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Seven Tattoos: A Memoir in the Flesh
Peter Trachtenberg's Seven A Memoir in the Flesh is much more than the memories of an eloquent writer. It's wild anthropology, eclectic theology, literary observation, and a treatise on the uses of body modification and tattooing. Even Trachtenberg's most harrowing and absurd experiences become universal through his illuminating prose.
As a Jew drawn to the ritual of Catholicism, plagued by its guilt and craving its absolution, he gets a tattoo of the wound of Christ. An unfilial son and regretful lover, he marks himself with the Archangel Michael, who drove Adam and Eve from Paradise. "Most tattoos are signifiers of the past, commemorating events that have already transpired. That's how I see most of mine," Trachtenberg explains. "But tattoos may also act upon the future, protect the body from impending danger or consecrate it for some arduous task ahead."
Each chapter in Seven Tattoos explores the theme evoked by the corresponding death, sacrilege, primitivism, rebellion, atonement, sadomasochism, downfall. Each of Trachtenberg's seven tattoos is a totem, a print the world has left on him that he has chosen to display on his body. Like fresh ink, Seven Tattoos is striking, bold and indelible.
As a Jew drawn to the ritual of Catholicism, plagued by its guilt and craving its absolution, he gets a tattoo of the wound of Christ. An unfilial son and regretful lover, he marks himself with the Archangel Michael, who drove Adam and Eve from Paradise. "Most tattoos are signifiers of the past, commemorating events that have already transpired. That's how I see most of mine," Trachtenberg explains. "But tattoos may also act upon the future, protect the body from impending danger or consecrate it for some arduous task ahead."
Each chapter in Seven Tattoos explores the theme evoked by the corresponding death, sacrilege, primitivism, rebellion, atonement, sadomasochism, downfall. Each of Trachtenberg's seven tattoos is a totem, a print the world has left on him that he has chosen to display on his body. Like fresh ink, Seven Tattoos is striking, bold and indelible.
263 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
5 people are currently reading
125 people want to read
About the author
Peter Trachtenberg
12 books43 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Peter Trachtenberg is the author of the memoir 7 TATTOOS, THE BOOK OF CALAMITIES: Five Questions About Suffering and Its Meaning (Little Brown, August 2008), and ANOTHER INSANE DEVOTION (Da Capo, October 2012), a book about the search for a missing cat that's also an encoded exploration of love and marriage.
His essays, journalism, and short fiction have been published in The New Yorker, Harper's, BOMB, TriQuarterly, O, The New York Times Travel Magazine, and A Public Space. His commentaries have been broadcast on NPR'S "All Things Considered."
Trachtenberg is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh.
He's the recipient of a NYFA artist's fellowship, the Nelson Algren Award for Short Fiction, a Whiting Writers Fellowship, a 2010 Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and a 2012 residency at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center. The Book of Calamities was given the 2009 Phi Beta Kappa Society's Ralph Waldo Emerson Award "for scholarly studies that contribute significantly to interpretations of the intellectual and cultural condition of humanity."
Peter Trachtenberg is the author of the memoir 7 TATTOOS, THE BOOK OF CALAMITIES: Five Questions About Suffering and Its Meaning (Little Brown, August 2008), and ANOTHER INSANE DEVOTION (Da Capo, October 2012), a book about the search for a missing cat that's also an encoded exploration of love and marriage.
His essays, journalism, and short fiction have been published in The New Yorker, Harper's, BOMB, TriQuarterly, O, The New York Times Travel Magazine, and A Public Space. His commentaries have been broadcast on NPR'S "All Things Considered."
Trachtenberg is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh.
He's the recipient of a NYFA artist's fellowship, the Nelson Algren Award for Short Fiction, a Whiting Writers Fellowship, a 2010 Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and a 2012 residency at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center. The Book of Calamities was given the 2009 Phi Beta Kappa Society's Ralph Waldo Emerson Award "for scholarly studies that contribute significantly to interpretations of the intellectual and cultural condition of humanity."
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 29, 2008
I'm fond of the memoir, I guess. Self-indulgent, uber-introspective, overly inward-looking. This memoir I found fantastic. The writing -- prolly no better than most. The writer -- new york transplant, ex addicted-to-everything, defining his life's momentous occurrences by sealing them into his flesh. Boy, howdy, did I eat it up. Life looked at through every possible lens: jungian interpretation, classical religion, indigenous subsets, love and loss and heroin. Self pity and self grandiosity and flesh and needles.
I'm in the process of designing my next tattoo: I used to have a necklace that was a zodiac circle but the jewish version. It broke somewhere along the line, and I saved a piece of it for years but can't find it now. I identify with that need to mark, viscerally, life's turning points. I'm crossing over into middle age, crossing over into as close to a responsible life as I've had so far. As well as wanting to mark that change, there are other, older marks I'd like to cover. And I'd like to cover them with -- what? a solomon's seal? a hand with which to ward away the evil eye? My jewish zodiac.
