Book Review : The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall
Cyril Parks lives in Morecambe with his mother who specializes in caring for consumptives. Cyril helps her out, but later took up the opportunity to exploit his artistic talent by apprenticing himself to the infamous Eliot Riley, a freehand tattoo artist renowned for his skill with needle and ink. Riley is obnoxious, violent and always drunk, but excels in his craft, which he deems both erotic and artistic.
Cyril's cancer-stricken mother passes away, and old Riley gives in to death by swallowing bleach. Cyril sets sail for America and starts up his shop 'The Electric Michelangelo' on the shores of Coney Island. There, he meets Grace, a gypsy traveling with the circus whom he tattooed eyes all over her body.
Sarah Hall's poignant tale leaves Cyril's future at an open end and has successfully defied the age-old negative connotation of tattoos. The permanent marks once used for branding slaves take on new meanings in the Electric Michelangelo, in praise of tattoo artists.
