All Over But the Shoutin'

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Summary: Heartbreakingly beautiful
Review: Why this book is not on the bestseller list is way beyond me. I've never been further south than Colorado and I absolutely loved this book. Let's hope Bragg is at work on another book of any kind!

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Summary: Pulitzer prizewinner honours mother in book
Review: Rick Bragg has made a name for himself by writing about life as it really is, in places most of us will never see - the squalid part of city life where drugs have broken down and destroyed whole communities, creating in their wake a new form of human existence. He has reported on the ongoing turmoil and bloodshed in Haiti, at all times at risk to his own life, yet reporting back to us in a powerful portrayal of reality.

Bragg doesn't suggest or infer. He tells. Stories of the human side of inhumanity.

All over But the Shoutin' is another powerful story. This time he is not recounting the events in the lives of people he has never met before.

This is the story of his mother, his absent father, growing up in an isolated rural community in the United States with its strong undercurrents of religion and racial intolerance.

It is a monument of love to his mother, a woman who endured poverty, a mostly absent husband, raising three sons alone, losing another son at birth; a woman who never complained, who worked endlessly to support her sons, either picking cotton or taking in laundry; a woman who, according to Bragg, lost her looks at a young age and who, at the time of writing his book, still hadn't got herself a decent pair of false teeth!

This book is the best I have ever read. Pure Bragg unleashed. It is a life story told openly, honestly, and with great pride in a woman whose personal endurance level is outdone only by her dignity.

Bragg dedicated his Pulitzer Prize to his mother. This book is the powerful addendum.

Rating:
Summary: The heart and soul of a great writer.
Review: Never knew Rick Bragg, but after reading this book I feel like I've known him all my life. Beautifully written. In fact, so well crafted you feel like you're just flying through the book, and all the while you just want to savor every word. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes reading a book by a man who doesn't mind showing his "sensitive" side. Rick Bragg puts into words so well the feelings that I have felt for my momma.

Rating:
Summary: Great book. Tells everything without being "tell all."
Review: I read about 20 books per year. This is the only one which has ever made me consider calling in sick to work so I could finish it. Author Rick Bragg, describing his life and his mom's life in rural Alabama (and later elsewhere for him), gives such an honest account it's like a blow to the solar plexus. The book's strength possibly comes from the strength of the people in it. Bragg's mother isn't a celebrity, his brothers aren't and neither is Bragg. Of his grandfather, Bragg writes, "Like a lot of Southern men, he could tell a story and have you sitting dead quiet, waiting for the next word, said the people who knew him well." The description fits Bragg too.

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Summary: The Shoutin' Is Fixin' To Commence
Review: If we're lucky, the shoutin' won't be over for a very long time, in terms of Rick Bragg's future works. The New York Times reporter's first book is a jewel, accurately capturing the essence of growing up poor in the rural South. His memoir goes beyond the tale of a poor who keeps plugging and ultimately makes good, winning the Pulitzer prize in journalism; around this core theme is wrapped the story of his mother, a source of inspiration that guides the author even today. His voice is clear and simple, the way a southern boy views his world. But the depth that Bragg posesses is woven artfully into this book, as are his experiences covering events around the world for a variety of newspapers. I liked the book very much, mainly because it is plain and honest, just like the common folks it chronicles.

Rating:
Summary: A powerful book
Review: Like Rick Bragg, I grew up in the upland South--in my case, the mountains of Northeast Georgia--so I'm sure that these comments are anything but objective. Still, All Over but the Shoutin' is simply one of the best and most powerful books I have ever read. Now that I've finished the book, I suppose I should be thankful that I won't be crawling into bed late at night with eyes bloodshot from crying, but in all honesty, I'm ready to read it again. Pat Conroy says (on the jacket) that when he finished the book he called Bragg to thank him and sent flowers to Bragg's mother. I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not feeling the same way.

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Summary: The American version of Angela's Ashes
Review: Rick Bragg did an outqanding job of recreating the real essence of dirt poor people in the our country. So many families have the classic alcoholic in almost every generation. And ever now and then there is Rick Bragg pushed up by a determined Mother. It was quite hard keep eyes dry enough to read.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent, a book to revel in, beautifully crafted
Review: I wrote a letter of appreciation to the author for writing a book that every passionate book lover will adore. This work was joy from start to finish and the portrait of Mrs. Bragg, his brothers, and his experiences will stay with me for a long time. There is nothing sensational or voyeuristic about this story,just a tale told by a gifted Southern story teller.But at the end of the story, you are grateful to the author for having penned it.

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Summary: Seems as though I lived through many of the events with them
Review: I grew up living next door to the Bragg family. Sam was my best friend from age 12 to 19, he got married and we drifted apart. I saw him after almost 20 years on Thursday, Sept. 25th, in Anniston at a "book signin'". He proudly told me of his daughter singing in Carnegie Hall in New York while on a trip for Rick's book. Rick has always had a gift for writing and a yearning to break away from the old life. I admire him for his courage and willingness to set a goal and thebn to keep digging, pulling, scratching and clawing to reach the goal. This entire family is strickingly unique and frightenly similar to each of us. There's an old saying," But for the garce of God, there go I..." and I think that fits here to a tee. I have read many books but none compare to the frankness, sadness, gentleness, ugliness, and loveliness I felt and saw. My emotions were on a runaway roller coaster for the entire book. True, I lived many of the episides described, I sang the song "Long Black Veil" and played the guitar in Mis Margaret's house, she even made me promise to sing at her funeral and I will. I sat at her table and ate white northern beans and cornbread with Sam, Rick, Mark, and Granny Bundrum. I fell off the pony in the picture, wrecked Sam's motor cycle, and, yes, witnessed Rick wrecking his beloved Chevrolet Camaro as we raced and ran from the Jacksonville Police. I was so scared I did not stop but kept going til I got home. I laid in bed all night long, knowing Rick was dead, the police would surely come and daddy would "Beat me to death" and then give me to them, cause that was the right thing to do. I applaud Rick Bragg and wish him all of the success he can find. I can think of no-one who deserves it more than him and his family. The pages of this book are true, the characters real, the pain, sorrow, blood, love, and pride all part of the strength and heritage of Margaret Marie Bundrum Bragg, the true American heroine of "Possum Trot Alabama". May God Bless her and give her peace in her remaining days. I Love you all - Kyle A MUST READ BOOK! Kyle Smith [e-mail] Sylacauga, Alabama [phone]

Rating:
Summary: who says we've had enough memoirs?
Review: This is a wonderful book. Some fool reviewer fed up with too many memoirs (are there too many novels being published, too, or just the bad ones?) said this was self-serving. No s--- Sherlock. It is after all his life story. But just like every time I see a Rick Bragg byline in the NY Times I know the story under it is going to be something special, so, too this book. It is a heart-warming and honest story, a story of a woman who loved her sons and desperately wanted them to have more than she did, which was a damaged drunk husband and poverty, to use Bragg's phrase, as big as God. It's the story of a man who, despite the insecurity that is so human and appealing, belongs up there with the best of them. You almost feel envy that you grew up so privileged by comparison. You want some of his character. The anecdotes about newspapering are great but this book is so much more than that. I loved it. My only complaint: at least a dozen typos some editor should have caught. They're disconcerting. But the