American Skin

by Don De Grazia

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.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Young Adult, Music, Contemporary, Race, Counter Culture

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Ed Wagemann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went to grad school, had classes with and was tutored by Don De Grazia at Columbia College in the early 1990s. His talent was immeditately recognizable and his spirit was a true inspiration. I bought his book and read it quickly. It is a page turner, dealing with skin heads and others and set mostly in late 1980s Chicago, it was fun to read about locations that I had been to and characters I seemed to have known. After reading this book I became interested in reading more books set in Chicago and for about a year that was what I mostly read.
In general I don't read much fiction, so I dont recommend much. And although I thought the very ending of American Skin was a bit contrived, overall this novel is a total joy. No one that I have ever recommended it to has NOT liked it.

[L.P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably never would have read this book had a customer not left it opened on the bar at a restaurant I worked at, tempting me to read a page.
I went out and bought it and I must say I was impressed. It was incredibly well written and offered a glimpse into the life of Skinheads in America... not only that but I learned at not all skin heads are rascist, Jew-hating Nazis. Prior to reading this I must admit I hated any skinhead thinking they stood for everything I was so morally against, however after reading this I realized that the history of the Skinhead culture is not in fact anti-semitic, even if it has since turned that way.
I went into this thinking it would be an entertaining read, I came out of it with not only a new insight into a culture I know nothing about, but also with an idea about how easy it is for people (including myself) to sterotype without knowing the whole story.

[Bea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for any Chicago native old enough (and enough in the know) to remember Medusas and Punkin Donuts. This was a lot of fun to read because of this kind of thing - there is a scene in this book that takes place in an apartment building I used to live in! Aside from that, the book is amazingly well told, filled with interesting insights and lively, strong, believable characters. Falls short of five stars because it feels like some of the content belongs in another book - the narrator goes from a sympathetic punk to a sympathetic asshole rather jarringly, which would work better if he didn't go back to being a sympathetic punk again by the last act of the book.

[Janelle Corr · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like I just read an after school special from the 80s.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am fairly easy to entertain. I can find something I like in the vast majority of books that I have read, even if I didn’t completely enjoy them. This was not one of those books.

The protagonist (Alex) is a self-centred douchebag named eventually falls into a crowd of anti-racist Skinheads. The book sets up a group of Nazi Skinheads - or “Swazi” in the book - as antagonists early on, but doesn’t do much with them. They basically serve as occasional props to show how Strong And Tough(TM) Alex and his friends are. The leader of the Swazis shows up towards the end of the book to create tension for our dumbass protagonist, though, but falls flat.

One of my problems with this book is that throughout the book, any black people in it (for the most part) are basically caricatures. Alex is friends with black people who are mixed race and they are always Not Like All The Other Black People. That was pretty damn annoying. And for someone who is supposed to be an anti-racist skinhead (who dated a mixed race black woman who later turned out to be his half-sister), this character sure gave the Nazi Skinheads a run for their money.

Another issue with this book is that Alex is pretty much a Gary Stu. He gets all the ladies. They all want to have sex with him and he can make them orgasm three times within minutes. 🙄 The only woman he almost struck out with was his half-sister who he does sleep with in a scene that is described in a way that sounded like rape.

Also, him and his friends win every fight they get into, with little consequences for their actions - unless the author has to use it to move the story forward. They got into a fight with the Nazi Skinheads that spilled onto a major Chicago street and blocked up traffic - but when the cops came Gary Stu and his crew were all told to leave and they arrested the head Nazi. I know this is based in Chicago in the ‘80s, but come on. Nope, our protagonist and one of his friends only end up getting into trouble when they get into a fight with an Italian guy who has some mob connections. (Alex was flirting with his wife unknowingly, and of course the guy sucker punched him!)

There was little character growth for the protagonist. Throughout the story he comes off like an entitled, selfish, asshole. He never seems to connect the dots into how he got into all the trouble he did and why some of his aspirations didn’t initially happen for him. The author seems to attempt to remedy this in the short epilogue (that spans two years), but fails miserably. And this was supposed to be a guy who was telling his story down the road, only it was done with zero clarity or remorse.

Do not waste your time on this crap. It’s only true redemption was that it was short and a pretty quick (though painful) read.

[Lollipopwater · Rating 1 out of 5]

Because the book is named "American Skin" and features a skinhead on the cover, I really thought the story was going to have at least some interesting references to the philosophy and music of the skin scene, while perhaps following the tale of some of the kids. Silly me.

