Dorothy Allison encapsulates the light, dark, and all the greys of the human psyche
Published in 1992 by Plume.
How could you possibly defend a mother who abandons her daughter to be with the man who raped that daughter? How could you possibly feel anything but disgust for this violent child-abuser? Read Dorothy Allison’s incredible, semi-autobiographical novel Bastard Out of Carolina, and you will marvel at her insightful and boundless capacity for understanding the complexity of the human psyche and the fragility of human dignity.
Bastard is written through the eyes of Ruth Anne ‘Bone’ Boatwright as she remembers and tries to comprehend the events that led to her mother’s abandonment. She unflinchingly narrates her life from the moment of her illegitimate birth into an impoverished, Southern “white trash” family through her violent rape at age 12, by her stepfather. But Bastard is not so much a coming-of-age story as it is a tribute to her wild, fierce family, and a treatise on the loyalties, conflicts, and betrayals that every family must grapple with.
“I wanted [to take] people deep inside something they didn’t want to know about. To put on the page a memorial to the family that I loved: a huge, violent, working class family that had problems with liquor and poverty and [were] generally thought poorly of…” And Allison does, with the most gravitating, rhythmic, subtle language. She belongs in the vaulted company of Southern writers like William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Harper Lee, for her ability to articulate the complex lives and language of all humans.
Dorothy Allison is probably one of the most warm-hearted and coolest living authors to “kick it” with. Her life story is the archetype of what the most gut-wrenching dramas are made of, and yet her courage, wisdom, and optimism shine through, unwavering, in her writing and in person. She is a feminist, a lesbian, and a humanist, and a staunch supporter of small press and independent bookstores.
“I wanted [to take] people deep inside something they didn’t want to know about. To put on the page a memorial to the family that I loved: a huge, violent, working class family that had problems with liquor and poverty and [were] generally thought poorly of…” And Allison does, with the most gravitating, rhythmic, subtle language. She belongs in the vaulted company of Southern writers like William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Harper Lee, for her ability to articulate the complex lives and language of all humans.
Dorothy Allison is probably one of the most warm-hearted and coolest living authors to “kick it” with. Her life story is the archetype of what the most gut-wrenching dramas are made of, and yet her courage, wisdom, and optimism shine through, unwavering, in her writing and in person. She is a feminist, a lesbian, and a humanist, and a staunch supporter of small press and independent bookstores.
“[Allison] relates Bone’s struggles with intensity, humor, and hard-wrought rejection of self pity, rendering Bastard a rare achievement.”
–SF Review of Books
“When I finished, I wanted to blow a bugle to alert the reading public that a major new talent has arrived.”
–George Garrett, NYTimes
–SF Review of Books
“When I finished, I wanted to blow a bugle to alert the reading public that a major new talent has arrived.”
–George Garrett, NYTimes
Listen to Allison talk about Bastard:
Buy the Novel with IndieBound:
Watch a clip of the movie directed by Anjelica Huston:
Did you read Bastard Out of Carolina?
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Have thoughts to share? Tweet us @booklr or email wenxiao@booklr.com
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