Average customer rating:
- Tries, comes close.
- Not Better than the Film
- One of the few times I'd say "See the movie."
- 5 STARS
- the movie outshines the book
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Mysterious Skin
Scott Heim
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Mysterious Skin (Deluxe Unrated Director's Edition)
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Clay's Way
ASIN: 0060841699
Release Date: 2005-05-10 |
Book Description
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, a terrorist of sorts, 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:
Tries, comes close........2007-05-12
Scott Heim, Mysterious Skin (Harper, 1995)
My review of this book, which I warn you now is going to be ambivalent as all get-out, hinges on one question to which I do not, and likely never will, know the answer: did Scott Heim mean the big reveal at the end to be a big reveal, or did he intend we know the answer to Brian Lackey's question all along? If the former, the book is an utter failure in every sense of the word. If the latter-- which Publisher's Weekly seems to assume, since the big reveal has its dustcover whisked off in the first few sentences of their treatment of the ("impressive"; Library Journal concurs with "powerful") book.
Brian Lackey, at the age of eight, is coming home from a Little League game one night. One minute he's at the game; the next, he's curled up in the crawlspace of his house, nose gushing blood, and five hours of his life is missing. Brian becomes convinced that aliens abducted him during the missing time, and sets off to find corroboration of this. Brian's story, however, is not the only one we're told. Neil McCormick is a teenage hustler who plays on the same little league team as Brian, and is being molested by the team coach; these two form the core of the narrative, with other chapters from the points of view of some of the other characters in the story (Neil's friends, Brian's sister, et al.).
You know, Library Journal spoils the end, too, so I don't feel terribly awful about doing it. If the pros are at it, why not me? In any case, I find it somewhat difficult to believe that anyone could get more than thirty pages into this book without realizing that Brian's search for aliens is a red herring, and that Brian, too, was molested by his little league coach. It's not as if Heim isn't broadcasting it in three-foot-high neon letters throughout. But, as I said before, did he mean to? If so, this becomes not a bad freshman effort. A bit badly-paced, perhaps, but well-written, with a band of interesting characters who have enough neuroses to keep the staff of a good-sized asylum on constant alert. If not, Heim has a great, great deal to learn about the art of foreshadowing. I tend to give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking no one could miss it, but then people are surprised by the endings of Jodi Picoult novels all the time. In any case, if the subject matter doesn't squick you out-- or perhaps more importantly if it does-- this is one you might want to consider picking up. ***
Not Better than the Film.......2007-05-10
The film, "Mysterious Skin" takes all the raw material available in the novel and transformed into something moving and special.
Let me start with the virtues of the book. The plot is fascinating; the juxtaposition of graphic, child molestation and UFO abduction sheds light on both issues. It also makes clear how post traumatic stress buries itself deeply into the lives of people who experience it and does so in different ways depending on the person. I also really like Neil's complex relationship with his molester, Coach. The book does a better job fleshing out Brian's character than the movie. His belief in his UFO abduction fades away rather than disappearing dramatically. Also his relationship with the older woman Avalyn is more nuanced as well.
My biggest problem with the book the use of first person for all the different characters who narrate sections of the novel. They all sound the same. I get no sense from their voices of how they differ from each other. This makes the novel and the characters feel flat and lifeless. Add to that his writerly voice which at times is quite poetic but never feels like how a real person would speak or write. I think the novel is worth reading only if you really loved the movie. I don't think its much of a standalone experience.
One of the few times I'd say "See the movie.".......2006-11-02
I became aware of Mysterious Skin first as a film. I've been fascinated by the films of Gregg Araki in the past (most notably "Nowhere"), and when I discovered this was his newest project, I sought out the film one spring afternoon at my local art house cinema.
In terms of story, the film is very faithful to the book. Araki took very few liberties, and those he took were necessary for creating a tight cinematic narrative. He eliminated extraneous points of view and told the story strictly from Brian's and Neil's.
I think the book handles Brian's epiphany more realistically, although I prefer the pacing of the film.
After reading the book, I recall the utter brilliance (or good luck) of Araki's casting. It probably could not have been any better.
What to say about the book? I don't know. The subject matter is really difficult to deal with. I read the book simply because I wanted to be able to compare it to film. That's the kind of thing I like to do. But, I cannot say that I liked revisiting the subject all that much.