No. It is a book featuring cliched dialogue, unlikable douche-bag characters, and a ridiculous storyline complete with an incestuous sublot. Throw in some random Buddhism, Ayn Rand and some bomber jackets, and you have "American Skin".

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in college. We actually met the author and he explained how he used movies to help inspire him to write action scenes. I think he said Taxidriver was one of his influences and that he started the book in college as just short stories until he turned it into a book. It was interesting to learn his method.

The book was fine. It focuses on the character Alex. I do like how some action scenes are described such as chin hitting a pavement or an explosion. There is nice detail but I have to say that there are problems with how this story deals with race. As a person of color I found it offensive how the main lead sexualizes and exoticfies Black...mostly mixed raced women. Marie is a biracial female lead that is a stereotype. She is sassy and sexualized but is Buddhist. Since she is biracial she believes in "race mixing" (that is literally what they call interracial relationships. She becomes Alex's girlfriend right away without much explanation.

There are racial slurs like "mul*tto" used alot. It's kind of confusing since the story is told through an older Alex point of view yet he continues to use that racial slur. It is even more strange when you find out the twist ending that really doesn't go anywhere. There are Hispanics used for comic relief in one scene. The only Black friends and love interests of Alex are all half White. Not one dark skinned good Black person is in this book. The only way for Black people to be good apparently is if they are light and bright and half White. If they are dark "coal skinned" (yes he described a dark skinned Black person's complexion as coal) and Black they are enemies of our hero Alex.

I'll just say to young aspiring White writers don't use this book as a templet to how to write people of color. They all are stereotypes and there are mircoaggressions used to describe them along with the favoring of mixed raced people oppose to darker skinned Black people. This book had good moments in it if you are able to look past the fact that the author knows nothing about people of color. The only reason why this bothers me as much as it does is becasue this book is supposedly praised for how it tackles racial interactions. Alex idolizes Tim yet Tim says and does alot of racist things in this book. The story makes it clear that they are not the racist skinheads yet Tim's group act almost more racist than the proclaim racist skinheads. Maybe that is the point? I don't know. The POC characters are still written as stereotypes.

[Nick Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book, not only because of the story contained within, but for the rare example of a story transcending its' own inherent limitations by pure effort. The beginning reads like a crude teenage daydream--you chuckle and pass it by, hoping for something more. And you find it. Alex Verdi's story is both artless in its' bonehead aimlessness and seeming disregard for the future, and propelled by a ruthless narrative engine. The dust-jacket comparisons to Homer ring true, but the more salient reminder, to me, is of Dickens. As in Dickens, we follow a disadvantaged but not absolutely proletarian protagonist through the stomachs of the cow, then observe his partial salvation thanks to his own background.
Also to be mentioned: There is clunky writing (most of it is endearing and brief) but there are also scenes which stick in my everyday memory. The prison tattooist, serenaded with Hank Williams by another inmate to distract the subject from the pain; the chance meeting with Pritzger and his new apprentice, whom Alex realizes is destined from prison, where 'they would be staining his skin with Nazi ink and pissing in his mouth' (not an exact quote, I don't have the book in front of me).

[Yosh Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this in high school, back in probably 2002 or 2003. I was semi-obsessed with it for a little while, I can safely say. This is a great story for vicariously living a dangerous and exciting modern life that you're just too lucky to get stuck in. You know how you can sometimes imagine being a bum or something, and you think "hey, I could do whatever I want. The whole world would be my oyster, I don't have to just sit around panhandling!" and then you remember that actually, you would probably do just that, sit down and panhandle? Because you don't have the balls? This is the kind of story where the hero didn't sit down to panhandle. Plus not a lot of other books involve big punk clubs called The Gorgon and old school multiracial skinheads that kick the shit out of neonazis.

[Chickens McShitterson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked this book the first time I read it. Holy fuck, though. The first 10 or 12 pages were okay, and then it just descended into a bunch of ham-fisted crap masquerading as philosophy. The writing is absolutely trite and derivative with characters whose dialog is unlike that of nearly anyone who has walked this earth, much less been a skinhead. This defied a label of bad and earns a quarter star.

[Ben]

The novel that made me think I could and had to actually write the book in my head.

