"Cyclizen is the tale of a bicycle courier, living in San Francisco, recounting his life in New York City during the heyday of ACT UP and other protest groups. Provenzano accomplishes the seemingly miraculous task of spinning a yarn that is simultaneously meandering and as on-point as an arrow loosed from an over-taut bow.

Readers can never be sure where this book is heading, but it’s one hell of a trip from point A to point B, filled with rich vocabulary and occasional forays into clever wordplay." - Anthony Glassman, Gay People's Chronicle

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"Many passages stand out and could stand alone as short stories in their own right: awkward attempts at being friends with an ex-boyfriend, a sad interlude with a friend/fuck buddy, fictional HIV-poz porn star Jake Stallion, plus numerous one-night-stands with guys Kent hopes will be 'the one.' Is there a gay reader who wouldn't see parts of himself in Kent's stories?

One scene particularly resonates in the light of all the AIDS deaths we endured. Kent tries to explain to his parents why he's so unaffected by the death of his 81-year-old aunt. He tells Mom and Dad of all the memorials he's attended. He tries to explain to them what it's like seeing someone die before they're 30, weighing less than 100 lbs. But Mom and Dad either don't get it, or don't want to hear it. This sequence is beautifully, poetically written.

Cyclizen is unforgettable. Kent's look back on his younger days almost feels like a ghost story. The years covered in the book are a period that will indeed haunt us forever." - David Nahmod, Bay Area Reporter