Have you ever heard of the book: Bastard out of Carolina? By Dorothy Allison?

Question

My friend told me that this was a very good book. The author has a unique way of describing things...IT'S ABOUT A GIRL NAME BONE (NICKNAME)
It seems like it is a story about a black family and a white family back in the day About family violence and incest, yet remain whole and human, as the book says...........You will not be able to put this one down......Run to your nearest book store and purchase this great novel...............$10.95

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Based on a bestselling novel by Dorothy Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina presents a graphic portrait of child abuse that includes rape and battery. Anney (Jennifer Jason Leigh) gives birth to her illegitimate daughter in Greenville during the 1950s. Uncle Earl (Michael Rooker) comes up with the name "Bone" because, as he puts it, "She ain't no bigger than a knucklebone." The poverty-stricken Anney marries Luke (Dermot Mulroney), but he's killed in an auto wreck. Then, while working as a waitress, she meets and marries Glen (Ron Eldard), an angry young man who harbors a deep hatred for his father. He takes out his frustrations on Bone. When Anney loses the son she's carrying and is told she can't have any more children, Glen starts beating his stepdaughter. Even after Anney learns that her husband has raped Bone, she stays with him.

Anjelica Huston directs this riveting drama which is carried on the small shoulders of Jena Malone who plays Bone, the nine-year-old victim who miraculously survives the hell she goes through. The only sanctuary she finds is when she is in the care of the women in her extended family. For Bone, the betrayal of her mother when she stays with Glen is as soul-shattering as the violations she receives at his hands.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Great description..........
I didn't know there was a movie!
Thanks for all the info!

Answer 2

There is a movie made of that book and it's really good!! I haven't read that book yet, but I did read Cave Dweller which is by the same author and it is very good too!

Answer 3

The author is very good with the pathos in this book. I found it to be difficult to read because of the frankness of the characters and the occurrences. It is not like a run of the mill tear jerker but can push the limitations of how much unsavory information a person can digest and tolerate.

Answer 4

There are no black people in the book that I know of and I don't remember any incest. I read it a while ago. It is about a Southern white family who might be a little on the trailer park side, just regular people except for Bone's mother who is one of those women that do unspeakable evil to their own child by not protecting them from the men they bring into their lives. In bone's case her stepfather brutally rapes her and it is absolutely the most horrendous piece of fiction I have ever read. I was so shocked and angry and hurt for Bone I couldn't even cry which is what I usually do when I read sad stories. This book really upset me. I was haunted by it, by the fact that these things really do happen. I could never read this book or watch the movie again. It was too ugly. The author did something I have not ever experienced in reading a book. She made it real ,too real. It wasn't entertaining to me. It was harrowing.

Answer 5

i read it and saw the movie it is wonderful

Answer 6

YES i've heard of it but i haven't read it yet. i think i will now