[Anja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich muss das erstmal sacken lassen... Dann Rezi, extra für meinen Bruder ^^

[Kay Diek-Grau · Rating 3 out of 5]

mitreißend und atmosphärisch geschrieben, aber der Protagonist verhält sich sexistisch und teilweise misogyn. Außerdem sind Poc-Charaktere klischeehaft beschrieben, was ja durchaus einen rassistischen Beigeschmack hat.
Jetzt kann man sagen: Kunstfreiheit und Trennung von Realität und Fiktion oder es sei ein Buch der Zeit, aber Kritik finde ich trotzdem berechtigt. Die innere Zerrissenheit des Protagonisten Alex Verdi, zwischen dem eigenen Gerechtigkeitsempfinden und der Suche nach Zugehörigkeit (und was man dafür in Kauf nimmt) finde ich aber sehr gelungen und hoch aktuell.

[Isaac Crow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have nothing in common with a skinhead besides being bald and poor. This story quickly entered a world I know nothing about, set in an area I currently live in. Do I think it's an accurate account of skinhead culture? Nah, I take it with a grain of salt. But it kept me hooked and I enjoyed the ride.

[Robert Giesenhagen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the premise here was interesting but wholly I wasn’t as engaged as I thought I would be.

[swampeater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complex, addictive and purely Chicagoan.
I am a massive fan of reading about skins of the 20th century. This is a work that I would recommend to anyone interested in the Chicago punk/ skinhead scene of the time.

[Mickaugrec · Rating 4 out of 5]

'American Skin,' Don DeGrazia: Pretty good. Ulysses / Homer Iliad / Odyssey-type structure for coming of age story in unique setting of Chicago skinheads world. Their world and the action is located mainly in the runyonesque vortex within a couple blocks radially from the axis from Dunkin’ Donuts (Belmont Clark) to the old Medusa juice bar / club (School-Sheffield -- dubbed ‘Gorgon’ in the novel – see that?). Moves fast, interesting arc, with plenty of philosophical flights, including not least some feel-good Buddhism and old-fashioned Ayn Rand anti-communism, anti-collectivism in the guise of “Objectivism.” A lengthy junket on the Northwestern U campus / Evanston, Ill., has the narrator (Verdi) posing as a NU student for the purpose of courting a savory patrician female student (though not herself attending NU), which recalls the cyclist's story in Steve Tesich's screenplay of 'Breaking Away' (1979), and has an intriguing outcome. I’ve met De Grazia in passing, he’s well known in the Columbia College and Chicago fiction writing world, can’t but wonder how much of 'American Skin' is memoir / documentary. But that's just me -- I never had the sense that the author was merged with Verdi in a way that derailed the narrative; the mystery enhances the experience of the work. A terrific read.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book when it came out back in 1999 and just reread it for the first time in years a couple weeks ago. At the time I was an undergrad at Columbia College and Don De Grazia was definitely my favorite prof. I remember there was talk about American Skin being made into a movie, but I guess that never happened. I went drinking with Don a few times after class at George's and the South Loop Club near the Columbia campus. He was a good man who could hold his liquor and a conversation at the same time, which unfortunately I can't say for everyone. I loved the book then & I love it now. Takes me back to the Chicago of my teenage years, hanging out at the punk rock Dunkin Doughnuts, drinking at the Gargoyle with a fake ID, going to the Alley with my girlfriend to buy Manic Panic so that we could go home and dye our hair purple and green etc. I was never hard core like Alex Verdi though, but ah, the memories of Chicago in the late 80s/early 90s! This is one of my favorite books of all time & I plan on reading it every 10 years for the rest of my life. I just ordered a copy of it for my library. Waiting for Don DeGrazia's next novel to be published.....

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Skin traces the young adulthood of Alex Verdi, as his path takes him from the son of "hippie" parents living in the woods, to runaway, to factory worker, to skinhead, to bootcamp, to a blown shot at redemption, then to prison and finally to what we are left to believe is a somewhat reformed life.

The story is a page-turner, no doubt, but the protagonist - through his various incarnations - did not seem genuine. The book also felt a little too familiar, as if I've read/seen elements of the story many times over. I'm pretty surprised at the high ratings other readers are giving American Skin. It was a good book - worth reading, but certainly not great.

NOTE - Over a month after reading this (and having read several books in the meantime), I kept finding myself thinking about this book. My impression of it has grown after some distance from it, so I upgraded it to 4 stars from 3.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was better than I expected it would turn out. It is a contemporary coming-of-age book which follows a life lead by character Alex Verdi. Alex struggles to find a group that he can connect with after his parents are sent to jail and his little sister to a foster home. He wants to become a good man to impress his father, but finds himself resorting to violence and eventually getting into trouble. His journey takes him through many phases: being an anti-Nazi skinhead, fourth months in the Army, a night manager of a restaurant near Northwestern where he hoped to get into school, then finally, to prison. He is not a refined person, but his love for Ayn Rand's philosophy as well as Buddhism help him to finally climb his way out of the hole he created himself by turning to violence.

