she had spent nearly a decade working on her first novel "bastard out of carolina," which she took half-finished to dutton publishing in 1989. they gave her a $37,500 cash advance to complete it, and the book was published in 1992. it was later adapted as a film of the same name, directed by anjelica huston for tnt. the book and film both generated controversy because of the graphic content, and the tv film was aired on showtime rather than tnt. the canadian maritime film classification board initially banned distribution of the film in canada, but it was reversed on appeal. in november 1997, the maine supreme judicial court affirmed a state board of education decision to ban the book in public high schools because of its graphic content.