AMERICAN SKIN: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author) "WHEN THINGS GOT TOO crazy with the cops I suggested to Timmy Penn that we go to college, but he just laughed and said skinheads..." (more)
Key Phrases: black skinhead, dance room, Timmy Penn, Alex Verdi, Ayn Rand (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

De Grazia's powerful debut fearlessly explores racism, adolescent rage and terrifyingly violent youth movements; its adolescent hero is a skinhead, getting into trouble in Chicago's late '80s scene. Intense, unsparing and fueled by a desperate energy, this graphically violent novel will not be to every taste, but it rings true with poignant clarity. Alex Verdi, a daydreaming 17-year-old, leaves home--an Illinois farmhouse--when his parents are busted for selling marijuana, and hitches a ride to the Windy City. There, he lives at the Y and gets a job in an electroplating plant, where he earns the nickname "Degreaser." He's also mugged and beaten by hoods, so when he joins a group of multiracial "anti-Nazi" skinheads, it's partly for protection, partly for a sense of belonging. Strongman leader Timmy Penn quickly becomes Alex's surrogate big brother and role model, but Alex also falls under the spell of a "straightedge" skinhead girl, Marie. Donning the group's image, he manages to get along bruisingly, until a violent encounter with a rival, "white power" skinhead faction, followed by a fight in a nightclub, finds Alex and Tim facing serious police charges. After family intervention, the pair are sent to the army reserves in Fort Benning instead of prison. Once the two youths are discharged, their paths split: Tim goes off to become a drug dealer and Alex tries to clean up his act by moving to Evanstown, a tony suburb--but even there, his ugly past catches up with him. Rights sold in Canada and France; film rights to Frederick Levy Productions. (Apr.) FYI: Written as De Grazia's M.A. thesis, American Skin was rejected by numerous U.S. publishers. Alerted to the success of working-class fiction in England, De Grazia sent his manuscript to Jonathan Cape in London, which published the novel in 1998.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From The Washington Post

"American Skin is for those who read to encounter craftsmanship and feats of imagination... it is brilliant."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; 1 edition (April 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684862220
• ISBN-13: 978-0684862224
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #433,889 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars dead-on about the skin movement with a killer fiction story, August 20, 2000

By	tim (chicago) - See all my reviews

I grew up in the time and place of this book-- and man-- does this guy know how to write. He nailed the mood-- the feelings of desperation that swirled around in those days. It seemed like nobody who hung out around Clark and Belmont had it together-- bad families--real poor-- parents on booze-- whatever. But everybody clung to each other for a sense that they belonged to something. I feel like I knew every single one of these characters in the book-- even though I know this is plainly a fictional account of a very true movement-- and dead on about the skins-- the good, the bad and the ambivalent. It's a complex thing all of it-- and De Grazia tells it just right. The guy knows what he's writing about-- in the past many things written about skinheads have been a sick sorry excuse for the truth. Thanks for telling the truth.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can't stop thinking about this book!, April 23, 2000

By	[e-mail] (USA) - See all my reviews

This is an incredible narrative. At first the straightforward style startled me, but as the story progressed I could see that Alex's voice fit perfectly with the intesity of the plot. I felt like he was sitting next to me telling the story the whole time.

If you are like me and you don't know anything about skinhead culture, this book is particularly intersting, because it presents an alternative to the neo-nazism that I'd assumed to be synonymous with skinheads. Another wake up call was the extremely personal account of life in prison. I was horrified by the ideological sacrifices as much as if not more than the physical dangers.

Technically, Mr. De Grazia astounded me, with his ability to create complete characters who had their own interpretations of just about everything, using a minimal amount of words. If you like action with ideas behind it, read this book!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Skin Em All -- But Start With San Francisco!, September 27, 2000

By A Customer

When I read American Skin almost a year ago, the book was only published in England. Since then it has gone on to some success over here in the States. For the most part it has even been accepted by the mysterious but often cruel world of literary criticism. I have read quite a few positive reviews of the book and what i don't understand - what i will never understand - is why these people who obviously dig the book don't seem to really get it. It is not a Skinhead Bible, nor is it a graphically violent book, nor should it be compared to teenager fight flicks like Rumblefish and The Wild One - it is not even about skinheads really. American Skin is about a person - a young guy trying to figure things out - a young guy trying so desperately to make a go of it but not really knowing how to and yes, he happens to be a skinhead on occasion but so what - that is not what sticks with you after reading this book. At it's heart, American Skin is a beautiful story of one man's transgression and growth - sure Alex Verdi hangs and rumbles with skins - sure he does jailtime - but the physical conflict that often tends to follow Verdi around seems like jello when put up against the character's internal struggles that Degrazia displays with frighteningly wonderful words. Ultimately, the book explores the duality of Verdi the young man - it displays his many sides - sides that are strangling and saving each other all at once - it is this complexity and Degrazia's courage to explore it that make this book a triumph. Is it a perfect book? No. Is Degrazia a perfect writer? No. Is Alex Verdi a perfect character? No - and that is what makes him interesting. That said I don't think literary perfection is what the writer had in mind when this book written. Really all i think he had in mind was telling the story of Alex Verdi - plain and sample - but plain and simple this book is not. As new faces in American Lit go Degrazia may or may not own the palace someday but his first novel will certainly be looked upon as a vital brick in its foundation - along with Fight Club and American Psycho - a book that cleared the path for others - that cleared the path for change. So should you read this book if you are looking for "an actual piece of LITERATURE about the skin or the punk scene?" Hell no. Should you read this book if you are looking for an actual piece of LITERATURE about the complexities of humanity? Should you read this book if you are looking for an actual piece of LITERATURE that captures life's ugliness and beauty all at once? Hell yes. You should read it and then you should read it again. And to that anonymous, but rather venomous reader/reviewer in San Francisco, CA (we know it's you Eddie Norton,Jr!) -- since you are so into "scenes" and "culture" all i have for you is a quote from a beloved culural phenomenon, ESPN's Stuart Scott -- and since you are an admitted reader of the the worst of Anne Rice i figured you would appreciate good ol' Stu's advice when he tells you: "DON'T HATE THE PLAYA - HATE THE GAME." Take it from somebody who knows pal - the rest of you go read American Skin.