As a transracial adoptive mom, I was very interested in reading this account of a transracial adoptive family formed in the 1970s. There was a lot of white saviorism and lofty ideals. So much so that I didn't make it very far trying to read it in print. I ended up waiting until my library had it on audio. It was much more palatable to me in that format. I wanted to know more about the adoptees' perspectives on what their parents did right and wrong in terms of transracial parenting. Because the author was one of the couple's white biological children, there wasn't really any information from the Black and Asian adoptees' perspectives. I wish there would have been at least a chapter from some of the author's siblings so their voices were part of this story.

Thank you to W. W. Norton & Company, Liveright, and NetGalley for a review copy of this title.

I must admit, the title "Skinfolk" caught my attention for different reasons. Initially, I thought it might be written by an African American. I was pleasantly mistaken! It turned out to be a heartwarming and insightful memoir, exploring the unique dynamics of growing up in a large transracial family. Despite the well-meaning intentions of the white parents, the narrative doesn't shy away from addressing the profound impact of adoption-related trauma, heightened by the intricate interplay of race in America.

Overall, I found this memoir very enjoyable, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!

A devastating, heartbreaking story of a racial family experiment, where children's lives and well-being were put on the line for a social performance. Guterl is a wonderful storyteller and doesn't shy away from difficult topics or confessions. This memoir is an unflinching look at the realities of family, race, white privilege, systems of oppression, and the naiveté and harm of white liberalism. If you're interested in race in America, I think this book is now an essential read.

So, a white guy had an idea to artificially create a family that is multi-racial. And how'd that go for him? If you're interested in ways to screw up your kids, this may be your book. The idea is at best naive and wishful and at worst, manipulative. Reading this book was like watching a car crash in slow motion.
If you're interested in family dynamics, though, you may find this to be an enlightening read and it does read smoothly.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. Not my cup of tea, but I think it will find its readership.

The premise of this book is compelling, however even from the book’s beginning, it felt not as if I was reading memoir, but I was reading a study. Part of this is embedded in the idea of the author’s parents creating this perfect, mixing pot family, but considering the privilege of the narrator in the family, it made this book feel a bit contrived for me. Detached, even othering. I wanted to know the perspective of the family members who didn’t have he biological tie more. I think this could work for some readers, or even from a more sociological slant, but it wasn’t for me unfortunately.

Despite Skinfolk being a memoir, Matthew Pratt Guterl takes a very distant, observer role in telling the story of his unique upbringing. Guterl is the white son of two white parents who, through both pregnancy and adoption, created a diverse family as a means of living their values. They displayed their ideals in an extremely visible way during a time when doing so was even less safe or popular than it is now. While this makes for a fascinating sociological read, it lacked emotion and self-reflection in the way I would have expected from a memoir. Guterl often comes across as if he is trying to be an objective observer of the goings on rather than someone who lived it. The few times where he does insert himself fully into the narrative, he seems detached from feeling. The clinical tone put me off a bit, and left me wondering what the author's true feelings are about the experiment in which he was unwittingly involved.

The title Skinfolk was the first thing that enticed my curiosity to read this memoir that touches on an important topic that is usually or never discussed. I highly recommend this book because of the story and the discussion that comes with it.