet crafted such an clear portrait of the place in my mind. The narrative itself had an almost mythological curve to it, a style of writing, particularly when situated in the American South, I can only compare to Toni Morrison or other authors who set the American derilict as a stage for magical and incomprehensible stories to play out. It also felt very “Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess”in a way that feels almost eerily prescient to rural queer narratives of coming of age that exist today. It was shocking, almost, and I’m convinced Chappell Roan must have read this book to write Pink Pony Club otherwise this is just a fun cultural coincidence, but I digress.
While this book has certainly aged a bit (namely due to the inclusion of dated language, albeit the context always supported anything offensive from being truly problematic), there is a timelessness to the book’s overall style. There were too many gorgeous lines of wisdom to underline in my first reading, and way too many moments of truly impressive literary craftsmanship to even begin to summarize. I hope to read it again and I hope more people do too. Penguin should reprint this book, probably as a classic of some kind. Also will the real Gary Reed please stand up because who are you and where are you I have questions for you!!
May 30, 2024
A friend who's lived his entire life in a small town in Oklahoma much like the one in the book suggested I read this for a better understanding of what his life was & is like there.
The author has done a great job in painting a picture of everything there is about Pryor from the the people who live there to the place itself. There's a sense of resignation among many in the story, wanting to find someplace and something better but feeling trapped. Charlie's seems doomed from the beginning of the book as a young boy who just is lost. As he grows and lives things happen and he begins to wonder if, and maybe....
The book got 5 stars from me based on the events in Part 5 at the end of the story.
The author has done a great job in painting a picture of everything there is about Pryor from the the people who live there to the place itself. There's a sense of resignation among many in the story, wanting to find someplace and something better but feeling trapped. Charlie's seems doomed from the beginning of the book as a young boy who just is lost. As he grows and lives things happen and he begins to wonder if, and maybe....
The book got 5 stars from me based on the events in Part 5 at the end of the story.
December 28, 2022
I have read several coming of age novels.this one was different enough to make it interesting and a good light read while on vacation on the beach. I liked the character personalities. It had it’s corny moments but all round an enjoyable experience.
April 16, 2024
This was cute, had some nice poetic moments. It made you wish the main character well on his arc of growth.
Read
December 7, 2020Page 14
“How far is heaven?“ In miles she couldn’t say.
Page 234
“Carvin’ names into trees is pretty weak magic, really, but it can be an aid to a bigger spell,“ he began. “Don’t tell your mamma, but I got her name cut into a couple of old pecan trees out front of my house,“ he winked. Folding out a broad, sturdy blade , he leaned into the tree trunk and began whittling away at the initials I had already carved there. “You’ve got to cut ‘em in deep,“ he said, “so the tree feels them and will keep a high lookout for the one they belong to.”
“How far is heaven?“ In miles she couldn’t say.
Page 234
“Carvin’ names into trees is pretty weak magic, really, but it can be an aid to a bigger spell,“ he began. “Don’t tell your mamma, but I got her name cut into a couple of old pecan trees out front of my house,“ he winked. Folding out a broad, sturdy blade , he leaned into the tree trunk and began whittling away at the initials I had already carved there. “You’ve got to cut ‘em in deep,“ he said, “so the tree feels them and will keep a high lookout for the one they belong to.”
December 18, 2019
4.0 out of 5 stars
[Gay Men’s Book Group-Chicago monthly selection]
[Gay Men’s Book Group-Chicago monthly selection]
October 3, 2010
Pryor Rendering is a detailed, somewhat depressing story about Charlie Hope, who grows up in Pryor, Oklahoma. The title refers to a rendering plant where cattle carcasses are butchered and processed, leaving virtually nothing unused. The plant emits a disgusting, oppressive odor that permeates the town, and sets the tone for a story that rarely rises above a dull throb. The writing style plods along with an occasional flash of minor brilliance, but nothing sustained in either the story or the manner in which it is told. From Charlie’s sad perspective, constantly and somewhat purposefully withdrawn, his world revolves just outside his reach, populated mostly with characters so unsympathetic I had difficulty staying focused on them. Only when Charlie meets Jack and falls in love, facing self-doubt and the consternation of those around him, does the story liven up a bit. But it soon dovetails back into the same plainsong narrative from which it started.
December 27, 2013
The book was really well written, though some of the dialogue felt a little forced, and the narrator seemed like he had a pen in one hand and a thesaurus in the other. The ending was disappointing, but I couldn't have suggested a better one, so I'll leave it at that.
January 1, 2011
A sensitive tale of people trying to cope.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews