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A Novelist and Survivor on the Lasting Effects of Child Abuse

Allison's novel "Bastard Out of Carolina" has been adapted to a new movie that will be shown on the Showtime cable channel this weekend. The 1992 novel is about a poor South Carolina family's violence and incest, and it's largely autobiographical. She says that she doesn't like most abuse literature out today because it tends to eroticize abuse. Allison has also written a book of short stories called "Trash" and a book of poems called "The Women Who Hate Me." This interview originally aired 9/9/92.

21:29

Other segments from the episode on December 13, 1996

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, December 13, 1996: Interview with Milos Forman; Interview with Dorothy Allison; Review of the films "Jerry Maguire" and "Mars Attacks."

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