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Moving mini-memoir
Fabulous read - simply superb
Amazing
Reader {Hillsborough, NJ}
Memoir from the inimitable Dorothy Allison

Two or Three Things I Know for Sure
Dorothy Allison
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Trash
Bastard Out of Carolina (Essential Edition): (Plume Essential Edition)
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ASIN: 0525939210

Customer Reviews:

Moving mini-memoir.......2006-12-15

Done originally as a theater piece, "Two Or Three Things I Know For Sure" is moving, a quick read, and educational. In other words, it's everything you'd expect from one of our finest contemporary writers. I didn't see it when it was performed as a show. As a memoir, it is very good. My only criticism is -- and it is not so much as a criticism as a wish -- that I wanted to know more, especially about Allison's Aunt Dot and her mother. The book is generously illustrated with photographs of Allison and her family through the years. There is a piece in the book family photographs in a box, pictures of relatives Allison knew little, if anything, about. I would have loved if that section were expanded upon, and maybe to have seen some of the photos. Succinct and thought-provoking (not to mention heart-tugging), this short book makes for a valuable reading experience.

Fabulous read - simply superb.......2006-11-13

I bought this book because the author's books `Skin' and `Trash' are spotlighted in the anthologies `Courting Pleasure' and `Lovers: love and sex stories' by Tee A. Corinne. I enjoyed them both tremendously and sought out this book.

From the back of the book - [...] Out of Carolina, nominated for the 1992 National Book Award for fiction, introduced Dorothy Allison as one of the most passionate and gifted writers of her generation. Now, in Two or Three Things I Know for Sure, she takes a probing look at her family's history to give us a lyrical, complex memoir that explores how the gossip of one generation can become legends for the next.

Illustrated with photographs from the author's personal collection, Two or Three Things I Know for Sure tells the story of the Gibson women -- sisters, cousins, daughters, and aunts -- and the men who loved them, often abused them, and, nonetheless, shared their destinies. With luminous clarity, Allison explores how desire surprises and what power feels like to a young girl as she confronts abuse.

As always, Dorothy Allison is provocative, confrontational, and brutally honest. Two or Three Things I Know for Sure, steeped in the hard-won wisdom of experience, expresses the strength of her unique vision with beauty and eloquence.
Lambda Literary Award: Finalist

Amazing.......2005-12-28

This book may be small but it packs a huge punch. Beautifully written it will bring tears to your eyes.

Reader {Hillsborough, NJ}.......2005-08-20

Dorothy Allison is a amazing writer, she speaks the truth about her life. She is telling all of us a story about what really has happened to her, we should all be very luck that this dosent happen to every women out there. She is not a "man hater" as someones review has said. I also read this book in college and loved it, i went out and bought 2 more of her books. Whoever did state that it was a horriable book... needs to go back to their college english class..try and just try to put yourself in her shoes. Maybe then you'll get it.

Memoir from the inimitable Dorothy Allison.......2004-01-07

A self-proclaimed and widely-admired story teller, Dorothy Allison goes from novels into straight memoir with Two or Three Things I Know for Sure. But here's the thing: it's lyrical, poetic, gorgeous writing. Shouldn't be a surprise, I guess, as she IS a poet (something I blush to admit I didn't actually know), but surprised I was.
Sprinkled throughout the `story' are little 3-4 line snippets in italics, each one beginning with the words her aunt used to say: Two or three things I know for sure... And then she completes the sentence in different ways, based on what she's focusing on. Here's one: "No one is as hard as my uncles had to pretend to be." This very short little book (less than 100 pages) is so beautifully written, dense with pain and the cruelty of her South Carolina childhood, as well as that of not just her family, but her townsfolk, her whole "white trash" social class. Topics range from lust, rape, rage, loss, poverty, beatings, agandonment, and that's just for starters. Dorothy Allison has an ability to write about exceedingly painful subjects with a luminousness that transforms the cruelty of life. The cadence, the rhythm, the music of the words and the writing carries the reader along. Apparently this was written as a performance piece, and it shows. Old family photos are included, and I found myself flipping constantly to the ID list to get a bead on who she was talking about.
And yet, it's a beautiful book. Don't miss it.

Poor Latino Families and School Preparation: Are They Doing the Right Things?

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Poor Latino Families and School Preparation: Are They Doing the Right Things?
William A. Sampson
Manufacturer: ScarecrowEducation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Accessories:

Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers
Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer

ASIN: 0810846829

Book Description

This work stresses the role of Latino families in shaping educational preparation. Author William Sampson argues that family is more important in the effort to improve schools than the schools themselves and that school improvement efforts should therefore focus more upon efforts to influence family change.

Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D. Scottish Public Health Officer (British Literature Series)

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Eccentric alternate history/fantasy
Great book
Very Odd
Merchant Ivory Gone Wrong - Poor Things by Alasdair Gray
From the cloth-bound hardcover

Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D. Scottish Public Health Officer (British Literature Series)
Alasdair Gray
Manufacturer: Dalkey Archive Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1564783073

Amazon.com

The full title of this work, Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D. Scottish Public Health Officer, reflect a bit of wacky genius at work here. Someone named Alasdair Gray has found a memoir supposedly of a 19th-century public health officer in Glasgow. The truth of the memoir is suspect, nevertheless Gray manages to change it and then lose it. And that's just the backdrop. Inside the memoir is the story of McCandless, an acquaintance named Godwyn Bysshe Baxter who takes a suicide victim, gives her the brain of her unborn child to create a promiscuous and brutal girlfriend. The book, which won the 1992 Guardian Fiction Prize, takes off from there.

Book Description

POOR THINGS revises the story of FRANKENSTEIN by replacing the traditional "monster" with Bella Baxter--a young erotomaniac brought back to life with the brain of a child. Satirizing the classic Victorian novel, POOR THINGS is a hilarious political allegory and a thought-provoking contrast between the ambition of men and the knowledge of women.

Customer Reviews:

Eccentric alternate history/fantasy.......2003-01-26

I make it my job to read some pretty weird books--as an aficionado of science fiction and fantasy, I sometimes run into some doozies-- but this novel by Gray has to be one of the strangest that I've run into recently. The fact that this novel was not published in the genre, and won a couple of mainstream awards makes me wonder what else I'm missing in the "mundane" fiction shelves.

Poor Things is supposedly non-fiction, as illustrated by its full title on the title page: "Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer, Edited by Alasdair Gray." But this is all part of its mystique. Gray has constructed a literary puzzle, a Frankenstein's monster of a book that takes its inspiration from that novel by Mary Shelley as well as the works of Robert Louis Stevenson and H.G. Wells. McCandless is the titular biographer, but the story is actually that of the eccentric Scottish doctor Godwin Baxter and his "creation," Bella Baxter, later known as Dr. Victoria McCandless. Set in Glasgow in the 1880s, the plot entails how McCandless met Baxter, how he then met Baxter's protege Bella and fell in love with her, her subsequent departure, and the circumstances of her return. To reveal any more would be to dilute the heavy stuff of the novel's innovative twists.

If Gray were writing with the Fantasy label stuck on the spine of his books, I would have termed this one a "steampunk" novel for its revisionist look at medicine and technology in a pre-auto world. Fans of Tim Powers and James Blaylock should definitely check this one out.

Great book.......2002-10-23

I just finished the book a few hours ago and it's the best book I've read in a while. "Poor Things" is the story of a lonely doctor, Godwin, who reanimates a beautiful woman's body who commited suicide (in a unique Frankenstein-esque fashion). Godwin's creation was meant to be for his own selfish desire but like every Frankenstein story it goes horribly awry. The books goes into detail bringing you into points of view from every character, not letting you forgot what happened, and using excellent foreshadowing. Make sure you read the extra writings at the end of the book to get the full impact of Alisdair Gray's skills.

Very Odd.......2001-09-20

Not for everyone, but it will appeal to those with macabre humor.

