Rating: 
Summary: Two Different Books
Review: The book begins with a rambly but beautifully told story of growing up dirt poor in the rural south. Then, at the turn of a page, the author goes from hauling wood and shoveling gravel to typing on a computer keyboard. The book then turns from a wonderful down home memoir to a recounting of the author's journalistic career, where he effortlessly glides to the top.It is almost like reading two different books, and I like the first one a lot better than the second. The book transforms itself from a memoir of his southern roots and family to an autobiography. Unfortunately, Bragg seems to lose his unforgiving vision of others when it comes to himself. The best autobiographies always feature the author's worst quirks and flaws, but we finish this one knowing the author as little more than the Boy Who Made Good.
Rating: 
Summary: what a disappointment!
Review: I loved the first half of this book in which Rick Bragg wrote very eloquently about his growing up and his mother. By the end of the book I was so angry I wanted to personally call Mr. Bragg and inform him that people who grow up in middle or upper-middle class backgrounds also have problems. People who are born with money should not be blamed any more than people who are born without it.
Rating: 
Summary: Ricky Spoke To Me
Review: Finally a book written in the form where it makes no difference if the writer uses perfect grammar. You know why that is? Rick Bragg is a true Southerner. He has lived it and now, thank God, has decided to share it with the rest of us. I am from the South and always have found it interesting, but Bragg explained life and the region to me better than in any other book, ever. Bragging about his awards? Conceited? Those comments about Bragg are absolutely false. Sure he talks about his "walls of journalism awards", but I have a feeling that anyone would be extremely proud of it if they had to fight their way out of what Bragg has had to. You can hear Bragg's Southern accent in the words. And boy, do they sound sweet.
Rating:
Summary: Down to earth, sad and funny at the same time.
Review: I looked through the reviews and was not surprised to see so many 5 stars. It truly was a good book that once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. It makes you reevaluate your own family relationships. Thanks Rick Bragg.
Rating:
Summary: A Book That Makes You Stop and Catch Your Breath
Review: This is a book that reads like beautiful poetry. I read this book on a plane ride to Australia, and (more than once) caught myself stopping to catch my breath and contemplate the weight of Bragg's observations. I recently heard someone compare this book to Angela's Ashes (after all, it's the memoir of all memoirs, right?). While this is of the memoir genre, it is a piece worth reading in its own right. Bragg does not give the reader a cookie-cutter version of the expected memoir. However, he does manage to capture a tremendous amount of sentiment in a relatively small book. If, like Bragg, your background was colored by a simultaneous loathing and coveting of the "normal class", you will find a kindred (albeit painful) spirit. On the other hand, if you merely like reading books that make you pause and think, you will enjoy this book immensely.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good but not awesome
Review: I recently finished "All over but the Shoutin" for our book club. I enjoyed it but I must admit I think the reviews were alittle over the top in their praise. Yes, Rick Bragg can write and his story is worthwhile. It's obvious his forte is feature writing. His style is crisp, clean and real. The problem is his lack of modesty and that got in the way more than once. I got tired of him telling us about his prizes and how far he had come. I also got frustrated with the constant foreshadowing of what is to come. Almost every chapter ended with a little tease, like "that was until I had the Mustang" or "I had, by then, a wife." After awhile, it became irritating. But, don't get me wrong. It was a worthwhile read, it just isn't a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a disappointment.
Review: Rick Bragg writes like someone who feels like he doesn't deserve his success--and he's right. Having grown up poor in the South, I was hoping for some wonderful, crystalizing story that exposed the humor and terror. But this is no Angela's Ashes of the Bible Belt. Bragg lacks humor and a sense of what is important. He has that annoying habit that bad southern newpapermen have of including too many homespun details--like someone's great strawberry shortcake or a recipe for red-eye gravy. He relies heavily on cliches and picturesque similes which may impress Yankees, but do little for those of us who have heard them all a thousand times. I have read this kind of writing my whole life and I remain unimpressed.
Rating: 
Summary: Glad it's over.
Review: The book began and ended well -- primarily because these were the only pages that the author did not dedicate to himself, his accomplishments and his ego. I bought this book because it was described by many as a book about being poor white trash in the South. However, as were other reviewers, I was sadly mislead.
Rating:
Summary: the south people never see.
Review: This book made me laugh and cry, often on the same page. Having grown up less than 40 miles from Braggs hometown, I can relate to much of the issues and challenges which he faced. This book indeed sheds light on a seldom discussed part of the South, not the rich, not the crazy, just the forgotten. To those of you who did not find this book believeable, life in rural Alabama really can be just that beautiful, funny, sweet and rewarding or it can take your soul as it did the father in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Very honest and forthright book about the South.
Review: the book is a post- WWII memoir of this Pulitzer Prize winner. He recounts his humble beginnings in the rural south. Son of an abusive and alco- holic father who abandons his family, Bragg writes this story as a tribute to his mother and her courageous efforts to raise her three sons at just above the poverty line. he also recounts his own life and the trials of being undereducated in a field of Ivy Leaguers. It's an honest and humorous account and an excellent read.
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