Skin

Starred review from April 4, 1994
Impassioned, personal and highly intelligent, Allison's ( Bastard Out of Carolina ) collection of published writings and addresses from the past decade examines issues of class and sexuality through the intricate lenses of autobiography and the literary experience. ``I try to live naked in the world,'' says the writer, as she blends a tender reminiscence of her mother's death with an attempt to make sense of her mother's life. ``I refuse the language and categories that would reduce me to less than my whole complicated experience,'' she proclaims, advancing the idea that those born ``poor, queer, and despised'' have an imperative to do more than simply survive. All of these finely wrought essays discuss the author's emotions and politics during years marked by poverty, abuse and the realization that her sexual nature was a threat even to lesbians and feminists. The power of the writing lies in its fluid, almost musical ability to move from one dimension to another, so that politics are laced with accounts of childhood wounds, sexual pleasures and an ongoing look at how the author's work as a writer of fiction meshes with her fervent will to speak only the truth. Strap-on dildos, backyard barbecues, family terrors, bygone lovers and the literary canon all find their way into this exuberant volume by a writer who exposes even the most painful realities with reverence and awe.