Seven Tattoos: A Memoir in the Flesh - Softcover

Trachtenberg, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140273905 ISBN 13: 9780140273908

Publisher: Penguin, 1998

Synopsis

The author describes events in his life in terms of his seven tattoos, exploring themes of sacrilege, death, primitivism, sadomasochism, and downfall

About this title

About the Author:

Peter Trachtenberg, winner of the Nelson Algren Award for Short Fiction, is the author of The Casanova Complex, a work of nonfiction. His stories have appeared in TriQuarterly, Chicago, and other periodicals. He continues his series of commentaries for National Public Radio?s All Things Considered and is a performance artist in New York City.

From the Inside Flap:

enberg's Seven Tattoos: A Memoir in the Flesh is much more than the memories of an eloquent writer. It's wild anthropology, eclectic theology, literary observation, and a treatise on the uses of body modification and tattooing. Even Trachtenberg's most harrowing and absurd experiences become universal through his illuminating prose.

As a Jew drawn to the ritual of Catholicism, plagued by its guilt and craving its absolution, he gets a tattoo of the wound of Christ. An unfilial son and regretful lover, he marks himself with the Archangel Michael, who drove Adam and Eve from Paradise. "Most tattoos are signifiers of the past, commemorating events that have already transpired. That's how I see most of mine," Trachtenberg explains. "But tattoos may also act upon the future, protect the body from impending danger or consecrate it for some arduous task ahead."  

Each chapter in Seven Tattoos explores the theme evoked by the co

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0140273905
• ISBN 13: 9780140273908
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288