Mysterious Skin reeks of first-novel-itis. Heim is definitely going to be seen as a rising star in "gay literature," whatever that really is. But if you put him against a contemporary gay author, say Augusten Burroughs, Heim is Crayola crayon to Burroughs' water color. The writing is very self conscious. There are some very nicely turned poetics in his prose, but none are good enough to recall. What stays with me is the kernel of the story and not Heim's writing. Maybe that's because the film is superimposed, or perhaps primary, in my consideration of this work. I don't know.
I guess I just have to say that if you're interested in this story, the movie tells it better. As with any comparison of book to film, one will find that the book has deeper characterizations, a lot more background information, and more individual events. But I won't return to this book, and I was glad to move it off the nightstand.
5 STARS.......2006-08-14
Excellent Novel. If you like Scott Heim, you'll like Equisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite.
the movie outshines the book.......2006-05-30
I read this recently after I saw Araki's film. The book hasn't aged well or something...it seems so weak and whiny compared to the boldness of the film. Small story and one we've heard b4.
Average customer rating:
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Mysterious Skin
Scott Heim
Manufacturer: Harper Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JN46FS |
Customer Reviews:
Underground Adventure.......1999-09-25
Good scary reading. Great book. Journey underground into the dark depths of the earth, to a world that few dare to tread. Read this book if you dare! For other underground adventures read, Steward's "Tales of Dirt, Danger, and Darkness."
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Letras Libres, published by Thomson Gale on February 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1714 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Festival Internacional De Cine Contemporáneo (FICCO).(incluye descripción de películas)(Calendario)
Publication:
Letras Libres (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 8
Issue: 86
Page: 102(2)
Article Type: Calendario
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Skin & Allergy News, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2007. The length of the article is 451 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Mysterious burns at wrestling match pinned on faulty bulbs.(Clinical Rounds)
Author: Heidi Splete
Publication:
Skin & Allergy News (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 38
Issue: 3
Page: 88(1)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Cineaste, published by Cineaste Publishers, Inc. on June 22, 2005. The length of the article is 1871 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Mysterious Skin.(Movie Review)
Author: Joel Dossi
Publication:
Cineaste (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2005
Publisher: Cineaste Publishers, Inc.
Volume: 30
Issue: 3
Page: 65(2)
Article Type: Movie Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
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Mysterious Skin
Scott Heim
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEEH92 |
Customer Reviews:
Schools, Dogs and Clues.......2007-09-22
"Hush Puppy" is my first in the Melanie Travis and it is one that will have me coming back for another visit. Laurien Berenson keeps the reader guessing with one jump to another. Her relationship with the police is not caustic, which is a device I'm becoming bored with seeing so frequently in regards to amateur sleuths.
Aunt Peg is a favorite character with loads of spunk, a formidable lady who sets her mind on a goal and it remains there. Sam, the friend, does manage to make it past dense. A sound story for avid page turners who enjoy their mysteries light.
Yes, this is a series I will read again.
Nash Black, author of "Sins of the Fathers" and "Travelers."
A refreshing change.......2003-07-16
As someone who normally reads cat mysteries, I was hesitant to read this series. However, Berenson weaves the dogs into the mystery and the overall plot, unlike so many which seem contrived - "the mystery was soved by the pet" The realism and Berenson's background, intense knowledge of her subject, and honesty of characters make this series a standout. Save them for an afternoon/evening when you don't have much to do, because you won't want to put it down!
Outstanding Book Once Again.......2001-03-23
Having read every book of the Melanie Travis Mystery Series I was quite eager to open this book up and start reading. Once again it proved that Laurien Berenson can write. This book is so interesting and it honestly will keep you guessing up until the very end. I know my jaw must have dropped at least ten times throughout it. It will keep you on your toes whether you are a dog person or not. Melanie Travis is so real and so much like your nextdoor neighbor. I can't even explain how good this and all the other books in the series are. If you are new to this series though I would suggest that you start reading with the first book "Hair of the Dog" It too proved to be very interesting.
