Two or Three Things I Know for Sure - Dorothy Allison [0]
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW FOR SURE
THE PHOTOGRAPHS
AUTHOR’S NOTE
PRAISE FOR TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW FOR SURE
“Captures Allison’s raw gifts as a storyteller.... She ponders the uses and limits of fiction in a world where truth can be the most brutal story of all.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“A model memoir, harrowing in its depiction of family truths, however painful ... generous to others and unsparing of the author, and written in simple language that verges toward a kind of rough-hewn poetry.”
—Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“Any time she says, ‘Let me tell you a story,’ all she has to do is name the time and the place. I’ll be there.”
—Geoffrey Stokes, The Boston Sunday Globe
“Her stories—and life—are a triumph of love over cruelty. Read it aloud and savor the rhythms.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A book of wisdom, a book of medicines.... One feels the vicious, devouring cycle of rage and pain defeated.”
—Los Angeles Times Book Review
DOROTHY ALLISON is the National Book Award finalist and bestselling author of the novel Bastard Out of Carolina; Cavedweller; Trash; Skin: Talking About Sex, Class and Literature; and The Women Who Hate Me. She lives in northern California.
“WITH THE GRACE AND SURENESS THAT ARE THE VERY HALLMARKS OF HER EXQUISITE STYLE, [DOROTHY ALLISON] HAS DONE IT AGAIN ... WITH THIS BEAUTIFUL, PROVOCATIVE, AND PROBING MEMOIR.”
—NEW YORK NATIVE
“Poetic and allusive ... Allison eloquently reveals as much about her art as her past.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“Evocative storytelling ... beautifully written, powerful stuff.”
—St. Petersburg Times
“Unflinching ... sinewed and muscular prose.”
—Buffalo News
“A lyrical meditation on what it is to be young, poor, and female.... At once touching and funny.”
—City Paper
“Beautiful ... a spiritual autobiography that renews the human spirit.... I never want to stop reading this story.”
—Jennifer Hemler, Philadelphia City Paper
“Allison is a literary treasure ... her volume of memories is written in powerful, fiercely beautiful prose.”
—Etcetera
“A rich memoir.... Allison ... tells her sad tales with a lyricism that lifts them into another realm. ‘Let me tell you a story’ is her refrain. And we do, we let her tell away.”
—Kirhus Reviews
“SHE IS FIRST AND FOREMOST A WRITER WHO HAS TAKEN ON THE DIFFICULT TASK OF BEING HONEST ABOUT HER OWN LIFE ... SHE ENLARGES OUR WORLD.”
—RALEIGH NEWS AND OBSERVER
“A tapestry of remembrances both bright and muted.”
—Booklist
“Her graceful pen has become a tool for mining wisdom from painful experiences.”
—Santa Rosa Press Democrat
“Beautiful, powerful, touching.”
—In Pittsburgh
“Compelling, mesmerizing ... masterfully celebrates her family’s indomitable women.”
—Portland Williamette Week
“Allison’s unsparing, pungent memoir is at once funny and chilling to the bone.”
—Greenville State
“A powerful, spare, sharply written memoir ... moving.”
—Greensboro News and Record
“Allison’s storytelling shifts into an act of profound healing, a survival tool for mending the heart, sending you back into the world strong, ready, and deeply, deeply loved.”
—The Advocate
Also by the author:
Skin: Talking About Sex, Class and Literature
Bastard Out of Carolina
Cavedweller
Trash
The Women Who Hate Me
PLUME
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books USA Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Rmgwood, Victoria, Australia
Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontano, Canada M4V 3B2
Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England
Published by Plume, an imprint of Dutton Signet,
a division of Penguin Books USA Inc.
Previously published in a Dutton edition.
First Plume Printing, August, 1996