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The Skin Between Us: A Memoir of Race, Beauty, and Belonging Hardcover – May 17, 2006

by Kym Ragusa (Author)

5 customer reviews

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A memoir of astonishing delicacy and strength about race and physical beauty.

Kym Ragusa's stunningly beautiful, brilliant black mother constantly turned heads as she strolled the streets of West Harlem. Ragusa's working-class white father, who grew up only a few streets (and an entire world) away in Italian East Harlem, had never seen anyone like her. At home their families despaired at the match, while in the streets the couple faced taunting threats from a city still racially divided—but they were mesmerized by the differences between them.

From their volatile, short-lived pairing came a sensitive child with a filmmaker's observant eye. Her two powerful grandmothers gave her the love and stability to grow into her own skin. Eventually, their shared care for their granddaughter forced them to overcome their prejudices. Rent parties and religious feste, baked yams and baked ziti—Ragusa's sensuous memories are a reader's delight, as they bring to life the joy, pain, and inexhaustible richness of a racially and culturally mixed heritage.

The Skin Between Us: A Memoir of Race, Beauty, and Belonging

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Product Details

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (May 17, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393058905
ISBN-13: 978-0393058901
Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 0.1 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #979 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National
- #5090 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Memoirs
- #33242 in Books > Reference

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Top Customer Reviews

American Me

By Lynee Gore on May 12, 2006

Format: Hardcover

Kym Ragusa has written a book that is destined to join not only the cannon of multicultural narrative, but that rare class of books that allows us to see ourselves as a reflection of one another. Ragusa takes us on a magical journey through the looking glass to examine racial and cultural identity from the inside out.

Not preachy, not trendy, not PC, and certainly not depressing, Ragusa's writing is delicate and personal, achingly vulnerable. Her prose are as beautiful and complex as the portraits she paints of herself and three generations of women in her family. When Ragusa interrogates the shape of her nose and the texture of her hair, I am reminded that in today's rush to perfectionism through plastic surgery, true beauty (like justice) can best be seen through closed eyes.

Lastly, in this time of growing anxiety over all things foreign, Ragusa teaches us that the American character is at heart multicultural. In reading her beautifully wrought memoir, I again learned that the skin between us can also be the bond between us.

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broken families in NJ

By Maddalena on July 14, 2006

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed Kym's story. she accurately described the tough and gentle sides of the American Italian families I knew, with the hard to win love of the grandmother and the uncertain homes that both mom and dad provided. She does a great job of blending her memories into an interesting read. Her anguish and fears are quite spellbounding as the issue of her color dances throughout this book. I look forward to her next.

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Moving, powerful, intelligent first book...

By J. Tchen on May 27, 2006

Format: Hardcover

A New York Harlem memoir written by the daughter of a light-skinned African American mom and dark skinned Sicilian father and the difficult and loving relations with her two grandmothers. Written with love and deep understanding where the tough questions are taken on and worked through. Evokes a feel for Harlem's changes and the real (pre-gentrified) life of the city. Engaging--couldn't put it down! This is her first book and I look forward to her next. I believe she'll be able to write either fiction or non-fiction with equal skill and verve.

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WOW!

By Grace Johnson on July 28, 2006

Format: Hardcover

ragusa's writing is absolutely stunning. rich, poetic, deep, mesmorizing. intensely and fiercely honest. you will not be able to put this book down. right up there with alice walker's the color purple.

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good quality, stained front cover

By Gilbert Sharp on November 5, 2014

Format: Hardcover

binding was in good condition, and the pages were not yellowed; there was no dog-earing and there was no annotations, underlining, or highliting at all! only problem was a stain on the front cover. there was no sleeve included as well. perfect for classroom assignments, like i needed it for, and for readers who don't care about the condition of the book

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