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Summary: Tense Throughout - Truly a "Must" Read
Review: Make an X. Pretend the space on the left is a room occupied by a young girl named Bone. In the room opposite is her stepfather. The room above contains the girl's mother, and the one below her mother's family. Throughout the story the reader can sense that the stepfather Daddy Glen will be crossing into the metaphorical room of his ... stepdaughter to do some horrible thing. Those in the other imagined rooms have some idea of what might happen, but none acts quickly and decisively, and so the tension continues on. This is fiction at its best!
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Summary: Excellent Book.
Review: This is a great book and impossible to put down. It is so realistic and emotional. You really feel Bone's pain and loneliness and her desire to be loved.
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Summary: MISPLACED LOVE
Review: Meet the Boatwright family. They are true southerners who are tight with each other.The women are hardworking,tender, under appreciated and prone to self loathing. The men raise hell, drink up a storm and change women as often as they change their underwear. Born into this family is the girl Ruth Anne, known as Bone, who opens up before us a family that is loving and protective but at the same time mean and ready to chop your head off. Bone is the illegitimate offspring of Anne whose defiant nature and refusal to allow her daughter to be judged as a bastard speaks of a young woman full of strength. Yet as we look through Bone's eyes, we view another woman. This woman is more girl at times than an adult. Anne's desperation for love at the expense of her daughter is a sad commentary on a woman who doesn't have self worth. Bastard out of Carolina is a story of a southern dysfunctional family told through the perspective of the young girl Bone. She will show you her ornery yet loving family and share with you her guilt and pain from abuse. Dorothy Allison's language brings you into the heart of Bone's thoughts as you laugh and cry with this young girl who endures the ups and downs of her family's life. You get a picture of a group of women trying to be loved and in many ways falling short of accepting themselves for who they are. This is an enjoyable story with all of the elements of southern humor and terror. You will laugh at Bone's religious experiences and her brief alliance with a mean spirited albino. Your heart will find itself turning cold upon meeting her step-father, Daddy Glenn, a man who has no self esteem except when he takes out his rage on Bone. Anne will capture your heart for her defiance but when her weakness creeps in you wonder if this woman can be trusted. The Boatwright family, themselves are a force to be reckoned with if you mess with them. Each one has their own perculiar personality that impacts on Bone for the good and the bad. Drop what you're doing and read this marvelous book. It will speak to you in a moving way and you will never forget this young girl who makes it through life's tough journey.
Rating: 
Summary: Dark and Disturbing at Times
Review: Written through the eyes of a child this book hits home with every emotion. At times dark and disturbing and at times just wanting to cheer; I couldn't put this book aside. Bone Boatwright, bastard child of Annie Boatwright, enters this world with a decided disadvantage. Not only does she have a large and notorious family but is born of uncertain circumstance to a mom who is a child herself. Bone believes she deserves the abuse heaped upon her by Daddy Glen. She is constantly being told that the bad things happening in her home life are her fault. She turns to her many aunts and uncles for help and solutions through out the story with results that are at times funny and at times heart breaking. Disreputable they might be but family is everything to the Boatwrights. This is a journey of self-discovery. Learning to accept the life she has and overcome her feelings of inadequacy, Bone's journey is one of triumph and tragedy. Dorothy Allison has the wonderful gift of gathering the reader into the story. At times I felt I was right there with Bone experiencing the horror of abuse; wanting to just shout at her to run and save herself! When I find myself reacting to the characters I truly know I have found a great book. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.
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Summary: Bastard out of Carolina
Review: I found this book to be rivoting and disturbing. The rage and anger you feel seeing a child become an object to control is one of the most distressing disasters of modern day life. I think the author was effective and knowledgeable in telling this story. I suggest this book to all who want to know about the pattern of sexual abuse.
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Summary: Bastard out of Carolina
Review: I found this book to be rivoting and disturbing. What is troubling is that the author seemed to know the pattern of sexual abuse and often the parent not abusing seems to close their eyes to what is happening. The rage and anger you feel seeing a child become an object to control is one of the most distressing disasters of modern day life. I think the author was effective and knowledgeable in telling this story. I suggest this book to all who want to know about the pattern of sexual abuse.
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Summary: Well-written but relentless
Review: A hard-hitting novel set in South Carolina, Bastard out of Carolina concerns a little girl, her mother trying the best she can, her abusive stepfather obsessed with her and her large extended family. The story is relentless, and not much hope is held out at the end for anything to really change, but the reader is still completely caught up with these characters and the rural, Southern, impoverished world in which they live.
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Summary: A pool of tragedy
Review: I selected this book as an optional assignment recently while working on a master's degree in Southern culture. I have no regrets about my choice. Allison sucks the reader in through the eyes of Bone, a child that is the town joke as a babe due to the horrid red stamp proclaiming "bastard" on her birth certificate. Bone searches for identity and love through her family, the notorious Boatwrights, known for drinking, womanizing, and shooting, sometimes all at once. Bone also becomes the victim of a stepfather's lust and jealousy. Tragic moments and violent abuse grasp the reader by the collar and won't let go. Allison's prose is a pool of the unfortunate, exposing and in some instances celebrating the unspoken class, white trash. Do not deny yourself the pleasure of Bone, Alma, Raylene, Anney, and all the rest of the Boatright clan. They will make you laugh, tremble, cry and want to drink white lightning while listening to Patsy Cline records.
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Summary: Could have had a better ending
Review: this book was difficult to put down, and was exceptionally well written. It had a good foundation, a few laughs at some of the stories told by Bone and her family. Sometimes you felt you were sitting right with grandma sipping from the jug. It was a sad story , but a good book to read by all ages... but have your tissues handy.
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Summary: My Thoughts on Bastard Out of Carolina
Review: I thought that this book portrayed the life of a young victim of sexual and physical assault very well. This book aloud a reader to get right into the story, almost like they were standing by watching all of these events go on. As i was reading the book, i could imagine the events that occured, and that really aloud me to feel what this poor girl felt. I would reccomend this book to anyone who can handle a very strong and disturbing story, that has a lot of detail and meaning.
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