From Publisher's Weekly

"The summer I was eight years old, five hours disappeared from my life"?so runs the catchy opening to Heim's impressive first novel. The speaker is Brian Lackey, now a troubled teenager, once an introverted kid growing up scared in the small town of Hutchinson, Kans. The reason for his memory lapse and his fear, as we and Brian learn during the course of the novel, turns out not to be the space aliens that he first suspects, but his molestation at the hands of his Little League coach.

The key to Brian's reclamation of those lost hours is homosexual hustler Neil McCormick the slugger on that Little League team and an accomplice to Brian's sexual abuse. Working its way over the course of a decade toward Brian and Neil's reunion, the narrative unfolds through chapters whose points of view alternate among Brian, Neil and a handful of their siblings and confidants. He creates scenes of genuine beauty, however, and handles his complicated characters and delicate subject matter with calm assurance.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I spotted this book in Scoobs-buddy's GLBT bookbox. [It wasn't listed in the bookbox-journal entry, but Men Who Love Men was, and that one's not in the box - a last-minute substitution? {grin}.] Anyway, I read this some time back, so I won't be claiming the book, but I did want to add my comments.

Interesting - and gut-wrenching - look at the effects of child abuse, from the viewpoints of two different victims (whose responses to the situation are also very different), and from several of their relatives and friends. The story unfolds in episodes told over the years, with one boy suppressing his memories of the events completely and the other viewing them in a disturbing light (but one that does explain how some predators win over their victims). The story meandered a bit in the middle, but overall it kept me involved, hoping that both boys would be able to come to terms with what had happened...

[Caveat: The story includes graphic scenes of child abuse. FYI.]

Oh, and there's a 2004 film of Mysterious Skin based on the book.

The book's going back in the box, and should be on its way Monday to BCer oldbroad in Washington.

oh, i've been wanting to read this one for a while now! thanks so much for including it in this bookbox. :)

i don't even know what to say about this book... to say i liked it wouldn't be quite right, and yet, it was excellent. dark and detailed and alive in so many ways, there's something really ordinary about this story, matter-of-fact even when the characters themselves aren't sure what's going on. it's beautiful and awful and human, and i would read anything else by this author in hot minute, regardless of description, and trust him to make it true.

adding to ealasaidmae's GBLTQ bookbox. enjoy!

off into the wild . . . via the GBLTQ Bookbox - BCID 040-8085642

in the bookbox - thanks, laevina!

Outside the Doctors' Building on Canal

Welcome to Bookcrossing! I've registered this book here so that I can keep up on where it goes, who reads it, and what they thought of it. Please leave a quick journal entry so I know it's safe with you, then read and enjoy! When you're through, pass the book along to someone else who will appreciate it. We can all track this book's journey and the lives it touches forever more!

Thank You!