Shockproof Sydney Skate

by Marijane Meaker

Sydney Skate has dubbed himself "Shockproof": He decoded his mother's gossip with her glamorous lesbian girlfriends at age eight (but has never let on to her that he knows she's gay). He easily shrugs off his father's demands to skip college and join him in the exciting world of swimming pool sales for suburbanites. During his summer days, he deftly cares for snakes at the local pet shop. And he has memorized the sex scenes of every book he's ever read in order to better seduce women. Nothing, however, has prepared Sydney for his mother sweeping Alison Gray, the girl of his dreams, off her feet. Witty and perceptive, Sydney's coming-of-age story has been a classic of lesbian literature since it was first published in 1973. It was a Literary Guild Alternate and a Book Find Club Selection. Hailed as the Catcher in the Rye for the seventies, Shockproof Sydney Skate exposes the confusion of its time and remains keenly relevant to the sexual absurdities of today.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Queer, Lesbian, LGBT, Book Club, Gay

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Marijane Meaker is also known as M.E. Kerr, Ann Aldrich, and Vin Packer.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an early lesbian novel, particularly coming from a major publishing house (Little, Brown, 1972), and, as the subtitle lets you know, is definitely "A Novel of Our (its) Time." Sydney, just graduated, obsessed with sex, has come home to Manhattan from boarding school, where his mother continues to live her fast-paced life running an ad agency and managing the crises amongst her circle of upper-crust lesbians who she talks about in code, with one of each couple given a male name. She somehow thinks that Sydney is innocent of all this, although he has been aware since a young age that his mother and her friends were different. He has played along with her ploy, but this summer, things get dicey when he finds she is pursuing the same young woman that he is. Entertaining, dated, particularly in terms of the language, a fun read from a lesbian author of several adult and young adult gay and lesbian titles.

[Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. I didn't have a strong reaction to it.

I enjoyed the casual and sincere depictions of the characters just living their lives and navigating a specific moment in history. The novel feels like a nice time capsule for a certain early 70s upper-middle class (or just upper class?) white queer New York experience.

The dialogue and observations are pretty funny throughout. Some really nice references and quotes from poems too.

When I started this review, I gave it 3 stars. Now that I'm thinking more about the things I enjoyed, maybe I should give it four stars. There are a lot of nice things about it. I guess I'll stick with 3 stars though. This does feel like it's a couple levels below the absolute greatest novels of all time. And that's a pretty good place to be. I'm glad I read this.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I read this book - back in the 70's, the salacious nature of the material was truly astounding. In today's "shockproof" amoral (yeah: value judgment) culture, the material is passe. I still remember it as a fun read. It might even be out of print. If the reader can find a copy, it's worth a quick read - if for nothing else, a snapshot of the leading edge of avant garde pop culture in the early 1970's.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

1972. This is a excellent book about a teenage boy whose mother is a lesbian. She tries to hide it from him, but he knows. And they're interested in the same woman, with hilarious consequences.

[LisaMarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

After an hour and a half I just couldn't take anymore of this pretentious, obnoxious farce. Usually I am all over anything '70's, offbeat, controversial, etc., and would like to consider myself like the titular character, shockproof. "Shocking" sexual mores-bring it on-but characters who never stop trying to prove how clever and sophisticated they are have my nerves waving the white flag.
Glad this Audible was a freebie.
And that I wasn't the publisher tasked with how to market this back in the day.

[fram · Rating 4 out of 5]

but where's the gay. lmao

[Margery Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

worth reading for sure even though not literature

[Norrin2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 17 year old and his mom try to see how many neurotic women they can have sex with - and how much dated and never- was slang they can use.

[Witch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been in love with the 1970s for the past two months, but it didn't occur to me to read books written and set in that time period until a week ago.

Shockproof is such a confused youth. The book's subject feels like it was the norm back then, and I love it. The many characters and their codenames made it slightly confusing, but luckily, they were all introduced in the front page, so I can remember who's male and who's female.

I also love the slang. I don't know the exact meanings, but only the general idea.
AC-DC. To be on the horn. To turn on. Cruising. Bent. To jap.

(Lovin' the author's first name.)

[Coleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5 stars) Odd title, odd book. Set in the 1970's, it's got the lingo, the clothes, the drugs, & the sex. It's apparently considered lesbian literature, but that's not why it didn't rate higher with me. I thought the characters were very shallow & there weren't really any that I liked. The frequent references & quotes from books were not at all familiar to me & I found them annoying & unnecessary. I wanted to shake Sydney (who is a male, by the way), who wanted so badly to be a stud, but who was so stupid when it came to girls. Honestly, I just kept reading so that I could make it to the end & be done.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will forever have the post-sex runs scene imprinted on my brain. Somewhat dated (I didn't know that it was originally published in the early-1970s, and the age certainly shows), it feels somewhat like the book doesn't know if it wants to be YA, adult or what, which is actually appropriate for the time period. Despite that, Sydney and his eclectic clan are worth a visit.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bizarre, offbeat, and fairly unique, Shockproof Sydney Skate tells a story that is part Catcher in the Rye, part Perks of Being a wallflower, and partly something else altogether. Somewhat dated, and, at times, somewhat scattered in its approach, but also fairly unforgettable.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in 1975 in the Hamptons on the beach. I loved it. It provided role models for me at that time.

[Heather Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holden Cofeld of the 70's - amusing

[Ellen]

Recommended by Riese.