TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW FOR...

TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW FOR SURE by Dorothy Allison (Plume/Penguin: $8.95, 94 pp., illustrated). The author of “Bastard Out of Carolina” took the title for her semi-autobiographical performance piece from her Aunt Dot’s favorite expression: “Lord, girl, there’s only two or three things I know for sure. . . . Of course it’s never the same things, and I’m never as sure as I’d like to be.” Allison interweaves her lively account of growing up poor in postwar South Carolina with stories about her female relatives, who stoically endured poverty, overwork and broken hearts. She charms the reader with a lively admixture of feminist rhetoric and old-fashioned storytelling.