The author of my book is Steven Levenkron. Warner Books published this book in September of 1978 in New York, NY. The genre of my book is fiction with suspense.
The Best Little Girl in the World could be based on a true story, but it is not completely true to life. It would fall under the suspense category because the reader does not know if Kessa will live or die. The all-important purposes of this book are to inform and to narrate. The author does a nice job of achieving his purpose. I am now aware of the many dangers of the deadly disease being described. Steven Levenkron has many qualifications. He is a “practicing psychotherapist with a specialty in eating disorders” (The Best Little Girl in the World page 2). He has been a “clinical consultant at Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center as well as the Center for the study of Anorexia and Bulimia in New York City” (page 2). He is also a “current member of ANAD of Highland Park, Illinois” (page 2).
This book does have a few weaknesses but more strengths. A weakness would have to be the ending. It is not eventful. I was hoping for a surprise of some sort, and it never came. However, I noted many strengths. The descriptive details seem great. Although the details appear rather gross at points, I think that is a good thing. That way a reader discovers the harsh reality of the disease. “The thinner is the winner” (The Best Little Girl in the World Steven Levenkron page 25). This is a powerful quote because thinness is what the whole story is based upon. Kessa thinks that the thinner she is the better. She is most definitely proved wrong in the end. I noted three main settings used in this book. The Best Little Girl in the World takes place in the year of 1979. The first one is the Dietrich’s home. Their apartment is located in New York City. The second location is at Francesca’s dancing studio downtown. The third location where the action takes place is in the hospital. Kessa is in the hospital for about three months, and then she is released to live at home. Four main characters are present in this book. They happen to be Kessa, Lila, Grace and Harold.
Love in Allison’s Bastard Out of Carolina
Love in Allison’s Bastard Out of Carolina
“Love” is a word, a signifier, tied to many meanings, all different in context, cultures, and ideologies. Love is used numerous ways in Allison’s Bastard Out of Carolina, by many characters. In the character of Bone, love is a confused thing, always changing, as Bone uses it to fit her life on the fly. In relation to parental love, Bone wants Daddy Glen to love her. However, early in the book, Bone’s conception of “love” is that of a child, obviously. On page 52, she says, “I wanted him to love us. I wanted to be able to love him. I wanted him to pick me up gently and tell Mama again how much he loved us all.” This idea of love is simple, involving hugs, smiles, and friendliness, the sort of “love” Bone gets from Anney. However, as Bone’s relationship with Glen changes, so does her perception of “love”. On page 108, Glen asks Bone, “‘Don’t you know how I love you?'” Bone thinks to herself, “No, I did not know.” This is near the beginning of Bone’s confusion about love, what it means, and what it does. At the time he asks her, he is molesting her. It is no wonder that Bone was confused, having love expressed simply, from her mother, and sexually (if indeed it is “love”) from Glen. This confusion leads bone to question the idea of love, and to look elsewhere for it, perhaps to compare. Love, she finds, is a prominent idea in the Southern Baptist church. Bone is enthralled with the black and white of Christianity, the definitive line drawn between good and evil, because she can see where the love is, and what it does. She believes she can see that other people truly love one another, and believing this, she thinks the has a better grasp on the abstract idea of love. However, as Bone later discovers, love is abstract, and being abandoned by her mother, she never truly figures it out. The problem within, for Bone, is that love is a conceptual idea, and that, really, it means something different to each person. Not only that, but love is used by others, in ways that may not suit anyone else’s conceptions of the idea. So when Anney insists to Bone and everyone else that Glen loves her and her girls, Bone tends, of course, to believe her, and thus the idea of love is transferred to how Glen treats Bone.