American
Skin by Don De Grazia
Chicago's North Side, the intersection of Clark
and Belmont Streets in the mid-1980s, is the setting for De
Grazia's clever first novel, published, and well received,
originally in England. Alex Verdi, a teenager fending for himself
after his hippie parents are shipped off to prison on drug
charges, falls under the sway of Tim Penn, leader of an antiracist
gang of skinheads. He and his band of followers work and live at
the seedy Gorgon nightclub, a "never-never land" of
sorts for these bald, tattooed, Doc Marten boot-wearing misfits;
and Alex quickly assimilates. Others have noted similarities
between Alex and Salinger's Holden Caulfield. More interesting is
the Phineaslike command Tim has over his followers, battling with
Frank Pritzger, leader of the Nazi skinheads, for the loyalties of
this small band of toughs. There's an edgy, romantic overtone to
De Grazia's prose, with many beautiful, lucid passages. It is
uneven, and a heavy dose of sex, drugs, and violence may make this
unpalatable for some. Still, it is a commendable, unique first
effort. -- Ted Leventhal
American Skin was
first published in the United Kingdom to resounding acclaim after
the author used his last seventy-five dollars to make an
unsolicited submission to the publisher of the Scottish beats,
whose work he admired. It is a timeless story about a young man's
coming-of-age as well as a stunning portrait of the class and
racial tensions that pervade our society.
Alex Verdi is on the lam, fleeing from the
police who have arrested his parents on drug charges and want him
for questioning. Traveling to Chicago, he joins a multiracial
group of anti-Nazi skinheads and embarks on an odyssey that takes
him from the city's embattled streets to an Army boot camp to
Northwestern's plush campus, and finally lands him amid the
horrors of maximum-security prison.
In this intense and gripping debut, Don De
Grazia confirms his stature as a young writer of uncommon
seriousness and consummate artistry.
"American Skin is for those who read to
encounter craftsmanship and feats of imagination... it is
brilliant." -- The Sunday Washington Post, Scott Morris,
April 23, 2000
Gay
Skins : Class, Masculinity and Queer Appropriation (Sexual
Politics) by Murray Healy
Gay Skins: Class, Masculinity and Queer
Appropriation Murray Healy In Gay Skins, Murray Healy contests
the myths of masculinity that constitute and are seemingly
evidenced by the skinhead, and challenges assumptions about class,
queerness and 'real men'. He deconstructs the 'authentic
masculinity' of the skinhead, drawing parallels between the
extreme masculinization of the skinhead and homoerotic desire and
fantasy. He suggests that straight and gay skins's lifestyles are
radically similar. Healy assesses what gay men have done to the
hardest youth cult of them all, and how it has transformed the gay
scene. Murray Healy is a journalist, academic and costume
designer.
"I found Gay Skins to be full of
interesting and valid insight on this youth culture phenomenon. In
relation to the larger (and decidedly older aged)
"clone" population of roughly the same time period, gay
skins were part of another unique, highly stylized gay subculture.
The book details how manner of dress and custom defined this
group's social, sexual and political behavior. A good read and
highly informative, especially in the context of how today's gay
youth survive." -- Anonymous Review