For a long time I thought my next tattoo would be barbed wire. A barbed wire ring, a blackbird taking flight, a lily of the valley clutched in beak or in claw. Now, I'm fascinated by the idea of grace. Such a strange little word: grace. There but for.
I don't think a solomon seal tatt will help me to achieve grace. I do think it might remind me to look forward: to look for blessings, for protection, for sanctuary. Trachtenberg has seven tattoos: each a different portent, memory, container for guilt or love. Symbolically, I have a dead friend tattooed on my skull. I want my next tattoo to contain the stars.
I'm in the process of designing my next tattoo: I used to have a necklace that was a zodiac circle but the jewish version. It broke somewhere along the line, and I saved a piece of it for years but can't find it now. I identify with that need to mark, viscerally, life's turning points. I'm crossing over into middle age, crossing over into as close to a responsible life as I've had so far. As well as wanting to mark that change, there are other, older marks I'd like to cover. And I'd like to cover them with -- what? a solomon's seal? a hand with which to ward away the evil eye? My jewish zodiac.
For a long time I thought my next tattoo would be barbed wire. A barbed wire ring, a blackbird taking flight, a lily of the valley clutched in beak or in claw. Now, I'm fascinated by the idea of grace. Such a strange little word: grace. There but for.
I don't think a solomon seal tatt will help me to achieve grace. I do think it might remind me to look forward: to look for blessings, for protection, for sanctuary. Trachtenberg has seven tattoos: each a different portent, memory, container for guilt or love. Symbolically, I have a dead friend tattooed on my skull. I want my next tattoo to contain the stars.
July 10, 2015
This is a fascinating book; you know it from the first pages when you start checking notable paragraphs and underlining memorable phrases until you realize if this keeps on you will have checked and underlined the whole book. It is about tattoos, but they are incidental, and really it's a memoir. And the places Peter Trachtenberg goes, and the lovers and heroine he has done in the places he goes, and the thoughts he has wherever he is now about whatever has engaged him in his strange (for a college professor) life, from being jewish and death and drugs and everything in between are always worth reading about.
November 1, 2009
Engaging sometimes very funny memoir of Trachtenberg's quest for his tattoos. Each tattoo has a story behind it. I recommend it!
June 15, 2022
The book was underwhelming. The author’s musings on death and existential angst are a touch hackneyed, and the parade of neuroses he leads through my mind too similar to my own to be enjoyable.
Be that as it may, the book struck me as mostly honest, and the author as sincere, and as such, became an account of an Everyman embedded within our culture, to ignore at our peril.
There are many books that combine philosophy, spirituality, travel, and art to better effect, but you could do far worse.
Be that as it may, the book struck me as mostly honest, and the author as sincere, and as such, became an account of an Everyman embedded within our culture, to ignore at our peril.
There are many books that combine philosophy, spirituality, travel, and art to better effect, but you could do far worse.
August 16, 2024
One of those books where I lose interest much, much quicker than I thought I would initially. It sort of reminds me of how the Red Cross will contact me a dozen times a year, and the message is always, Today! the need is critical! Everything here screamed extreme!
July 30, 2018
I'm not shut sure why but I loved this book. I read it at least three times
December 27, 2019
This memoir was very well written, and in an interesting format. The author told sketches of his life based on seven of his tattoos. They were often relatable snippets, dealing with family affairs and personal affairs. He also discussed his drug addictions throughout the book. He’s a very thoughtful man, and dwells a lot on his thoughts and interior issues. While the tattoos as a framework was an interesting approach, I missed key information about his life that I think would have proved useful in understanding his memoir a little more. What did he do for a living? That would have been welcomed information. He really dwelt on himself a lot, and I know that’s what a memoir is at its foundation! But, he dwelt on his thoughts and beliefs ad nauseum at some points. I guess I like to read about things happening, actions, interactions and people more than thoughts.
October 7, 2013
In addition to my current interest in memoirs, I have always been fascinated by the stories behind people’s tattoos. I often ask people (with the caveat that they can refuse to tell me) about why they get certain tattoos. I also wrote a Bright Life (at Zen Dixie) column last December about the meaning behind some tattoos, including a few of mine. Which led me to Peter Trachtenberg’s memoir, 7 Tattoos.
If you are looking for a straight up “these are my tattoos and here’s why I got them,” then you may not want to get into this book. Most of the narrative was more his personal history than details of the tattoos. However, the combination of tattoo stories and life stories was what makes Trachtenberg’s structure compelling.
Trachtenberg used his tattoos, and the act of getting inked, as the impetus to tell the stories of his life. He divided his tales to correspond with the seven tattoos he acquired prior to writing the book (no, I do not know if he has been tattooed since) as well as his life after cleaning up from a serious drug addiction.
