By Jason Bryant
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As American Airlines flight 2325 touched down at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the anticipation was growing.
It wasn’t the anticipation of a rough landing or the anticipation that in a few days I’d be covering the USA Wrestling Cadet and Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D., but it was the anticipation that can come with the climax of a good book.
Contrary to popular belief, men in their mid-20’s do read, as in, they read something other than the comics, sports page and Maxim. It had been a while since I sat down and read a good book, and with the recent purchase from Amazon.com, Alfred Martino’s “Pinned” was the selected reading to get my mind ready for 13 days in Fargo.
I first heard of Martino’s book as I was doing my regular daily scan of the message boards. It was a simple message.
“The Finest Wrestling Novel.”
I wanted to give Martino’s book a fair shake and I won’t compare it to other wrestling books that adorn the shelf over my desk like “Vision Quest,” “Wrestling Sturbridge” and “A Season on the Mat.”
“Pinned” is the first published novel by the New Jersey native Martino. Familiar with some of the Garden State’s most dominant public school programs, the scene was set beautifully and Martino didn’t over-exaggerate for the sake of drama.
It’s Jersey, a state that thrives on wrestling and the story telling that Martino does with the book’s two main characters, Bobby Zane and Ivan Korske is solid. The stories of each and their quest for a state championship wasn’t dolled up to sell books, it wasn’t patting the sport of wrestling on the back, the book was simply about being a teenager and chasing a dream.
The book, geared for teenagers and wrestlers alike, is blessed with two heroes that both display antagonistic traits when dealing with their friends, family, teammates and significant others.
I found myself immediately identifying with Korske, despite his background being much different from my own. Maybe since the two characters contrast so much, you pick one’s story and care about it more, seemingly skipping over chapters about the other, less interesting character.
That’s the only real problem I found in the story ” trying to decipher which wrestler you’re rooting for to win the state championship.
Martino’s words echo loudly in my head, I could hear Millburn’s Dean Messina growling in my ear “Martino captures the essence of the wrestling room.
No Hollywood theatrics, just wrestling “and most importantly, growing up.
Korske’s character, dark and stoic, a cynical stud that’s too good for his coach and his team transforms before you.
Zane, projected as the rich kid on his wrestling team “deals with issues more pressing than wrestling and that many of today’s teenagers must deal with, often times more than they should. Korske goes through his own blue-collar world, still hanging on to a past that doesn’t haunt him as much as it angers him.
As the pages of “Pinned” opened in the airport in Philadelphia and closed in O’Hare, my intentions of comparing the book to “Vision Quest” and “Wrestling Sturbridge,” waned.
Separate audience.
Plus, as good as it might be on the big screen, Martino’s work is best left in the imagination of those reading it. He gets us to envision the sweatbox that is the Lennings wrestling room “and the cold New Jersey winters.
“Vision Quest” was a great book and a mediocre movie (and yes, that is being generous), “Pinned” just reads so easily that even the lethargic reader (like me) could get through it in an afternoon.
It’s no self-help book, rather a good story, well-written and one that teenagers would have very little problem relating to. I guess I’m young enough to still relate.
I also was quite surprised with the realism that Martino gave the two main characters and the twists that went on. You could see things spiraling out of control for Zane and Korske, but there’s a huge gut check that the airline turbulence couldn’t shake.
I wanted to tap the woman next to me and explain what was happening.
Rather than recalling a story from the past, “Pinned” read like a current story, but with enough fictionalization and history to make you suspend your vision of reality, just for three hours or so.
As the book came to its finale, after 306 pages and thousands of words, it was the final ellipsis that was the ultimate conclusion.
The bottom line is that “Pinned” is one of the finest wrestling novel available and should be a must-read for any wrestling fan and it was solid summer reading.
Learn more about Alfred Martino at www.alfredmartino.com
You can find the book in our wrestling books area.
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