Mysterious Skin
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Book Overview
"Wrenching . . . powerfully sensuous." -- New York Times
"As searing and unforgettable as an electric shock." --Kirkus Reviews
At the age of eight Brian Lackey is found bleeding under the crawl space of his house, having endured something so traumatic that he cannot remember an entire five-hour period of time.
During the following years he slowly recalls details from that night, but these fragments are not enough to explain what happened to him, and he begins to believe that he may have been the victim of an alien encounter. Neil McCormick is fully aware of the events from that summer of 1981. Wise beyond his years, curious about his developing sexuality, Neil found what he perceived to be love and guidance from his baseball coach. Now, ten years later, he is a teenage hustler, unaware of the dangerous path his life is taking. His recklessness is governed by idealized memories of his coach, memories that unexpectedly change when Brian comes to Neil for help and, ultimately, the truth.
Customer Reviews
Rated 5 starsA wonderful mess of a novel
I'm a big fan of imdb.com, and somehow I stumbled upon the page for an upcoming movie called Mysterious Skin. It interested me, so I thought I'd check out the book. Well. I finished it about twenty minutes ago, and I'm speechless. MYSTERIOUS SKIN has so many different characters, memorable quotes, and mind-boggling descriptions that I couldn't put it down. I'm not going to go into the full story, but the book is fantastic...
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Rated 5 starsPowerful and Mesmerizing
Some books are made to affect the reader and make them feel emotions and make them disover worlds or situations they've never knew existed. Scott Heim's Mysterious Skin is a coming of age tale that holds nothing back. It's a fearless and unpretentious effort that will leave you breathless.The book's complex narrative takes us through the minds of various characters (the novel is told in first person, using different characters...
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Rated 5 starsLiterature at its most beautiful
I don't know what made me want to read Scott Heim's "Mysterious Skin." I don't know if it was the strange cover art, or the promising synopsis, or the fact that I knew it involved homosexuality. But whatever it was that drew me in, I'm extremely grateful for it."Mysterious Skin" involves two seemingly unrelated plots: one about Brian, a boy who can't remember a five-hour period of his life; and the other about Neil, a...
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Rated 5 starsWhen I read it I knew I wasn't the only one.
When I went to High School in Kansas I soon learned that an author had gone to the same one as me. After a few years, I found Scott Heim's first book "Mysterious Skin". I read it and it was like a punch in the chest. The story takes place in my community and amongst the people I thought I knew. I also share the same sexuality as the main character. I found the book to be a sweet and painful release to the suffering I've...
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