Outstanding Book Once Again.......2001-03-23
Having read every book of the Melanie Travis Mystery Series I was quite eager to open this book up and start reading. Once again it proved that Laurien Berenson can write. This book is so interesting and it honestly will keep you guessing up until the very end. I know my jaw must have dropped at least ten times throughout it. It will keep you on your toes whether you are a dog person or not. Melanie Travis is so real and so much like your nextdoor neighbor. I can't even explain how good this and all the other books in the series are. If you are new to this series though I would suggest that you start reading with the first book "A Pedigree to Die For" It too proved to be very interesting.
Brilliant.......2000-09-01
If you are a dog and mystery lover than this is the book for you. I loved this book so much that I couldn't put it down until I finished it. This is definately a book to curl up in a quiet corner with a nice cup of tea and a plan to spend the entire day or night reading. Laurien Berenson has created another masterpiece in the world of writing. I greatly recommend this and any of her other dog mystery books. They are wonderful.
Product Description
Book club edition, 1st ed thus. Omnibus hardcover edition of the first three True Game stories: King's Blood Four, Necromancer Nine, Wizard's Eleven.
Average customer rating:
- Not Free SF Reader
- Game and Match
- Eleven first, eleven last
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Wizards Eleven
Sheri S. Tepper
Manufacturer: Ace
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Tepper, Sheri S.
| ( T )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
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Similar Items:
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The True Game
ASIN: 0441902081 |
Customer Reviews:
Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03
Peter sets out on another quest, and must avoid his demon enemy.
Eventually he will make some discoveries about the true nature of the
True Game and his world.
Game and Match.......2002-12-11
Peter Mavin's Son has been kept busy since the downfall of the magicians. He hunts for the tiny blue figures that are the extracted essence of those who were reduced to empty bodies. In addition, he is earnest for any information about Huld, the Demon who is Peter's true enemy. When he has time for himself, he finds that he misses old friends. Especially Silkhands the Healer, who has gone away to teach at Xammer.
When Windlow's blue suddenly has a vision of Silkhands and Peter gone far to the north, the young shapechanger seizes the excuse and sets off to visit. No sooner are they on the road than an attack befalls them and Peter realizes that he has more to fear than just Huld. He and Chance survive the game and arrive in Xammer to the delight of Silkhands. When a minstrel sings the two of them a haunting song, both decide to head North, accompanying Jinian Footseer to her proposed husband. And Jinian is very, very special.
And so they are off, passing places with eerie names - Dindinaroo, Waeneye, and the Wastes of Bleer, encountering old friends and new, and some familiar enemies. Peter seems for ordained to bring about the changes that Mertyn and Himaggery dream of, but he must first face the places of bone and Huld's unending betrayal and evil.
There is a writer's urban legend that says that one of a trilogy is supposed to be worse than the others are. I am here to insist that with Sheri Tepper this is hardly the case. Not only is this first of the three trilogies composed of staves of equal strength, but also there is more to come for anyone so bespelled. Three times now I have read "King's Blood Four," "Necromancer's Nine," and "Wizard's Eleven" all in gulps because I can't make myself stop. Three times for three threes - I confess - I am charmed.
Eleven first, eleven last.......2001-07-31
This is the third book of the Peter Trilogy, the middle segment of Tepper's True Game 9-book series. Its events run more or less concurrently with the first book of the Jinian trilogy, Jinian Footseer. I would recommend reading this before Jinian Footseer--if, that is, you can find a copy. I was fortunate enough to buy my copy new when it was still in print.
Wizard's Eleven sets out, perhaps more clearly than in the previous books, the world of the True Game, the society of Gamesmen, and the nature of Talents. Like most of Tepper's books, it also raises questions of law versus justice, the appropriate use of power, and the ethics of concealing one's gifts or nature. Recommended, but only after you've read at least King's Blood Four and Necromancer Nine.
Amazon.com
"We promote wellness, longevity, radiance, and bliss when we follow simple, nurturing practices," says Horst Rechelbacher, the founder of Aveda, the natural, aromatherapy-based, hair-, skin-, and body-care products line. In addition to heading Aveda, he is also an environmental activist and a seeker who has studied the world's spiritual and self-healing traditions. He says the key to wellness, inner harmony, and beauty is a process that is eased by returning to nature and to the wisdom of the oldest cultures and rituals.
