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It does seem, however, that if the writer was to emphasize the fact that the story was in Greenville so strongly, that she would use accurate landmark names. I am about the same age as she, and I also grew up in Greenville, SC. I worked with and lived around these folks in and around the mill villages on the outskirts of Greenville, until my family finally moved out to a little house on the "White Horse Road" that she speaks of often in the book.My only complaint, besides the very sad ending, was that some of the facts about Greenville were not correct. I know these characters.
I heard Ms. Still, I enjoyed this book greatly. I know that this is a work of fiction and unless you lived there in the 50's and 60's, it wouldn't matter. Allison speak on South Carolina Public Radio during the Christmas break.
I and my whole family worked in the JP Stevens "cotton mills" at one time or another; my father for more than 40 years. I highly recommend it, and I look forward to reading more of her work. After hearing her, I thought I would read her novel set in Greenville, SC. I was truly intrigued by her story and the characters in it.
It is honest, it is powerful, it is original, it is even suspenseful.This is a book you should read because it is not only worth reading, but because it should make you a better human being. It is difficult to find a fault in this book. I read this book a while back, and it's a testimony to the realism of the story that I couldn't recall if this was a novel or a biography. Bone is truly an unforgettable character, searingly broken and misused, yet brimming with a courage few of us have known.
It's a must-read for anyone who is interested in something new & different. When I was done with the book I was still itching to know what happened with the characters.I even googled Dorothy Allison to see if I could find more info. It is definitely not for the very reserved & conservative unless you're willing to open your mind a bit as she uses some very "out there" themes. I could not put this book down. Dorothy Allison does such a great job of putting this novel together and keeping you wanting to find out what's next.
I was disgusted, depressed, hopeful, anxious all because of this book. It tells a highly dysfunctional but realistic story about growing up in the South - something which I admittedly have no first hand experience in doing. The plot is compelling, the characters are developed sufficiently and I definitely care about what happened to the main character. The only genuine criticism that can be said of this book is that it is too depressing. When literature can cause these full range of emotions, then I'd definitely consider it a success. But, just because literature is depressing, doesn't detract from the quality. Yes, it is overwhelmingly bleak at points, sometimes to the point where I had to stop reading for bit before continuing. "Bastard Out of Carolina" remains one of my favorite books of all time.
Her mom was 14 or 15 when she was born and a whopping 21 when she marries for the third time. I wrote down the title of this book when I was reading a book called Great Books for High School Kids. I can't quite imagine teaching this to high school kids, but the teacher who wrote about it taught it in an elective women's lit class. But I'd have to follow it with something lighter, a lot less depressing.
Then again, there's a lot to learn here. I admire the teacher who chose to start her year with this book. Some really tough and uncomfortable issues to bring up in a class discussion. In a nutshell, it's a story of need, of sex, of drinking, of incest, of masturbation, of fear, of betrayal.
Clearly she's a brilliant teacher, and part of being a brilliant teacher is choosing materials that students will embrace and dig into. There's some humor in the story--Bone's uncles and aunts are an eccentric bunch, but mostly this is just a heartbreaking story that's very hard to stomach. Yikes. Bone's younger sister has a different father--he's somewhere in between Bone's father and the man who enters their lives when Bone is 7 or so.
In chapter one we learn about her birth as a "bastard child" and by the end of the book she's maybe in her early teens. She always had more students than desks and her students ranged from Ivy League bound to those struggling to finish high school. So here's the story of Bone.
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