 
|
|
 |
|
Band Fags!
by Frank Anthony Polito
| List Price: |
$15.00 |
| Price: |
$10.20 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
| You Save: |
$4.80 (32%) |
|
|
Paperback
Publisher: Kensington
ISBN13: 9780758222657
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
"Ever since I first heard that Lionel Richie and Diana Ross song, `Endless Love,' all I've wanted is to find The One. Someone to love. Who will love me back." September, 1982. John Cougar's "Jack and Diane" is on endless radio rotation, and Dallas and Dynasty rule the ratings. Jack Paterno is a straight-A student living in the Detroit suburb of Hazel Park, with his own Atari 5200, a Beta VCR, and everything a seventh-grader could ask for. The only thing he has in common with foul-mouthed Brad Dayton, who lives on the gritty south side near 8 Mile, is that both are in Varsity Band. Or maybe that's not the only thing. Because Jack is discovering that while hanging around with girls in elementary school was perfectly acceptable, having lots of girl friends (as opposed to girlfriends) now is getting him and Brad labeled as Band Fags. And Jack is no fag. Is he? As Jack and Brad make their way through junior high and then through Hazel Park High School, their friendship grows deeper and more complicated. From stealing furtive glances at Playgirl to discussing which celebrities might be like that, from navigating school cliques to dealing with crushes on girls and guys alike, Jack is trying to figure out who and what he is. He wants to find real, endless love, but he also wants to be popular and "normal." But, as Brad points out, this is real life--not a John Hughes movie. And sooner or later, Jack will have to choose. Filled with biting wit and pitch-perfect observations, Band Fags is an exhilarating novel about lust and love, about the friendships that define and sometimes confine us, and about coming of age and coming to terms with the end of innocence and the beginning of something terrifying, thrilling, and completely unpredictable.
| Customer Reviews: |
|
| |
| Band Fags |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
 |
|
Having grown up a few years earlier then the characters in the book I could relate to a lot of the problems they encountered. It was fun to revisit that time in my life. I did not however grow up in Detroit like the author did. I grew up in St. Paul Minnesota. This is a must read for eveyone who felt they were an outsider growing up.
|
| If you were a girl, would you think this book was hot? Totally!! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
|
|
When I first began reading this book, I honestly was not too impressed. Actually, I was frustrated and annoyed by the author's writing style. For the first half of the book every paragraph was riddled with incomplete sentences. He also seemed to ignore literaly every grammatical rule in the book. I read his biography and discovered he has a Master's degree in dramatic writing. Go figure. Well, I think it was the fact that I related so well to the pop culture from the 80's and also possibly because I live in Michigan very close to where the story is set, that I forced myself to continue reading.
Interestingly, the author's writing style seemed to mature along with the central character. The conclusion I've drawn was that his poor grammar was a deliberate attempt to sound authentic and conversational. I'm not sure it worked for me, but setting that aside, I have to admit that I've been deeply moved by this touching story.
Jack Paterno is a seventh-grade literary geek who is also muscially inclined. He's a member of his school's band, and the close friendships he develops during his junior high and high school years all center around his involvement in band. He and his fellow band members are disparagingly referred to as "band fags".
As Jack approaches and eventually dives right into puberty, a realization starts to dawn upon him. He begins questioning his identity, and these questions are quite alarming to him. He recalls in vivid detail the way he always played girl-type games with his female friends and cousins when he was young. He remembers crushes he's had on other boys. He thinks it might be weird that he's obsessed with soap operas and sappy romantic movies. Worst of all though, he fears that the fact he finds other guys attractive might make him "that way". He's afraid he might be a real fag, not just a band fag.
Jack's best friend is a boy named Brad, and the two are the same age. Brad is similar to Jack in that he's also in band, and he's also "that way". The story is definitely a coming-out and coming-of-age-story, but more significantly it is a story about this enduring friendship. It is about fear, betrayal, passion, and forgiveness. It is about enduring love. The relationship that these two central characters develop is powerful and deeply moving.
During part of the book I found myself not liking Jack too much. In fact, I sort of wanted to slam it closed and toss it in the trash. I found him to be ego-centric and shallow. I was extremely offended by some of the elitist remarks he made, for example stating that his parents were simple people because they worked in a supermarket. When he abandoned his friends in an attempt to gain popularity from the "in" crowd, I wanted to smack him.
