Lost Memory of Skin

"Of the many writers working in the great tradition today, one of the best is Russell Banks." --New York Times

?"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

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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436 pages

Average rating: 5.75

4 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Anonymous
Dec 27, 2023
4/10 stars
I think this book raises many interesting points and faults in our penal system in the US. However, it only touches on them so lightly. I didn't find the story very interesting.
E Clou
May 10, 2023
8/10 stars
It was good writing but it was not a pleasant book to read as it involves a community of sexual offenders, most of them with a history of abusing children. It does make you think about how we make recovery or treatment nearly impossible in our society.
Warrior63
Feb 17, 2023
4/10 stars
Definitely not his best, but it did make me look at sex offenders in a different light.

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