Rechelbacher offers a selection of rituals based on India's Ayurvedic healing system--"simple, gentle practices"--many of them using essential oils. He presents the philosophies behind the value of nurturing rituals, an explanation of how you can individualize your choices according to your own constitution (based on Ayurvedic principles), then a selection of soothing rituals that you can incorporate into your own life. These include breath, touch, movement, food, herbs, meditation, relaxation, and a variety of cleansing, healing, and body-care practices (including cosmetics) using essential oils and natural products (from Aveda, of course). He encourages you to invent your own daily regimen that nurtures and pleases you. A helpful glossary of essential oils includes a wealth of information about each one. Aveda Rituals is the next best thing to a day at one of the company's gloriously rejuvenating spas. --Joan Price
Book Description
A lushly illustrated guide to holistic beauty and health by the founder of AVEDA(r)cross promotion with AVEDA.The understanding that our beauty and health are depent on the environment around us as well as the personal landscape of our bodies, hearts, minds, and souls, is the foundation of Horst Rechelbacher's holistic guide. More than 100 color photographs complement the practical text in AVEDA Rituals, which highlights the interconnectedness of all things: of health and beauty; of mind, body, and spirit; of our bodies and the larger body we must care for, Earth.Horst Rechelbacher founded AVEDA by creating pure plant-based beauty products in his own sink. Over the past twenty years he has developed it into a multimillion-dollar company with a conscience. Now he has written AVEDA Rituals, which provides a broad new holistic approach to health, beauty, and wellness. First, the author introduces and discusses Ayurveda, aromatherapy, and his own personal philosophies for life. Then he goes on to provide a wide array of daily rituals derived from them that touch on every aspect of life, including cleansing, nutrition, meditation, aromatherapy, relaxation, body movement, massage, goal setting, and stress management. Readers are invited to incorporate each of their elements into their own individual daily regimen, one that will leave them feeling their best and most beautiful inside and out!
Customer Reviews:
Full of important information.......2007-06-27
This is one of my favourite books, and it has so much important information in it. It's not just that I love Aveda's products, but the fact that the author (and founder of Aveda) really knows what he's talking about.
Great suggestions to incorporate into daily life.......2007-04-27
The book offers many ways to live more thoughtfully. It may be seem daunting to try and incorporate all of the suggestions, but taking just one or two would add to the enjoyment of each day.
Great Book!.......2004-02-14
Yes it has product endorsements, but it also recommends other things. it is a book that each time i read, gives me clarity, and helps me relax. great book!
Simply exceptional!.......2002-10-12
Mr. Rechelbacher's book features ideas to help beautify your life from the inside, out. Both his writing style and the book layout is easy to read. He is very good about "suggesting" changes in your lifestyle, and with each change he suggests, he talks in detail about how such a change could benefit your life, health, and/or appearance. He uses his own rituals as a starting point, but encourages the reader to develop their own personal rituals. He does not shamelessly plug his own products (as some authors are wont to do). He even admits to not following his own advice occasionally! I especially liked his chapters on self-massage (something I'd never even considered), nutrition, and refreshing yourself mid-day.
Most importantly, I believe, is the fact that his suggestions can be incorporated into a busy lifestyle. If your schedule allows you to devote *any* time to yourself, I highly suggest reading this book and following his advice. (Don't worry, he'll tell you where you can skimp when you just don't have the time.)
If you're interested in beginning a healthier life, this book is a great place to start. I enjoyed it immensely more than I expected, and I had pretty high expectations for the founder of Aveda!
Horst: Beyond Beauty & New Age Psychobable.......2001-05-17
Horst Rechelbacher was my hairdresser in 1968. In 2001; he has touched the lives of many, not just w/his excellent product line -- but because he is charisma. He is a complex person, so it's best for the reader to focus on the philosophy he expounds in this book rather than try to write his bio -- which many of his devotees would love to do.
I just pray he stays in that rainforest & continues to mine it's treasures in the tradition of Schultes. Read this book as an introduction to one of the finest minds of our lifetime. In the words of psychologist Abraham Maslow, who studied high achievers; Horst is a "self actualized" man. There is not a thing to loose by following his advice here; except old, non productive ways of doing things.
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- Pasta Imperfect: A Passport to Peril Mystery
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