Swag Tuesday

This week's Swag Tuesday prize is Cyclizen, the new novel from Jim Provenzano, author of PINS and Monkey Suits. Many of you know Provenzano from his decade of reporting gay sports news and from his articles in San Francisco's Bay Area Reporter, where he is an arts editor. The Cyclizen synopsis:

Kent R. Hyles, a 24-year-old jaded activist-emeritus, rides through Manhattan as a bike messenger, dodging more than traffic. Ness, his HIV-positive not-boyfriend, lures him to easier climes on the West Coast as he prepares to leave New York. Still recovering from a passionate affair with Eric Cleese, a popular activist and clone, Kent chooses the swift escape of traveling on wheels through the streets of the New York in the early 1990s, seeking random sexual encounters when not working or avoiding cab doors. Leaving New York would be easy, but he has a project, born of a chance meeting with a corporate underling, Michael Sheets, who's eager to learn how to sell AIDS philanthropy, and how to come out. Trading in information for the promise of a loft of money, the messenger learns how to use his skills for a conflicted idealism; theft for a cause.

"Juggling AIDS activism, corporate and individual greed, all through the travails of a bike messenger in search of love and belonging, Cyclizen is noteworthy for its fine characterization and poignant lyricism. Provenzano explores love and friendship with insight and nuance, marking his work as unique, vital and significant.” – Trebor Healey, author of the Lambda Literary Award-winning Through It Came Bright Colors. To win an autographed copy of Cyclizen, you need only comment on this post. Only your first comment counts, please leave your email address, contest ends at midnight Tuesday. Publicists: if you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.