Dorothy Allison

Bastard Out of Carolina (Essential Edition): (Plume Essential Edition)

Michael Springer

Funny, sad, and full of vivid characters. I'd recommend it.

Rita Merle

A profound portrait of family dynamics in the rural South and “an essential novel” (The New Yorker) “As close to flawless as any reader could ask for . . . The living language [Allison] has created is as exact and innovative as the language of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye.” —The New York Times Book Review The publication of Dorothy Allison’s Bastard Out of Carolina was a landmark event that won the author a National Book Award nomination and launched her into the literary spotlight. Critics have likened Allison to Harper Lee, naming her the first writer of her generation to dramatize the lives and language of poor whites in the South. Since its appearance, the novel has inspired an award-winning film and has been banned from libraries and classrooms, championed by fans, and defended by critics. Greenville County, South Carolina, is a wild, lush place that is home to the Boatwright family—a tight-knit clan of rough-hewn, hard-drinking men who shoot up each other’s trucks, and indomitable women who get married young and age too quickly. At the heart of this story is Ruth Anne Boatwright, known simply as Bone, a bastard child who observes the world around her with a mercilessly keen perspective. When her stepfather Daddy Glen, “cold as death, mean as a snake,” becomes increasingly more vicious toward her, Bone finds herself caught in a family triangle that tests the loyalty of her mother, Anney—and leads to a final, harrowing encounter from which there can be no turning back.

A Novel

Bastard Out of Carolina

renee badenoch

Very shortly I will say that this is perhaps my favorite book. It is the most realistic portrayal of sexual abuse and growing up impoverished and life in the south I have ever read. I found out after reading that the book is largely auto-biographical, which must have been why Allison was able to write with such clarity and resonance about these issues which in other hands would seem sensationalist. Not a note rings untrue or hollow.

Kirsten Simkiss

I read this book back in college as part of a popular literature and culture course about the family unit. While it has been some time, I somehow neglected to ever come back and write a review for this book.

I think a lot of my feelings about this book are that the subject matter is uncomfortable and horrifying. I actually had the pleasure of getting to see the author speak at my university about her book and how this was her story, but with little things changed around and a bunch of cartographical inaccuracies. However, as much as I appreciate the author's perspective, I did not enjoy reading this book whatsoever. Reading about abuse and child rape is awful, especially when you aren't warned about the content in advance. And, even if I had known what the subject matter was, it was definitely not something I would have elected to read on my own. However, for class we were made to both read the book and watch the movie. Some of my friends were kind enough to watch the movie with me so I didn't have to be alone in how uncomfortable it all made me.

I have no complaints about the writing style or the story itself apart from how uncomfortable I was reading about it, but this is not something I would recommend to others unless they enjoy reading about the suffering of a sexually abused child.

Jaymie Lemke

I loved this book. It's definitely not a "light" read. Dorothy really captures the feelings and thoughts of her characters.

Bastard out of Carolina

shellybn

This is a beautiful, lyrical, haunting book. It tells the story of Bone, a young girl growing up in the midst of an extended family in Greenville County, South Carolina. I could directly relate to Bone, because my grandfather's family lived there for generations, and it felt like Allison was describing many of my own relatives as she told the story. The bad part of the book is the shattering emotional impact it has on readers. I found it very triggering, and it dredged up many bad memories of my own life. At times, I was absolutely nauseated but at the end I admired Bone for her strength.

Maggie

I picked this up because it takes place in Greenville and it was recommended in a book I recently read about class in the US. It took me a while to finish because it was so incredibly tough to read. The afterward is incredible.

Tired of being labeled white trash, Ruth Anne Boatwright, longs to escape from her hometown, and especially from Daddy Glen and his meanspirited jealousy.

Jade Flynn

The thing I most love most about reading Southern literature is you can taste it in your lungs when you breathe, you can feel the sun beating down on your skin with every turn of the page, you can smell the biscuits and gravy cooking in the oven and the peach cobbler cooling in breeze - it is truly an experience every time. Bastard Out of Carolina is a strange somewhat twisted cousin to To Kill a Mockingbird. It is a tale of courage, survival and resistance. It is full of heart, sorrow and hope.

Daryl Houston

This was both funny and harrowing. I thought the voice was great and the characters memorable, the writing a pleasure to read. I'm sure it's got flaws that I didn't notice or overlook, but I thought it was a great read -- the best of the year so far for me.

Bastard Out of Carolina (Essential Edition): (Plume Essential Edition)

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