Audience Appreciation
“Go make something happen.” The directive came from his writing teacher, John Schultz, who thought De Grazia might be able to collar an editor to read his novel.
American Skin is a coming-of-age story rooted to the corner of Belmont and Sheffield. Alex Verdi, the narrator, is a young man searching for a home and anything resembling a family. He is taken in by skinheads after a fight on the el. Differences between nonracist skinheads, neo-Nazi skins, and the outside world are blurred as Verdi moves from nightclubs to the army to the Northwestern campus to Stateville. When he commits a murder that has nothing to do with skinheads, Verdi is forced, as a matter of survival, to become part of a group he never wanted to join.
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“People couldn’t hide the looks on their faces,” De Grazia says. “Regarding these people as human beings worthy of a book seemed kind of odious to them.”
“I got a phone call at seven in the morning.” He imitates the British accent on the line: “‘Hello? Is Don Gennaro De Grazia there?’ I was completely freaked-out. She was really complimenting the book. At every pause in the conversation she would giggle. I think she was kind of excited, I don’t know. But at the time I considered the possibility that someone was doing a fake accent and calling to make fun of me. Nobody I know would really do that. I don’t know–it was early. I was still waking up.” Martin told him she was certain the book had already been sold, but she was calling just in case. De Grazia casually informed her that no one had purchased the manuscript yet. The next day an offer was faxed to De Grazia, who then faxed it to Quayle.
If De Grazia wants to broaden the audience for literary fiction, he’s now in a position to do something about it. His mentor, John Schultz, is the publisher of F Magazine, a literary journal started in 1967, and Schultz has just appointed De Grazia as its new editor. The next issue, now slated for spring, will include short stories and novel excerpts from Andrew Vachss, the Mekons, Maggie Estep, and Shawn Shiflett, as well as excerpts from a roundtable discussion with Schultz, Ana Castillo, Jane Hamilton, and National Book Award winner Charles Johnson. De Grazia also plans to include work by a few unknown local writers.