I'm not sure if the book is at all auto-biographical, but if so, I'm impressed with the author's willingness to expose himself this way. Ultimately, my opinion changed about the protagonist, and I actually cried near the end.
Perhaps the story contained more details than it needed. Maybe the narrator tended to drone on a bit when he could have been advancing the story. Sometimes he seemed to get distracted and began talking about off-topic subjects which caused some confusion. In spite of this, though, I really enjoyed the narration. I sort of felt as if that is exactly the way a real-life Jack Paterno would talk if he were sitting in my living room carrying on a conversation with me. I also loved the way his detailed descriptions allowed me to paint clear mental pictures of the setting and the characters.
I think that although the character Jack Paterno was shallow for much of the story, the book itself was amazingly deep, and I'm certain it's going to stick with me for a long time. It really makes me want to pick up the phone and call all the people I've known throughout my life just to remind them how much I love them.
Thanks Frank Polito for a great read. Thanks for sharing your talent. Thanks for being an out and proud Band Fag! If I were a girl, I'd think you're totally hot!!
|
| 3 1/2 stars |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
 |
|
I agree that the book is overly long and doesn't really seem to have a cohesive theme. However, "Jack Paterno" graduated from high school one year after I did, and it brought back a lot of memories of high school, some painful, some tremedously happy. If you went to school in the 80's, there are so many wonderful references to popular culture from the banal to the famous. So I give this book a mixed review: more than "it's ok", perhaps a hair on either side of "i like it".
|
| What a Nostalgiapalooza! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
|
|
A touching, nostalgic coming of age story about self-acceptance. Recommended.
This book is set in a neighboring city to where I grew up, set during my teen years, and with characters close to the age I was at the time, so on that level alone, it was a complete blast as the author does not skimp on place and pop culture references. On the other hand, I can't say how it would read for people unfamiliar with the suburbs of Detroit, and constantly having the author explaining pronunciations like Gratiot and local trivia.
Jack's voice was spot-on, using the slang and vocabulary at the time. More amazingly, the author does a beautiful job of seamlessly having Jack grow-up. Mr. Polito respects his characters, never treating their concerns, interests, or faux sense of maturity as something to mock, but simply allowing them to grow and evolve.
This is the story of Jack and his friendship with Brad. Both of the characters are in the band and both are gay, but Jack is in denial -- grasping at any spark of interest in girls, even if it's a pale shadow of what he feels for Joey or Tom.
Brad, his friend, is more self-aware, and aware of Jack's struggle too, but always willing to accept him -- and to forgive him when needed.
I enjoyed the large cast of characters, most of whom remained at least peripherally in the story, and giving a sense of a populated teen community. They grew up with Jack and Grad too, even if we only see it out of the corner of our eyes.
If I have any complaints, it's that Jack -- while always likable -- was frustrating with his hokey-pokey dance of I'm straight/very straight/so straight/maybe I'm not straight/no, I'm straight/okay, yeah, I don't think I'm straight/straight as an arrow/Or not so much... I understand completely that this was a hard decision, and growing up in the eighties know why the closet would seen safe, but it was still hard to read, especially since I'd like to have read more of his explorations.
Still, one of the best books I've read in a while.
|
| From One Band Fag to Another |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
 |
|
I may be a little biased. I was born in suburbs of Detroit in which this book is set, I'm 3-years older than the main character, I really really didn't want to be gay in high school and I was a band fag.
All disclaimers aside, this is a well written coming of age story set in the mid-80's in suburban Michigan. The two main characters, Jack and Brad, are best friends throughout the story as only school age friends can be - Sometimes they are inseparable, sometimes the fight and sometimes they flirt with intimacy. They both come to terms with being gay in an era that was not all that welcoming to gay people. And they do it in very different ways but in the end are still friends.
The book is written in a voice that is youthful, funny and with the correct slang as extra flavor.
I bought it as a recommendation off my kindle after thinking, from the cover and the title, that is was just another silly coming of age novel by yet another gay guy. And it is all that but it's much more. It's well written, it's not preachy and it's really a lot of fun.
Kinda makes me want to look up some of my old friends from high school.
|
|
