The Pigman

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**Title** **The Pigman**
Starfire reissue cover
Author	Paul Zindel
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Starfire
Released	February 1, 1983 (reprint)
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	Approx. 176 pages
ISBN	ISBN 0-55-326321-8
Followed by	My Darling, My Hamburger (1969)

The Pigman is a book for young adults written by Paul Zindel, first published in 1968. There is a sequel called the The Pigman's Legacy.

This novel tells the story of two high school sophomores, John Conlan and Lorraine Jensen, who are disenchanted with their parents, school, and life in general. However, their lives change when they meet an eccentric old man they nickname "The Pigman".

1 Summary
2 Characters
3 Trivia
4 Sources

[edit] Summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story is told from a dual point of view; John Conlan and Lorraine Jensen take turns narrating, alternating each chapter between them.

John is a consummate practical joker. Along with Lorraine, and his two other friends, Norton and Dennis, they play what they like to call a "telephone marathon", in which one of them closes their eyes, points at a random name in a telephone book, and calls them, trying to keep the talker on the line as long as possible. Lorraine cheats by sneaking a peek into the book and locating someone that lives nearby, so that she would appear more authentic. She calls Mr. Pignati, or "The Pigman", and eventually gets $10 from him by telling him that she is part of a charity. John gets very excited by this, but Lorraine feels guilty about lying to him.

The next day John and Lorraine go to meet Mr. Pignati and collect the $10. Originally, they'd decided not to, but John convinced Lorraine into doing it by telling her that Mr. Pignati may be suicidal, and she'd never know. They stay a while, and he invites them to explore his house. In passing, Mr Pignati says that his wife Conchetta is in California visiting his sister, but later, John finds her funeral bill and knows that she is actually dead. His treasured memories of her are preserved in her collection of miniature pigs and her nice dresses.

Mr Pignati takes John&Lorraine to his favorite places, including the zoo, where they find his "best friend" Bobo, a baboon. The kids dislike Bobo, thinking there are more beautiful primates in the zoo, but Mr. Pignati sees Bobo as a person.

They go to Mr. Pignati's house every afternoon, especially in the winter, to spend time with him. He seems to be everything that John and Lorraine wished their parents were like: he understands them and wants them to be happy. At some point, John and Lorraine tell him that they're not really part of a charity organization, and he then confesses that Conchetta is dead, although they had found out beforehand from the statements.

They engage in a roller skate game, using the wooden roller skates that Mr. Pignati bought for them all at Beekman's. John runs up the stairs, and the Pigman follows, suddenly suffering a heart attack on the way up.

John and Lorraine are scared, but they find out that he will be all right after some time in the hospital. They now have the house to themselves, by permission of Mr. Pignati. His one request is for them to feed Bobo while he's in the hospital.

John and Lorraine go to the Pigman's house that night. They dress up in the Pigman's and his wife's old clothes, as a game, but in the end they kiss, a turning point in their relationship.

John wants to have a party, inviting only a few friends, but of course those guests bring their friends and eventually the house is jammed with over forty people. Norton arrives uninvited, becomes very belligerent and gets into a physical fight with John, during which Conchetta's pigs are smashed. Lorraine and another girl named Helen Kazinski try on some of Conchetta's dresses, and one of them gets ripped. At the end the Pigman and the police arrive, and John passes out.

John and Lorraine are brought home by the police. Loraine's mother, a sexually repressed termagant who has overprotected her daughter, is shocked and furious. Assuming the worst, she slaps Lorraine twice, but Lorraine finally explains the situation to her.

The next day, Lorraine and John invite the Pigman to the zoo. The Pigman seems exhausted and sad, and feels that John and Lorraine have betrayed his trust. The three of them meet, Mr Pignati looks exhausted, but still looks forward to seeing Bobo. When they get to the zoo an attendant tells them that Bobo has died. Mr Pignati drops to the floor, unable to take what has happened in the last couple of days, suffering another painfully short and fatal heart attack.

John and Lorraine feel responsible for his death, but tell themselves that it wasn't their fault. They realize that their attitudes toward life and toward themselves have been changed forever by the experience.

The novel is widely taught in American schools, and also made it on to the list of most frequently banned books in America in the 1990s, because of what some deem offensive language, although most of the "cursing" in the book is rendered as punctuation symbols. The book currently appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 at number forty-four. [1]

ISBN 0-553-26321-8

[edit] Characters

John Conlan - A drinker. He believes life isn't interesting, and lies to make it interesting. In freshman year, he set up bombs in the boys' bathroom.

Mr. Conlan - Nicknamed "The Bore" by John. He works at the Coffee Exchange. He is a former drinker, and is the reason why John has become a drinker.

Mrs. Conlan - Nicknamed the "Old Lady" along with "Hyper". She is an obsessive cleaner, and normally darts out of any confrontations John has with her husband.

Kenneth Conlan (mentioned briefly) - John's brother, who works with his father at the Coffee Exchange. He's the son that John's parents want him to be.

Lorraine Jensen - She reads psychological books like Freud, as well as articles. She has a self-esteem problem because of all the insults her mother made. She's paranoid, and notices 'omens' that's she's convinced were pointing to the death of Mr. Pignati.

Norton Kelly - An acquaintance of John and Lorraine. Usually gets "Five-finger discounts" or shoplifts. He is nicknamed The Marshmallow Kid because he was caught shoplifting a bag of marshmallows. He used to play with dolls as a kid. He did telephone marathons with John, Lorraine, and Dennis. Also, he has a bit of an attitude problem.

Conchetta Pignati - Mr. Pignati's late wife. She collected porcelain pigs, the first one given to her by Mr. Pignati. She only liked one picture of herself.

Mr. Angelo Pignati - A lonely old man whose wife recently passed away-- and he won't admit it. His best friend is a baboon named Bobo and he makes regular trips to the zoo. Befriends John and Lorraine.

Mrs. Jensen - Lorraine's single hardworking mom. She is a nurse who despises men because her husband left her. She constantly puts down Lorraine, but is working more for her sake.

The Cricket - Also known as Miss Reillen, the librarian at Franklin High School. She wears tight clothes, so when ever she walks, she makes a scratchy noise, like a cricket. She thinks John and Lorraine are using the typewriter to type a report for their English teacher, but in reality, they are writing the epic novel about the Pigman.

Dennis Kobin - An acquaintance of John and Lorraine. He did telephone marathons with John, Lorraine and Norton. He currently holds the record of 2 hours and 26 minutes on the telephone.

Jane Appling - A tall classmate of Lorraine. She is the only girl who doesn't have a pu telephone, and usually begins her sentences with "Saaaaaaaay".