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Bastard Out of Carolina (Essential Edition): (Plume Essential Edition) | 
| Author: Dorothy Allison
Publisher: Plume
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $6.48
You Save: $9.52 (60%)
New (33) Used (30) Collectible (2) from $3.48
Avg. Customer Rating:  156 reviews
Sales Rank: 46611
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.7 x 1
ISBN: 0452287057
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780452287051
ASIN: 0452287057
Publication Date: August 30, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Paperback, minor shelf wear. Ships promptly w/notification emailed after shipping.
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Product Description
Ruth Anne "Bone" Boatwright, an illegitimate young girl, dreams of escaping her Greenville County, South Carolina, home, her notorious, hard-living family, and the unwanted attentions of her abusive stepfather, Daddy Glen. A first novel. Reprint. National Book Award finalist. NYT.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 151 more reviews...
 Great books that deal with real issues October 27, 2008
I watched the movie a while back and was not satisfied with the story line. it seemed fragmented. The book was much better you get a better idea of the full story line. the movie is misleading in some areas.
 Tragedy mixed with Misery October 21, 2008
A quite sad story, interestingly written at times, I would recommend it, but wish I could see more learned from the experience. Allison does a great job at depicting the muck and mire of the poor South but, I frequently wanted to be free from the book. This is likely what was intended.
Parental Failure Seems not to Trump Childhood Innocence [33] October 14, 2008
Few novels match this novel's ability to contrast childhood innocence and parental irresponsibility - which amounts to gross negligence in parenthood.
Written in the naive eyes of 9-year old (to the ripe age of almost 13) Bone (Ruth Anne) Boatwright, the child's observations are both charming and inspiring. Living as "white trash" in South Carolina, the poverty haunts Bone. The common dinner was "biscuits and gravy, flour-and-water biscuits with bacon-fat gravy to pour over them. . ." When the power was out, they would just have biscuits dipped in cold tomato soup cans. When that supply ended, it would be soda crackers. When all were out, Mama, ". . .poured us glasses of cold tea and told us stories about real hunger, hunger of days with no expectation that there would ever be biscuits again . . ."
The hunger is not merely that of nutrition. The greater hunger is of love. We are told from the first page that Bone is deprived not only of a father, but of having any relationship with him. Her father, who impregnated Bone's mother at 14, left the area ostracized by the large family of Boatwrights - Bone has innumerable aunts and uncles as well as a grandmother within walking distance of her home.
After the loss of her father, and sudden death of her mother's first husband, at the ripe age of 20 Bone's mother marries again to a large man named Glen. Boat refers to him as Daddy Glen. For the first time in her life, it seems as though her stars are aligned. Bone, mother and half sister Reese are enamored by Daddy Glen. He loves them all. He seems to be a righteous guy. He comes from an established family. His father owns a dairy delivery business, his brother is a lawyer and the other brother is a dentist. Glen is simple - something of an embarrassment to his own people. But, he is a hero to Bone's Boatwrights.
But, that relationship spoils. Glen eventually becomes less liked by the Boatwrights than he is to his own. He becomes a wedge between Bone and her mother. He sees Bone as someone who interferes with his relationship with Bone's mother. He misperceptions and inconceivable acts to child lead to brutal and often too-well described horrid details of abuse. Not only is Bone hungry for love at this time in her life, she is starved for proper care. Amazingly, through these trails and abuses, her character and observations remain relatively innocent, relatively positive, and relatively pure.
Boat, a voracious reader, reads "Gone With The Wind" at 12 years of age. She looks upon herself and her family as the book's stereotypical rednecks - Emma Slattery's clan. She explains that it was very depressing to realize that she was not akin to the beautiful Scarlett O'Hara. Amazingly, as hard as the Civil War's reprieve was upon those described in "Gone With The Wind," no one in the triumphant Mitchell novel suffered like Bone.
Even Bone's one real friendship succumbs to another form of hunger. Ugly Shannon Pearl shares dry sarcastic and often acrid humor about those around her. Bone thinks in similar manner. But, one day over something stupid, the girls fight and Bone throws the worst insult at Shannon - calls her ugly. Shannon's retort is worse - she calls Bone a bastard. And, when they are about to apologize for this childish event, the worst happens. Bone seems to have a black cloud over her head.
The ending surprisingly seals the novel's rich texture about parental irresponsibility. Bone, extremely too innocent to be responsible for many of the misfortunes bestowed upon her throughout this novel, is given the ultimate whammy in the end. If you had not cried prior to that time, you will in the end. Almost guaranteed. This is a powerful southern novel which belongs in shelves with Morrison, Faulkner and the author's beloved Mitchell.
Awesome.. September 15, 2008
I have purchased several things from here and as usual they have been in excellent condition and very timely.. I am very pleased with the service I receive. The book by the way was outstanding, loved it. Thank you!!
Heartbreaking and Brilliant July 12, 2008
A contemporary classic, this powerful novel is a disturbing tale of child abuse, told with wisdom and restraint. Allison brilliantly tells the story through the first-person narrative of Bone, a young girl who doesn't want to believe what's happening to her, so for the most part she reveals the truth sparingly--which makes the more dramatic moments that much more terrifying. Allison deftly captures the psychological nuances of the situation at the same time, making clear to the reader some things the innocent narrator probably doesn't comprehend. One stunning moment that exemplifies this point comes when the mother, frustrated by her husband's inability to bring home enough money to feed the kids, tarts herself up, goes out, and returns later with a boatload of groceries. The reader instantly knows what's going on, but Bone seems to remain uncertain. Throughout, the writing is beautiful--convincingly in Bone's voice, but touched by poetry (and thankfully unblemished by dialect). The ending is heartbreaking, as we see that the scars of abuse are not only physical; it is emotional betrayal that has the longest-lasting effects. Closing this amazing book, one wonders how any of us survive childhood at all.
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