Loving Women

by Pete Hamill

It was 1953. A time of innocence. A time when the world seemed full of possibilities. And all the rules were about to change.

Michael was a streetwise Brooklyn boy heading south to join the Navy and become a man. But he was about to learn more about life than he's ever imagined.

Eden was beautiful, mysterious--the perfect instructor in the art of making love, in sexual pleasure...and in courage. But her past was full of dangerous secrets that would haunt her forever.

LOVING WOMEN is an unforgettable novel of honor and passion, heartbreak and desire, and one man's coming of age.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

510 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Pete Hamill was a novelist, essayist and journalist whose career has endured for more than forty years. He was born in Brooklyn, N. Y. in 1935, the oldest of seven children of immigrants from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He attended Catholic schools as a child. He left school at 16 to work in the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a sheetmetal worker, and then went on to the United States Navy. While serving in the Navy, he completed his high school education. Then, using the educational benefits of the G.I. Bill of Rights, he attended Mexico City College in 1956-1957, studying painting and writing, and later went to Pratt Institute. For several years, he worked as a graphic designer. Then in 1960, he went to work as a reporter for the New York Post. A long career in journalism followed. He has been a columnist for the New York Post, the New York Daily News, and New York Newsday, the Village Voice, New York magazine and Esquire. He has served as editor-in-chief of both the Post and the Daily News. As a journalist, he covered wars in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Lebanon and Northern Ireland, and has lived for extended periods in Mexico City, Dublin, Barcelona, San Juan and Rome. From his base in New York he also covered murders, fires, World Series, championship fights and the great domestic disturbances of the 1960s, and wrote extensively on art, jazz, immigration and politics. He witnessed the events of September 11, 2001 and its aftermath and wrote about them for the Daily News.

At the same time, Hamill wrote much fiction, including movie and TV scripts. He published nine novels and two collections of short stories. His 1997 novel, Snow in August, was on the New York Times bestseller list for four months. His memoir, A Drinking Life, was on the same New York Times list for 13 weeks. He has published two collections of his journalism (Irrational Ravings and Piecework), an extended essay on journalism called News Is a Verb, a book about the relationship of tools to art, a biographical essay called Why Sinatra Matters, dealing with the music of the late singer and the social forces that made his work unique. In 1999, Harry N. Abrams published his acclaimed book on the Mexican painter Diego Rivera. His novel, Forever, was published by Little, Brown in January 2003 and became a New York Times bestseller. His most recently published novel was North River (2007).

In 2004, he published Downtown: My Manhattan, a non-fiction account of his love affair with New York, and received much critical acclaim. Hamill was the father of two daughters, and has a grandson. He was married to the Japanese journalist, Fukiko Aoki, and they divided their time between New York City and Cuernavaca, Mexico. He was a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.

Author photo by David Shankbone (September 2007) - permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

Reviews

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This early novel by Pete Hamill is a wonderful memoir of a young man experiencing the world for the first time when he joins the US Navy at the age of 17 and leaves home to serve in 1952. He is stationed in Pensacola, FL, where he is exposed to new people from other walks of life, new cultures, and new rules that he never knew existed and now must consider and abide by. His various adventures in growing are exciting, fun, dangerous, and some very scary. He began as a young man who thought he was well aware from his big city Brooklyn roots and soon sees how naïve he really is. And of course, this includes his knowledge, understanding, and prowess with women.

The story is written beautifully. The emotion is almost tangible. The author's longing and obsession for the one woman he falls in love with is so well described that your heart will be with him every step of the way.

The graphic details, which can get uncomfortably detailed in a few areas, would have a reader think that "loving" in Loving Woman was a verb throughout the book. But it turns out that it is an adjective.

[Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished this wonderful book a little while ago. I probably would never have picked it up, because between the cover and the name it sounded like chick-lit and I'm not that much of a fan. However, this book has broad appeal and specially to guys. It's the story of a young man who joins the Navy in 1953 and finds out about life. Hamill, the author, blends in so much of the racial and social history of the time and develops the characters beautifully. This is a great book and it's looking for a new home as I ray it forward.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book that has been on my shelf for years. I read it at the perfect time. Pete Hamill brought the fifties to life and I remembered many of the songs. My father was in the Navy as was the main character in the book. It was a great coming of age story with a love story and much history of a time and place. Great read for me.