I wish I could give this book 3 1/2 stars, but Goodreads doesn't allow half-stars.

[Bevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of all time! Everyone can identify with the protagonist- self discovery, learning to grow up, falling in love, making bad (and sometimes good) choices. This really touched home and also spoke to a sub-cultural group that has never really had a voice. Growing up in a large metropolitan city and in the punk scene myself (a city w/plenty of neo-nazi skin violence no less), I disagree slightly w/the other reviewers that this is a Chicago book. Sure it is. But, it's also for anyone who grew up punk, or a skin, or different, or outside the norm. While the locations were once real, the spirit of the book transcends location, inviting everyone with any or no knowledge of the culture, to experience it. To relive it. To miss it.

[Abraham Thunderwolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Badass! It gets to the point with sparse movements that feel epic overall. One of my friends recomended this book to me a year ago and I stumbled upon it at the library a few weeks ago. This book collobarates with the old freaks that Belmont and Clark used to be crazy rather than the heavily scrubbed yuppie hot bed that it is today. Alex, the main character, goes through a hell of a lot in what seems like a few weeks! I know it's not a few weeks, but the book goes by so fast it's almost dizzying. There's a mindfuck of a twist near the end, which is either hilarious or really morbid, it depends what kind of person you are I guess.

[Brandon Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't let the cover give you the wrong impression--this is far more insightful and humane than it is In-Your-Face. It reads sort of like a Dickens epic coming-of-age novel. DeGrazia chronicles the journey of a kid from a broken home who finds himself a factory worker in the big scary city (our big, scary city), and is then taken in by a nurturing (in their own way) "family" of non-racist yet non-non-violent skinheads. But that's only one section of his journey that leads him to the army, trying to fit in at Northwestern University, and beyond.

[Sara Cutaia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would have never picked this book up if the author hadn't been one of my grad professors, but holy hell am I glad I did. You hear 'skinhead' and you think lots of negative things. Well, think again. Protagonist Alex Verdi takes us through the intimate workings of the Skinhead lifestyle in Chicago in the 80s, and then to the Army, and Northwestern's campus, and eventually prison. Through all of these ups and downs, two things are certain: Don De Grazia can f*cking write, and this is a beautiful story from start to finish.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel about the American skinhead subculture and more generally the punk rock scene. They're not 'rascist' skinheads, but in fact get in fights with the rascist ones when they cross paths. It's a great coming-of-age book and it's very well written. For me it was a page-turner. It's a little like the punk rock version of 'Rule of the Bone.' As someone who knows very little about the whole punk scene (and nothing about Chicago) it was fun to 'learn' something about it.

[Muxacb · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend Rebecca gave me a copy of this book and the entire time I read it, I felt like I was watching television - it flows so smoothly, it's almost like you're watching it happen.

A good story centered around the Chicago skinhead punk scene: black army boots, tattoos, 40's, and fisticuffs. This book has excellent language, too.

Slightly grimey and explicit in parts, so it's not exactly PG-13 (or even R), but worth a go!

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This completely modern and raw coming-of-age story broke my heart. It's amazing how much I found myself rooting for Alex, the main character, despite his flaws, shortcomings and horrible decisions...or bad luck. American Skin reminded me how gritty literature could be and was completely unsympathetic to the reader's potentially weak stomach or low tolerance for harsh language. Beautiful in its realism- Read it, please!

[Ashley Reiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow did this book took me back to my punk rock days in Chicago in the mid-late 80s.

In a word FANTASTIC. Parents of punk rock teens should read this to get a clue about what is happening in their minds of their kids. There were some areas that I thought were a little off and I clearly liked the first part of the book best, but it was new and fresh and a take on teen angst that I could relate to. In fact, imho, the best take on teen angst since Holden Caulfield told his story...

[Karen Backe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gritty slice of life/coming of age in the Chicago teenage punk scene of the late 80's/early 90's. More violent than I dig, and was hard for me to relate to most character choices, but I still found it to be a page-turner. And much of the story stuck with me for weeks after. If you were a local during this era, you'll recognize plenty -- which is fun. Never thought I'd read the word 'mulatto' so many times in one novel.

[Hank · Rating 1 out of 5]

About the time the author called The Business a racist/nazi band, I realized what I was reading: a pulp novel straining to be gritty lit, written by someone who observed the skinhead and punk scenes from the outside. As the main character got more and more self-centered, I became less and less interested. I'd rather just go to an oi show.