Has anyone bought this book and read it?

Good book, man, and a pretty quick read. It's on my reading list for a course I teach (Sports and Literature). Always provokes some good discussion

You're allowed to have your students read it?


I'm going through the book like wildfire and it's a really good read. I would seriously rate it higher than most works I've read in the last 3 years.

I emailed him and asked what other stories he'll be writing, but I want to try my hand at writing something too.

It's terrific and just won a Lambda Award in the Young Adult category -- but us Old Adults can enjoy it, too. Full disclosure: Bill (KonIGsberg) is a friend of mine (an of Outsports).

Yeah, I'm a university professor, so no problem. Really one of the best "gay"sports novels out there.

Oh sweet. Yeah, I'm nearly done with it myself, and there really isn't much "gay" about it. It's also better than most of the "coming of age" novels out there that end up putting you to sleep.

What do you mean, there isn't much "gay" about it?

Yeah, except for the gay QB and the gay reporter and the gay love story.

Well, like I told you. The book doesn't focus too much on those things, other than those being the key points of the book itself... LOL. It focuses on his social life, home life, troubles, happiness, etc. I couldn't help but think of Cory Johnson the first few chapters. Why? Well, in Cory's article he mentions that a family friend made an off-hand remark about homosexuals. Bracing himself, Cory went to his bathroom. Locked the door, lowered himself against the wall and cried.


...A family friend said something derogatory during a Super Bowl party in his sophomore year.

"I got up, went into the bathroom, sat down and cried. It was the first time it hit me. The following week it was permeating me. I was feeling it deeply. I became depressed and somewhat volatile in my emotions."


I guess you can also put "Tim" into that mix.

http://www.outsports.com/os/index.php/comp...ell-on-his-team


But, Corey's story was more heartfelt. I guess I'm a sucker for a sad moment. Last month, OS highlighted an article in a blog post. It was about Corey 10 years after what went down during his high school career.

http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2009/05/...10-years-later/




Read my above reply to Jim. What I meant by my comment is that the book doesn't constantly focus on his homosexuality. I actually had the great pleasure of having some email correspondence with the book's author, Bill Konigsberg. We spoke about the characters' dynamics, the plot thickeners, how the writing process was for him, etc. We both agreed that when a book is written in such a rich manner, the reader starts materializing the words. They then end up "walking" the character's surrounds while being in the character's shoes. Do I see myself as Bobby? Of course I do. I'm still not him 100%. Of course, if I had the choice of how I almost got outed and the choice of being outed like how Bobby gets outed, I would take the former. I would have probably done something very stupid last year if I had the latter happen to me.

I picked the book up thinking it would your average coming of age book that dealt with a testosterone filled gay teenage boy. I was really happy that I was wrong. Being nearly done with the book, I can say it's one of the better fiction books I've read in quite some time.

-DJ

Well thank you, DJ. I'm glad you enjoyed the book... in fact I did borrow from Cory's story in writing the novel. You may remember that Bobby's teamamtes seranade him with "YMCA..." that came straight from Cory's life.

-Bill Konigsberg

Why look at that! It's Bill!

You're welcome, Bill. Although, in all due honesty, it was my pleasure to read your book. I've read a few coming of age books growing up. There is a notable one I read when I was a 6th grade, whose title I don't remember. I read another book the following year, well, I reread it. The Giver, I read that as a 4th grader, and I read it again in 7th grade. The struggles these characters face are so diverse. It can be the simplest form of drama, to the character being in deep shit. The communication with the characters in your book is also something I enjoyed. I'm not sure how you did it, but you captured modern-day teenage life pretty dang well.

Yup, the YMCA serenade is actually something I think about sometimes. Except my friends used You Sexy Thing... LOL


DJ

I made this post almost a year ago. I recently got in touch with Bill about the book, and his future novel.

Anyway, since the very first time I read the book, I've read it about 14 times. I'll read it every other month. Sometimes up to 3-4 times that very month. It never gets old, and I honestly can't predict the story because I literally read so many books that I end up forgetting.

Out of the Pocket is like a modern day compact sized Les Miserables, which I read on my own accord out of boredom.

BTW. I started reading the book again on Saturday, and I just noticed Outsports being mentioned...

I've never seen it mentioned before. Wow.