Cover of Mysterious Skin

Mysterious Skin

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.

Read more

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.

Audience
young adultadult
Length
medium · 292 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked Mysterious Skin? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Mysterious Skin. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Dream Boy Shares LGBT, gay, fiction
  2. A Boy's Own Story Shares LGBT, gay, fiction
  3. The World of Normal Boys Shares LGBT, gay, fiction
  4. Dancer from the Dance Shares LGBT, gay, fiction

“People who read Mysterious Skin tend to reach for these next.”

  1. The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things
  2. Now and on Earth
  3. The Room
  4. Clown Girl

“If you want more of the same (lgbt), start with these.”

  1. These Things Happen
  2. Growing Up Gay/Growing Up Lesbian: A Literary Anthology
  3. The Coming Storm
  4. My Brother and His Brother

“If it was the gay that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. A Home at the End of the World
  2. Becoming Nancy
  3. Latin Moon in Manhattan: A Novel
  4. The Swimming-Pool Library

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Boy Toy
  2. Living Dead Girl
  3. Safe At Home
  4. Gina and Mike