The Patch Boys

November 1, 1986
This is a beautifully crafted, lyrically written coming-of-age novel set in a Pennsylvania mining region. The narrator, Sammy di Contini, 15-year-old son of an Italian immigrant coal miner, comes of age in the summer of 1925. The summer, which begins idyllically, ends in tragedy when Sammy's older brother Vincenzo is shot while trying to organize local miners. In between, Sammy falls in love, visits his underworld brother Louis in New York, is seduced by Louis's girlfriend and generally has a lot of doubts about himself and the meaning of life. Parini's poetic talents are apparent throughout. Better than any recent writer, Parini successfully captures the contradictory notions of the adolescent male psyche. As Sammy reflects, "that was the worst thing about living: right and wrong were so damnably close that you almost had to try them on to see which was which." Highly recommended. Brian E. Coutts, Rice Univ. Lib., Houston