I went to grad school, had classes with and was tutored by Don De Grazia at Columbia College in the early 1990s. His talent was immeditately recognizable and his spirit was a true inspiration. I bought his book and read it quickly. It is a page turner, dealing with skin heads and others and set mostly in late 1980s Chicago, it was fun to read about locations that I had been to and characters I seemed to have known. After reading this book I became interested in reading more books set in Chicago and for about a year that was what I mostly read.
In general I don't read much fiction, so I dont recommend much. And although I thought the very ending of American Skin was a bit contrived, overall this novel is a total joy. No one that I have ever recommended it to has NOT liked it. ( )

Being a transplanted resident of Chicago long after the punk 80's referred to in this book, it was highly interesting to read and imagine what familiar areas were like at that time. De Grazia does a fantastic job creating imagery that evokes the feelings of the character as well as the surroundings. ( )