He is known as a non-fiction writer and memoirist. Trachtenberg’s writing is sharp and he can keep a reader interested without sugar-coating anything to make it “less uncomfortable” to read. 7 Tattoos was a look into how he dealt with and signified important moments in his life. He discussed not only the tattooing, but also his family, travel, addiction, friends, and lovers with clarity. His story also demonstrates how our culture interacts with itself and others and how one can get swept up in ideas regardless of our realities.
Memoirs can often be formulaic – birth, childhood, teenage angst, adulthood, middle age, death. By arranging his story around the tattoos, Trachtenberg provided a unique perspective by contextualizing his stories with his tattoos. Our experiences make as much of a permanent mark on us as our tattoos do.
This review originally appeared at Zen Dixie, http://www.zendixie.com/read.html
If you are looking for a straight up “these are my tattoos and here’s why I got them,” then you may not want to get into this book. Most of the narrative was more his personal history than details of the tattoos. However, the combination of tattoo stories and life stories was what makes Trachtenberg’s structure compelling.
Trachtenberg used his tattoos, and the act of getting inked, as the impetus to tell the stories of his life. He divided his tales to correspond with the seven tattoos he acquired prior to writing the book (no, I do not know if he has been tattooed since) as well as his life after cleaning up from a serious drug addiction.
He is known as a non-fiction writer and memoirist. Trachtenberg’s writing is sharp and he can keep a reader interested without sugar-coating anything to make it “less uncomfortable” to read. 7 Tattoos was a look into how he dealt with and signified important moments in his life. He discussed not only the tattooing, but also his family, travel, addiction, friends, and lovers with clarity. His story also demonstrates how our culture interacts with itself and others and how one can get swept up in ideas regardless of our realities.
Memoirs can often be formulaic – birth, childhood, teenage angst, adulthood, middle age, death. By arranging his story around the tattoos, Trachtenberg provided a unique perspective by contextualizing his stories with his tattoos. Our experiences make as much of a permanent mark on us as our tattoos do.
This review originally appeared at Zen Dixie, http://www.zendixie.com/read.html
August 12, 2008
the first couple of chapters had me feeling that this was an incredible book and i was really loving it. at about half way through i lost momentum. i skimmed the last half. i think it was the fact that i could not relate to his level of guilt. political guilt, religious guilt, family guilt, sexual guilt and above all else the guilt surrounding his tattoos (and i have tatts). i just couldn't relate. apart from that i enjoyed his style of writing and his travel stories. this is an enjoyable book for anyone who may be having trouble deciding to get their FIRST tattoo or anyone who has jewish parents or who feels guilty about everything they've ever done or said. if only i could have stopped myself from getting impatient with his issues.
January 11, 2010
I'm not particularly impressed with this so far, and I'm almost done with it. The tattoos are not really the focus, which is what I had assumed when I ILL'd the darn thing. I'm only really finishing it because I'm stubborn. I thought that Trachtenberg would talk about the meaning behind each tattoo, and he does...somewhat. But he rambles and wanders off on tangents, and I find myself wandering off too, wondering what's on tv. I think that if he had tightened up the stories a bit, it would have held my attention better.
August 2, 2011
So, I have one tattoo, and as Trachtenberg describes his tattoos, it is a permanent visual reminder of a specific painful life lesson. I have often marvelled at those who get a decorative, just for fun tattoo (such as Tweety Bird, dancing bears, etc). What's the point? Is the author self-absorbed as a previous review described him? Of course. Don't you have to be self-absorbed to write a memoir? Anyway, I liked this memoir...though I can't think of many friends to recommend it to.
August 6, 2016
A great collection of essays in one of my favorite genres : the addition memoir, here filtered as stories through the writers tattoos. Bonus : the writer used to live in Baltimore, and Baltimore haunts get dropped throughout - something I didn't know when I got the book ages ago.
It makes me happy to see how successful Trachtenberg is now (a professor in Pittsburgh) because he walked a thin line in his youth. Inspiration for the cynic.
It makes me happy to see how successful Trachtenberg is now (a professor in Pittsburgh) because he walked a thin line in his youth. Inspiration for the cynic.
May 12, 2013
This is one of my all-time favs! This is a memoir that focuses on the author's seven tattoos. Each chapter tells the story of how and why the tat came to be. The man is fucked-up but fascinating! Dark, sometimes humorous, mostly disturbing... oh, how I love this book!
September 30, 2007
Each chapter centers around one of the writer's 7 tattoos, a format that works really well. Steve Almond-esque.
October 28, 2007
A great memoir.
December 1, 2009
I loved this book at the time. I think maybe I wrote a paper on it. Who knows now?
June 24, 2010
Pretty good, slightly dark but interesting.
August 7, 2012
Beautiful language. Novel concept of how to tie a variety of life experiences together into a cohesive manner.
October 12, 2013
I liked the start of the book with the stories behind his tattoos, it became a little too family orientated. Of course that is important to the author but I liked his Africa experiences more.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews