Sunday, April 2, 2017

The Pigman, by Paul Zindel


John Conlan and Lorraine Jensen are two high school sophomores with a knack for getting into trouble.  Their favorite hobby involves making prank phone calls and seeing how long they can keep their victim on the line, an activity which leads them to meet Mr. Angelo Pignati.  After a visit to “The Pigman’s” house, John and Lorraine become fast friends with this elderly widower.  When Mr. Pignati suffers an unexpected heart attack, however, John and Lorraine volunteer to keep a close eye on his house.  Unfortunately, they end up doing more a lot more harm than good…

Without giving away any of this awesome story, it’s important to know in advance that “The Pigman” is a very sad, realistic book.  Many libraries still keep it on their list of “banned” books due to its depictions of underage drinking, drug use and sexuality.  It’s kind of remarkable that this book was actually published back in 1968 since its themes are way ahead of its time, but I think that “The Pigman” will quickly become a favorite to any young men in search of a haunting, mature read. 

No comments:

Post a Comment