[Angie · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a terrible book. Do not waste your time!!!

[Martini Man · Rating 3 out of 5]

His use of language is always good. But I found this book to be one of his lesser accomplishments. I acknowledge that this was some sort of fictional riff on his time in the US Navy. But the central romance around the plot seemed very contrived and forced to me. I've enjoyed some of his other works a lot more and was somewhat disappointed in this one. But he's still one of my favorite authors and this some called "dud" is better than others I have read in the past (John Irving comes to mind whom I think can write masterpieces or some really painfully contrived things as well).

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful one! Just reread it. Picked it up; couldn’t put it down!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid effort from a favorite author, filled with historical details that make it feel authentic. Michael Devlin, a kid from Brooklyn who enlisted in the Navy during the Korean conflict, is stationed in Pensacola, Florida, and falls in love with a woman there who teaches him about love and life and sacrifice. The characters are complex, and the action is lusty and at times violent. Layered over this is a commentary on various prejudices that were prevalent at the time. Not for the squeamish, or the prudish, but a very entertaining read.

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving Women was written before Snow in August where we meet Michael Devlin as an Irish Catholic kid in 1940's Brooklyn, Michael is now all of seventeen and in the U. S. Navy in 1953. Hamill is a master storyteller whose prose is tough and gritty and violent; it is also tender and lyrical, full of magic, and achingly beautiful. Africa and the story of The People is a recurrent theme in all of Hamill's stories of New York and comes to fruition in Forever where at last, in a different incarnation, Michael finds his Eden.

[Bamboozlepig · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an okay read. Felt like it started dragging about mid-way, so I skimmed to the end. I'm not sure what to make of the fact that Hamill didn't keep his canon straight from this book to the "Snow in August" prequel that was written after this one. In this book, Michael Devlin's mother is the one who died and his father is still alive. In "Snow in August", Devlin's father was killed in WWII and his mom is still alive.

But at least there was no mythical Golem to pop up at the end of this one.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

i like this writer; this is the second book i have read of his and i liked this one, too. i have read reviews of this book from 'great' to 'terrible'. it's about a sailor near the end of the korean war and the one woman he can't forget. i have also read reviews that claim there is way too much graphic sex the book and while there is quite a bit, isn't that what sailors think about? not a bad book at all...

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is deceptive - it appeared to be a basic beach book, but turned out to have much more depth than I expected. It's 1953 and Michael, our 18 years old protaganist is traveling to Pensacola for his first Navy assignment. He is traveling by bus and meets a woman he cannot get out of his mind. Flashforward 30 years later and he is on his way back to Pensacola to recover much of what he lost that year.

[Angela Rios]

What a let down this book was! I bought it soon after reading Pete Hamill's "Forever" which I loved. If there actually was a plot to this story, it was overshadowed by the graphic sexual details which were out of place in this book and totally unnecessary.

[Peter Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first Pete Hamill book I encountered. I was totally blown away by his ability to draw me into the action and to keep me glued to the page.
His character development is deep, original, and sometimes haunting. THeir predicaments are likewise. I'm a major fan.

[Fayth · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of my least favorite by Pete Hamill. Takes place in Florida (where Hamill was apparently stationed in the Navy, as is his character). Still a good read, but felt written more for a male audience.

[Pam Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A re-read. I forgot I had read it, but once I started it, I just could not stop...again. What a writer he is!!

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

A coming of age book. Michael from Brooklyn goes to Florida during his stint in the Navy and quickly learns how different people are outside of New York.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evocative book. Sailor in Florida in 1950s

[Pleasantree · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read other Pete Hamill books and really like his writing. I enjoyed this one, too.

[Trish]

Quite an interesting story that it was going to be fluff stuff. Guy in the Navy makes friends, meets woman.

[Blue Shadow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was deeply touched by this melancholy story. I would like to discuss this book with others who had a similar response.

[Milo · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my favorite Hamill books. was so disappointed to have to have read it in mass market format.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book moved right along. The race relations in the 50s was described very well. Also the end of wwii. The plot moved right long and I didn't want to put it own.

[TRACI · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like this book

[Peg · Rating 2 out of 5]

book covers the a 17-year-old sailor's passage to manhood in the 1950s.

[Al Canary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written story of an 18 Yr old sailor falling for a 30 yr old woman... A little too graphic for an otherwise great writer. But I finished in spite of it.