Dear Scott,

I thank you so much for your bravery. In these times, the vivid depictions you made in your novel, eventually turned into a great movie, require a strong heart. Please be patient with my English, for what is not my first language, but I am sure you want to read what I want and I need to say.

First at all, let me tell you that, with some variants, the story that you wrote is what happened to me. He was not a coach, and he was more interesting than your character. I was his boy star, and other joined our weekly, in vacations daily sessions. So far, the old chap is there, fooling around with other kids.

Why in the hell, you might be thinking? Why don’t you run to the police station and denounce him?

Because not me, neither my mates think that is fair. We enjoyed, deeply enjoyed what we got, and our relation was never abusive. I am not in denial, and being exceedingly intelligent, I will not buy nonsense from hysterics who believe in the so called mental health professionals. So let me phrase it properly, because I do not want you to have any kind of slight doubt here: since I was six and up to my fifteen birthday, I had at least weekly sessions of sex with a man, and I loved everyone of those days. I am not gay, I am married with children, and most of my mates are in the same situation. There is not trauma for there was not abuse. That man was our hero, and he respected us profoundly. A guide, a mentor, a friend, a great human being.

What I did is because I wanted, and at six I knew exactly what I was doing and what I was feeling. There was not grooming, coercion or manipulation of any kind. More important than anything, I was always in complete control, and although I was so hypersexual that I always gladly volunteered to any kind of explorations, some of my mates did not, and when they withdrew, there were not even a slight attempt to stop them from quitting. The couple of times I was not in the mood of engaging in sex, or I did not want to do any particular sexual act, I simply said that and I was off the hook. Not even the classic “c’mon, lets try it” came from his mouth.

And for kids who can be damaged from the experience… it rings a bell, actually. I remember one day, when a couple of us asked him to invite one boy whom we wanted to fool around with us, he just said no. “He is way too sensitive for these games” he said, and that was the end of the situation. Many kids were actually never included in the playful and exploratory atmosphere that his house provided to all us.

You were brave, Scott. Be brave again and try to explore with a little more detail what is behind the curtain. As happened with Neil’s clients, who went from the extremely abusive, violent and abhorrent to the kind, well mannered, there are different kinds of pedophiles, and even you might not want to retake the subject in a future novel, it is important for me to be sure you have all the facts.

If you want to mail me, to know a little bit more about this, just drop me a line at jongenag@fastmail.fm

My best wishes to you,

C.

Scott: thought of you today because the Reader of Depressing Books blog will soon post a long piece on Joy Williams. Check out the teaser here: http://reader-of-depressing-books.blogspot.com/2005/08/joy-williams-post-forthcoming.html

Best,
David.

dear scott!
thank you for opening the blog up to comments. it's a brave gesture. even greater thanks for putting pen to paper (fingers to keyboard?) and writing of things that need to be read. an even braver gesture.

i am thrilled over the film adaptation of your beautiful novel (and even got to see the über-sexy gregg in person at a screening), but i have to admit that the book will always stay closest to my heart.

so looking forward to We Disappear, and the stories you've still to tell. cheers and thanks.

Scott, sending greetings from your hometown and so glad that your okay and saying the things that you do. Wishing you courage to speak up!

I finished reading mysterious skin about a week ago. I was very impressed, and i wrote a short review on my blog.

I just want to say how wonderfully written I thought the book was. I loved how you layed out the story from so many diffrent points of view. I felt i really was really able to get the know the people in the story. The writting was detailed yet not verbose, allowing the story to flow, while at the same time painting vivid pictures in the readers head.

I was very impressed.

I am wonder who your favorit authors are?

scott,

its hours after the movie, and it still resonates with me. tomorrow i will search for you novel.

i laughed, cried, and got chills...but what sets mysterious skin apart from the other stories is that it provoked so much thought. in a short time span i have questioned subjects such as deviant behavior, gender, pain, pleasure, sexuality, victimhood, and so many other issues...

above all things, thank you. thank you for the empathy, passion, and beauty...thank you for reminding me, someone who also has lived part of your story, that there is some semblance of closure.

i look forward to reading.

