
Lost Memory of Skin
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Narrated by:
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Scott Shepherd
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By:
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Russell Banks
About this listen
The acclaimed author of The Sweet Hereafter and Rule of the Bone returns with a provocative new novel that illuminates the shadowed edges of contemporary American culture with startling and unforgettable results.
Suspended in a strangely modern-day version of limbo, the young man at the center of Russell Banks’s uncompromising and morally complex new novel must create a life for himself in the wake of incarceration. Known in his new identity only as the Kid, and on probation after doing time for a liaison with an underage girl, he is shackled to a GPS monitoring device and forbidden to live within 2,500 feet of anywhere children might gather. With nowhere else to go, the Kid takes up residence under a south Florida causeway, in a makeshift encampment with other convicted sex offenders.
Barely beyond childhood himself, the Kid, despite his crime, is in many ways an innocent, trapped by impulses and foolish choices he himself struggles to comprehend. Enter the Professor, a man who has built his own life on secrets and lies. A university sociologist of enormous size and intellect, he finds in the Kid the perfect subject for his research on homelessness and recidivism among convicted sex offenders. The two men forge a tentative partnership, the Kid remaining wary of the Professor’s motives even as he accepts the counsel and financial assistance of the older man.
When the camp beneath the causeway is raided by the police, and later, when a hurricane all but destroys the settlement, the Professor tries to help the Kid in practical matters while trying to teach his young charge new ways of looking at, and understanding, what he has done. But when the Professor’s past resurfaces and threatens to destroy his carefully constructed world, the balance in the two men’s relationship shifts.
Suddenly, the Kid must reconsider everything he has come to believe, and choose what course of action to take when faced with a new kind of moral decision.
Long one of our most acute and insightful novelists, Russell Banks often examines the indistinct boundaries between our intentions and actions. A mature and masterful work of contemporary fiction from one of our most accomplished storytellers, Lost Memory of Skin unfolds in language both powerful and beautifully lyrical, show-casing Banks at his most compelling, his reckless sense of humor and intense empathy at full bore.
The perfect convergence of writer and subject, Lost Memory of Skin probes the zeitgeist of a troubled society where zero tolerance has erased any hope of subtlety and compassion - a society where isolating the offender has perhaps created a new kind of victim.
©2011 Russell Banks (P)2011 HarperCollinsPublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Amazing Scott Shepherd
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What did you like best about this story?
The story drew me in, in a sick sort of way, like gawking at an accident.Which character – as performed by Scott Shepherd – was your favorite?
"The kid" is a sad sack, who never really got a fair chance in life, but you can't help rooting for him and hoping he'll get a break. The narration over all was excellent.Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I couldn't stop listening, carried along by curiosity and the beautiful descriptions of characters and settings, but my heart ached for them all.Any additional comments?
The tale starts out almost believable, but slowly devolves into a series of vignettes of weird caricatures, and (unfortunately) "the professor" and his story become convoluted beyond recognition. I'm not sure if I exactly recommend this book, but it is certainly a memorable experience and well-crafted in many, but not all, respects.the story drew me in, like gawking at an accident
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I loved this book!!!
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Very moving portrayal.
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Haunting and fascinating
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Okay but nothing extraordinary
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Relevant Insightful Entertaining
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Too wordy....rambled on and on....
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"Canonical Novel of its Time"
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So good!
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