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Lost Memory of Skin Audiobook
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(3.00) - 2,954 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
“Like our living literary giants Toni Morrison and Thomas Pynchon, Russell Banks is a great writer wrestling with the hidden secrets and explosive realities of this country.”
—Cornel West
“Of the many writers working in the great tradition today, one of the best is Russell Banks.”
—New York Times
Lost Memory of Skin is a provocative novel of spiritual and moral redemption from Russell Banks, the author of Affliction, Rule of the Bone, Continental Drift, Cloudsplitter, and other acclaimed masterworks of contemporary American fiction. Uncompromising and complex, Lost Memory of Skin is the story of The Kid, a young sex offender recently released from prison and forced to live beneath a South Florida causeway. When The Professor, a man of enormous intellect and appetite, takes The Kid under his wing, his own startling past will cause upheavals in both of their worlds. At once lyrical, witty, and disturbing, Banks’s extraordinary novel showcases his abilities as a world-class storyteller as well as his incisive understanding of the dangerous contradictions and hypocrisies of modern American society.
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"I picked this one up on a lark, not really knowing the subject matter but going by Banks's earlier works. This novel gets under your skin; it sucks you in as it foreces you to explore to our contemporary US culture's neuroses about sex, technology, morality, 'truth', performing identities, etc. And at the heart of the novel, or in the eye of its recurring real and metaphorical hurricanes, is a twenty-something sex offender called the Kid, the Professor, and the Writer. Through the use of common nouns, Banks names his characters whose escapades seem unlikely yet plausible (i.e., the 'true' identity of the professor poses literal questions about his past, but also questions about how we either believe we are who we are or we don't believe, and how we either believe who others are or don't believe.) But, only one of those characters do you really come to know through the author's compassionate portrait and he is not without hope for redemption."
— Pamela (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Russell Banks tackles hard subjects [with] verve and courage, and Lost Memory of Skin takes us into the dark side of the dark side. Five stars.”
— Margaret Atwood -
“Russell Banks is one of the great literary explorers of our time. He tells the story that others fear to tell. With each book he casts himself out into brand-new territory, unafraid, unabashed, unforgiving. I don’t know where we’d be without him, except perhaps cast out to sea.”
— Colum McCann, New York Times bestselling author of Let the Great World Spin -
“Destined to be a canonical novel of its time…it delivers another of Banks’ wrenching, panoramic visions of American moral life, and this one very particular to the early 21st century…Banks, whose great works resonate with such heart and soul, brings his full narrative powers to bear.”
— New York Times -
“Banks reveals the two [characters] with tenderness and trenchant wit, in a story that, not surprisingly, plumbs the depth of human despair and resilience. If that prowess is predictable, Skin is bound to leave you shaken and strangely reassured.”
— USA Today -
“Banks’ enormous gamble in both plot and character pays off handsomely…By the end, Kafka is rubbing elbows with Robert Ludlum, and Banks has mounted a thrilling defense of the novel’s place in contemporary culture.”
— New Yorker -
“Among contemporary writers giving voice to America’s beleaguered working class, Russell Banks may have no peer…This oddly unsettling, beautifully crafted novel…raise[s] fascinating issues.”
— San Francisco Chronicle
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
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A Los Angeles Times bestseller
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Selected to the October 2012 Indie Next List
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A 2012 PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist
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An Amazon Top 100 Book of 2011
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An ALA Notable Book
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An Amazon Best Book of the Month, October 2010
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A 2012 Carnegie Medal for Literature Finalist
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A 2011 New York Times Book Review Notable Book
Lost Memory of Skin Listener Reviews
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" This is one of those books that is easy enough to read but very thought-provoking beyond the words on the page. It deals with sex offenders, specifically the challenges they have finding places to live and work within their parole restrictions. What is society supposed to do with these people? The main character, The Kid, is really well written. He seems more a product of his upbringing and some very bad judgment than a true predator. Without liking him, you do feel for him on some level. Then there's this secondary character, The Professor, around whom a mystery develops that is never really resolved. Usually this frustrates me, but it seemed somehow fitting here -- there are no easy answers anywhere in this book, that's for sure. "
— Lori, 2/6/2014 -
" I thought this book was well written but pretty creepy. Certainly, I've had enough of it and wouldn't want to be subjected to it again. "
— Wilma, 1/30/2014 -
" Russell Banks' novels are never happy reads, but he is an amazing writer, drawing us into communities and characters that are disenfranchised, outcast, lonely, but still willing to struggle and sometimes hope. He confronts readers with complex social issues that are never easily resolvable. "
— Jane, 1/30/2014 -
" Gave it a shot--read 100 pages. Story was okay, but writing style just doesn't work for me. "
— Jim, 1/12/2014 -
" I listened to this one. I think it would have been better if I had read it. An interesting story of a young man whose life is disrupted by a blind criminal justice system. "
— Laurel, 1/5/2014 -
" I liked it better after we discussed it in book club. It was easy to pick up and easy to put back down. "
— Kathleen, 12/29/2013 -
" Close to giving it 4 stars. Another tough read by Banks. Difficult subject matter but good in that it made me give thought to this subject I generally avoid, especially in literature. "
— Katrina, 12/12/2013 -
" The writing was decent, the subject matter uber boring. Those interested in realistic stuff will be pleased, I'm looking for something less similar to the news section of MSNBC. "
— Becky, 12/8/2013 -
" 3.5 stars. Different, unusual book. Great writing and interesting concept. "
— Adria, 5/19/2013 -
" Very complex topic and reminds you nothing / noone is either black or white, pure good or bad ... "
— Bjorn, 9/26/2012 -
" I have no idea what to say or even think about this book, so I'll just say "It's good and it makes you think." "
— Kristen, 7/13/2012 -
" From Kirkus review: "Intelligent, passionate and powerful, but very stark indeed." "
— Donna, 6/22/2012 -
" Tragic/insightful/weird/dark interaction between convicted sex offender (the Kid) and man of many personalities (the Professor). Book addresses negative impact of pornorgraphy and societal conflict with regard to dealing with sex offenders. Certainly well written. "
— Courtney, 2/8/2012 -
" I made it to the end of chapter 8. Just wasn't compelling enough for me, though it wasn't poorly written or anything. Perhaps the subject matter... "
— Kevin, 12/24/2011 -
" This book was very suprising and kept me engaged throughout. "
— Joy, 10/14/2011
About Russell Banks
Russell Banks (1940-2023), twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, was one of America’s most prestigious fiction writers. Two of his novels, The Sweet Hereafter and Affliction, have been made into award-winning films. He was a member of the International Parliament of Writers and former New York State Author and was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996. He was a past president of the International Parliament of Writers. His work has been translated into twenty languages and has received numerous prizes and awards, including the Common Wealth Award for Literature.
About Scott Shepherd
Scott Shepherd is best known for his work with two internationally celebrated theater companies, the Wooster Group and Elevator Repair Service. He was the narrator of Gatz, a seven-hour staging of the entire text of The Great Gatsby, for which he won an Obie and an Elliot Norton Award.