Hi Scott,

finally I get to leave a comment. It's about bloody time ;)
Damn, now I have nothing to say... typical!
I'll email again soon I promise, just as soon as I think of something worth saying.

Oh btw, good news about Australia NOT banning Mysterious Skin! :)

Greetings Scott,

I must say, I've only recently discovered your work but I am under your spell. Mysterious Skin is the best novel I've read in a very long time.

Random things that delighted me about you:

1. In Mysterious Skin when Neil mentions watching "Nail Gun Massacre." I remember being young and my friend and I renting that film, we used to rent 5 horror flicks for 5 bucks and spend a weekend rotting our brain cells. On my last birthday, the same friend got me a signed and numbered copy on DVD! It's such a rare gem -with a tag line like "cheaper than a chainsaw" how can you go wrong?

2. Upon finding this site I've discovered that you're also a big John Waters fan. Kudos.

I can't wait for We Disappear. Keep up the good work.

Bex

Hi, just wanna say that the lastest movie adapted from your novel Mysterious Skin is fabulous. It oozes with growing up pains, gay angst and I can really identify with the two main characters. i was molested with I was nine and I am still in the process of reconciliation with this male cousin of mine. Love from singapore.

Finally, been longing to comment for weeks since I first heard of Mysterious Skin. Norway is a long way from real civilisation sometimes, so I hope you'll forgive me for not having heard a word of the book before now. But I've read the book three times since I at last got my hands on it and I have since had the need to thank you for writing what can only be described as chilling and warming at the same time. It's the first time ever, and I mean EVER, someone has written about what I have gone through without making the victim into a puddle of self-pity and with no strength of his/her own.

As I saw the movie first, I had faces for the characters, but still there are always new fields within them to explore. Eric reminds me so much of my best friend that I sat there with a goofy grin on my face during some of his monologues, having heard them all before on late nights when the lights are dimmed and my friend's frustration can have an outlet. But Neil and Brian...I don't have words for it. Especially in the end, when Neil says he can't say things will be all right, because they won't, then I feel like there's at least someone who can describe what I'm feeling.

Okay, had lots more to say, but I have to go, the jet set life exists here too. THANK YOU is the main thing here, thank you for offering me a deeper insight into myself and perhaps, somewhere in the future, a way to live.

All the best.

PS: All for the comments. Live life dangerous, right?

I think I read Mysterious Skin the year afer I saw my first Gregg Araki film - Totally F**cked Up. MS (and In Awe) are two books I pull off my shelves and dip back into every year or two, each time leaving me haunted and and touched. And Mr Araki's films, well, there's nothing quite like them.

So, please accept my enormous gratitude to you both, for birthing this moving film.

And for opening up comments. ;)

Dear Scott,
Was prompted to write for several reasons. First, to show you that people who would read your blog are unlikely to be uncivilised or mad or both. Second, to say that I have seen the film Mysterious skin twice in Geneva, Switzerland, where I live, and have not stopped raving about it to all my friends. Third, that Geneva is only a three and a half hour train journey from Paris should you ever feel like visiting it during your book tour in Paris and France. I would be delighted to show you around.
I am currently on holiday in Westport, Massachusetts, before going to Boston for more well-earned rest. Am Chinese, but have lived the world over, with Geneva now my home.
All the very best!
Jeff

don't worry, scott! i just know you'll get masses of admiration and very few mean people...

Yay! I'm so thrilled you decided to enable comments - don't worry about haters, they rarely appear and that's what the delete button is for, right? ;)

We've only sort of met...I introduced myself to you a while ago on MySpace so you may or may not remember...(Vegan is Sexy girl)

Tomorrow and Thursday "Mysterious Skin" is finally arriving in my town!

hello master scott, long time no hear! x

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