BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA

Bone is the nickname of a sensitive young girl in rural South Carolina who lives with her mother, stepfather, sister, scores of kin and many other rich characters. Author/reader Dorothy Allison's soft Carolina dialect may be a bit refined for her story. The abridgment has two problems. The reading sketches out several characters fairly well, but loses too many others. The plot jumps from family story to family story without adequate transition. As a result, sumptuous individuals and pivotal events elapse without impact. In spite of the abridgment problems, Allsion develops the pathos of Bone's heavy emotional baggage and carries the reading to a climactic ending that makes the listener's heart pound. D.W.K. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: NOV 93]