Cyclizen

by Jim Provenzano

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.

Genres: M M Romance

188 pages, Paperback

Published April 16, 2007

About the author

Jim Provenzano is the author of the novels Finding Tulsa, Now I'm Here, PINS, Monkey Suits, Cyclizen, the 2012 Lambda Literary Award-winning Every Time I Think of You, its sequel Message of Love (a Lammy finalist), and the stage adaptation of PINS (a Bay Area Theatre Critics awardee). His short fiction collection Forty Wild Crushes was published in 2016.

A journalist in LGBT media for 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. An Editor at the Bay Area Reporter, his seventh novel, Finding Tulsa, was published in September 2020.

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Reviews

[Marty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite of all of Provenzano's books - endearing protagonist with a happy ending!

[Thomas Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Ethan Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.