Book summary

Alex Verdi, son of drug dealers, flees after his parents are arrested. In Chicago, he joins a group of skinheads, lives on the streets, makes his way to an Army boot camp--and eventually ends up in prison himself.

Media reviews

"The novel vibrates with violent masculine energy and foul-mouthed sardonic good humor. On the surface, it's a detailed look at an often-misunderstood subculture. But De Grazia digs deeper than that....Not everything works in AMERICAN SKIN. Several of De Grazia's plot twists are extraneous and unbelievable. And Alex's college girlfriend is hardly more than a walking J. Crew ad. These are minor shortcomings, though. De Grazia's ability to write brilliantly about horrific things keeps the reader locked into his narrative. In its willingness to examine the relationship between violent behavior and the intense social pressure to conform, AMERICAN SKIN harks back to the tough social-realism movies of the 1950s....It's a positive direction in which to take new American fiction, and for now Don De Grazia is right up front."