Trash [Paperback]

Dorothy Allison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 24, 2002

Trash, Allison's landmark collection, laid the groundwork for her critically acclaimed Bastard Out of Carolina, the National Book Award finalist that was hailed by The New York Times Book Review as "simply stunning...a wonderful work of fiction by a major talent." In addition to Allison's classic stories, this new edition of Trash features "Stubborn Girls and Mean Stories," an introduction in which Allison discusses the writing of Trash and "Compassion," a never-before-published short story.

First published in 1988, the award-winning Trash showcases Allison at her most fearlessly honest and startlingly vivid. The limitless scope of human emotion and experience are depicted in stories that give aching and eloquent voice to the terrible wounds we inflict on those closest to us. These are tales of loss and redemption; of shame and forgiveness; of love and abuse and the healing power of storytelling.

A book that resonates with uncompromising candor and incandescence, Trash is sure to captivate Allison's legion of readers and win her a devoted new following.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 14 gritty, intimate stories, Allison's fictional persona exposes with poetic frankness the complexities of being "a cross-eyed working-class lesbian, addicted to violence, language, and hope," rebelling against the Southern "poor white trash" roots that inevitably define her. Bridging the bedrooms, bars and kitchens of its narrator's adult world, and the dirt yards and diners of her '50s South Carolina childhood, this magnetic collection charts a fascinating woman's struggle for self-realization and acceptance through a sensual, often horrific tapestry of the lives of women to whom she is connected. In the mythically resonant early pieces, the conflicts of her foremothers, like Great-grandmother Shirley, "the meanest woman that ever left Tennessee," embody a grim legacy of drudgery that presages the seeds of her own rage and cavernous hunger, later finely played out through various love affairs. With a keen feel for the languid rhythms of Southern speech, Allison ( The Women Who Hate Me ) masterfully suspends the reader between voyeurism and empathy, breathing life into a vast body of symbolic feminine imagery.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Praise for Dorothy Allison:

"Dorothy Allison is, without question, one of the finest writers of her generation."—The Boston Globe

"Please reserve a seat of honor at the high table of the art of fiction for Dorothy Allison."—The New York Times

"One of the glories of Allison''s writing is that she refuses to be a good girl. . .and that, after all, is what it''s all about."."—The Nation

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Plume (September 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452283515
• ISBN-13: 978-0452283510
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #380,324 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dorothy Allison is the bestselling author of several novels including Bastard Out of Carolina, Cavedweller, and Two Or Three Things I Know For Sure. The recipient of numerous awards, she has been the subject of many profiles and a short documentary film of her life, Two or Three Things but Nothing For Sure.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not just lesbian fiction, January 8, 2001

By 

Melissa L. Hutchins (North Adams, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trash: Stories (Paperback)

Trash is a great book of short stories written by Dorothy Allison. Although she the winner of book awards for lesbian fiction, her stories also tell of a tragic childhood, growing up as white trash, and of a family life involving alcholism, abuse and tragedy. The stories are difficult to read at times, due to the agonizing adversity the she has faced, but it is peppered with comic relief, sarcasm and wit.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A series of insightful autobiographical sketches, March 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Trash: Stories (Paperback)

Trash, billed as a book of short stories, was more like a book of essays - anticdotal, reflective, sometimes funny, often tragic - which give the reader a sense of sitting around the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and an old friend named Dorothy Allison. I loved Trash because I felt closer to Allison after reading it - she is one of my favorite authors, and this book brought me to a better understanding of her both as a person and as a writer.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing and emotionally exhausting to read, March 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Trash: Stories (Paperback)

Dorothy Allision's "Trash' is a collection of essays and loosely connected anecdotes about being born into, growing up in, and surviving a horrific childhood in a white trash community in America. The stories recall nightmares you wouldn't wish on your enemies. Allison writes with such bitterness, anger and ferocity it's frightening. I found it a tough read and had to tackle it a bit at a time. The essays/stories are not all compelling. Some I found esoteric and skipped. The earlier ones like "River of Names" were mostly excellent. The later ones which tell of Allison's voyage of sexual self discovery were harder to get through. It's not the graphic sex that's hard to handle but the emotional landscape that's alien to those outside the community she writes of. Personally, I found "Trash" an unpleasant read and while I respect Allsion's integrity, she's obviously not going to be everybody's cup of tea.