Merchant Ivory Gone Wrong - Poor Things by Alasdair Gray.......1999-04-29

'Poor Things' is the perfect example of how Gray understands the power of the medium he works in. Just as two poets could destroy the Eastern Empire in 'Unlikely Stories, Mostly', Gray playfully toys with the reader's perception of reality and truth and how it is influenced by the media. Rather than being the author of Poor Things, Gray purports to be merely an editor, who has discovered a manuscript and letter, which he presents for the reader's examination. His personae in this instance implies that the novel has been 'received' rather than 'created'. This lends the rather bizarre proceedings a strange air of credibility, and stops the reader pondering over the likelihood of some of the more extraordinary events occurring. For example, Baxter's "skeely, skeely fingers" performing the "skilfully manipulated resurrection" of a young woman is the stuff of fairy tales, but due to Gray's web of fibs, it is understood as a rational medical discovery rather than a magical act. The main body of the book is presented as a first-person narrative, written by one Archibald McCandless. In it, he describes how an eccentric friend creates a woman from a dead body, in the manner of Baron Frankenstein. However, a letter accompanying the narrative (according to Gray) states that it is little more than a pack of lies. The letter has been written by the very woman who the narrative covered. On top of this confusion, Gray has annotated and analysed the text, and professes to believe the original narrative as true. In this fashion, the novel is as 'stitched together' as Bella herself, every 'fact' seems to be contradicted later, true history is marred by pure fiction, almost making it impossible to separate truth from falsehood. From the very beginning of the novel, the reader is confronted by colliding facts, and must make a choice as to who he or she believes: Archibald or Victoria. Because the choice has to be made between the two characters, Gray's own 'facts' are never brought into doubt. Even the erratum slip in the endpapers adds unnecessary confusion to the proceedings, stating: "The etching on page 187 does not portray Professor Jean Martin Charcot, but Count Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac." Apart from the fact that the accuracy of this one etching has little if no effect on the reader's perception of the novel, Gray has once again abused the power that has been vested in him by creating unnecessary confusion. If Gray himself was responsible for the illustrations, would he choose to draw the wrong character deliberately, or would he draw the correct one but deliberately try to mislead the readers with an erratum slip? Alternatively, is the etching of someone completely different (i.e. neither Charcot or Count Robert)? Whatever the identity of the etched man, to mislead the reader in this way would be entirely pointless. Therefore, the only rational answer is that the illustrations were done by William Strang and Gray is indeed only the editor. In this fashion, Gray leads the reader to ridiculous conclusions throughout the novel. Another example of this trickery can be found in the medical terminology used within the novel. When describing Bella being shot in the foot by Blessington, McCandless states that the bullet had punctured "the integument between the ulna and radius of the second and third metacarpals". However, Bella, in her letter, describes this terminology as "blethers, havers, claptrap, gibberish, gobbledegook" and then describes the actual wound as "puncturing the tendon of the oblique head of adductor hallucis between the great and index proximal phalanges without chipping a bone". Unless the reader is aware of medical terms for various parts of the foot, neither sentence makes more sense than the other. Gray is fully aware of the power of the written word, as if he had not brought the statement into question, the great majority of his readers would have accepted it as a sound medical analysis. However, as he takes on the persona of the editor, he has put himself into a position to make the reader aware of this power. In a similar way to the etching, the accuracy of the medical description has no bearing on the novel, but is Gray's way of making the point that what is written cannot be assumed to be fact. Although this may seem rather obvious, if I personally looked back over the multitude of books that I have read, there must have been countless occasions of me blindly accepting a similar statement without a second thought. In this way, Gray has used his persona as editor to provoke thought and contemplation in the reader over the book that they have just read. What better way could Gray have found for his piece of writing to have a lasting effect on its reader? Once again, Gray has hidden the key to the entire novel in the epilogue, on this occasion on pages 274-5 of Victoria's letter. The sentence reads: "If you ignore what contradicts common sense and this letter you will find that this book records some actual events during a dismal era... it is as sham-gothic as the Scott Monument". Gray fully realises that his novel is fantastical and the period in which it is set is outwith his own experience. However, Poor Things is the kind of novel which, when read for a second time, offers the reader a whole new perspective on the goings-on and Gray is actively encouraging his readership to do this. By printing the book in a certain order, each section offers a new perspective on the previous ones, encouraging re-reading.

From the cloth-bound hardcover.......1999-02-24

Work as though you lived in the better days of a younger nation

The believer's pocket companion: The one thing needful to make poor sinners rich and miserable sinners happy

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The believer's pocket companion: The one thing needful to make poor sinners rich and miserable sinners happy
William Mason
Manufacturer: Old Paths Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

FIGHTING POVERTY WITH VIRTUE: MORAL REFORM AND AMERICA'S URBAN POOR, 1825-2000.(Review) (book review): An article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life

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FIGHTING POVERTY WITH VIRTUE: MORAL REFORM AND AMERICA'S URBAN POOR, 1825-2000.(Review) (book review): An article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life
Keith Pavlischek
Manufacturer: Institute on Religion and Public Life
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, published by Institute on Religion and Public Life on June 1, 2001. The length of the article is 1850 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: FIGHTING POVERTY WITH VIRTUE: MORAL REFORM AND AMERICA'S URBAN POOR, 1825-2000.(Review) (book review)
Author: Keith Pavlischek
Publication: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 2001
Publisher: Institute on Religion and Public Life
Page: 48

Article Type: Book Review

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"Saving" the Poor.: An article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life

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"Saving" the Poor.: An article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life
Daniel P. Moloney
Manufacturer: Institute on Religion and Public Life
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, published by Institute on Religion and Public Life on May 1, 1999. The length of the article is 3580 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: The 1996 welfare reform act included a Charitable Choice provision that allows government funds to go to church-run programs. States receiving federal block-grant funds must not discriminate between religious organizations and other private organizations providing services to the poor. Faith-based organizations are attracting media attention and scholarly research. Two recent conferences on the subject included one sponsored by the Center for Civil Innovation at the Manhattan Institute in New York in Nov 1998 and one by the Civitas Program in Faith and Public Affairs in Washington DC in Jan 1999.

Citation Details
Title: "Saving" the Poor.
Author: Daniel P. Moloney
Publication: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 1999
Publisher: Institute on Religion and Public Life
Page: 39(1)

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Poor Things
Gray Alasdair
Manufacturer: Harcourt Brace & Evanovich
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LBSHBC

Poor Things : Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer

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Poor Things : Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer
Alasdair (editor) Gray
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJHM6C

There Is No Such Thing As a Poor American

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There Is No Such Thing As a Poor American
William J. Sr. Owen
Manufacturer: Vantage Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0533117887

How to help the poor. (Correspondence).: An article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life

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How to help the poor. (Correspondence).: An article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life

Manufacturer: Institute on Religion and Public Life
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, published by Institute on Religion and Public Life on August 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1242 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: How to help the poor. (Correspondence).
Publication: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life (Refereed)
Date: August 1, 2002
Publisher: Institute on Religion and Public Life
Page: 15(3)

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