Two or Three Things I Know for Sure

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.

For those of you who have read Dorothy Allison's amazing, moving novel BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA, this book is the bridge between the fiction of that work and the reality of Dorothy's life -- and even without BASTARD as a reference, this is an immensely powerful work.TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW FOR SURE was originally intended as a one-woman stage presentation -- I can only imagine, after reading this slim volume, how powerful that must have been. Allison's writing talents are incredible -- she conveys the frustration, and especially the pain, of growing up sexually abused in the American South, the ignorance and poverty, the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, in a very real way. It would be difficult to read this book and NOT get angry at what she endured, at the way women in general were treated. The inspiring thing is that she determined to rise above it in the only way she knew how -- by literally re-inventing her own life. Comparing the process of doing this to the telling of a story, she makes it understandable even to those who are not familiar with the courage required by abuse victims to make the transition to being survivors.Incest and abuse tear families apart and can destroy lives. There's a very revealing story that she tells about looking through old photographs, first with her mom, then with other female family members. There's a palpable reluctance on their part to name everyone they see in the photos -- it's as if the people there don't exist outside the pictures, their lives being so damaged that they have literally disappeared. The subconscious protects us -- we remember what we can handle, when we can handle it.On p.3, Dorothy makes a statement about 'retelling' her life as a story, re-inventing it in order to hold the pain and cast it off. She says: 'Two or three things I know for sure, and one of them is what it means to have no loved version of your life but the one you made.' The abuse victim can't depend on anyone else to reshape and rebuild what has been broken -- those on the outside can help and support, but only the object of the abuse has the power to decide to choose life as a survivor instead of a victim.Sexual abuse and incest are extremely uncomfortable topics -- but they occur with greater frequency in our society than most people can or will admit -- and ignoring these painful issues will NOT make them go away. Only by speaking out can courageous survivors like Dorothy Allison give hope and encouragement to those who have yet to take that first important step on the road to healing.This is an honest and well-written book -- and a moving and important one.

I read this in October 2001 and looved it. One of my favourite non-fiction reads. A terse and disturbing account of the author's life in the South where she is abused by her step father and eventually goes on to derive her strength from herself and knowing who she really is and what she stands for. What I liked about this autobiography - if you can call it that is the plain candidcy that shines through the book. Ms Allison clearly states that her being a lesbian has nothing to do with the abuse she faced and its true. It's ridiculous how one tends to believe that one's sexuality preference is a result of something and not out of choice. While reading this so-called non-fictional novella, I came to realise what it was like for me when i came out of the closet. I related to the book on so many levels because being gay in a country like India is so difficult - the atrocious remarks, the unwelcoming feeling in the family and apart from all this Dorothy Allison's book always comforted me in a weird way and I loved that comfort food!

As lyrical as it is moving, TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW FOR SURE should be at the front of every bookshelf -- definite required reading for anyone who has, even in the slightest way, overcome hardship.

Among the hundreds or thousands of books that I have read, there remain only two that I can say this about. (The other is _The Color Purple_.) _Two or Three Things..._ is powerfully written. It is beautiful in the same way that it is to discover that someone's cancer has gone into remission. It is dark, it is almost tragic, and yet it is triumphant; I know of few authors who can pull this off, and none so well as Dorothy Allison. For anyone who has faced or is facing serious adversity in their lives, be it from poverty, sexaul abuse, or anything else, especially for anyone who has gotten through it but not overcome it (you know what your 'it' is): this book will change your life, as well. I have learned a great deal from Dorothy Allison, and I am much the better for it. Two or three things I know for sure, and one of them is that when I chose life, it was mostly because of this book.