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Summary: Tracing the flaws and atributes of a family
Review: This book is amazing. I had the pleasure of meeting Rick Bragg at a book signing when "All Over But The Shoutin" was first released. I was captivated by the simplicity this man possessed. While reading both "Ava's Man" and "Shoutin" I have become a part of Bragg's family. Bragg's grandfather has certain Adonis qualities, while at the same time the reader can see obvious flaws. It portrays not only a southerners life, but any hard working american in a time where things were just a bit rougher and bare boned. It allows those of us raised in the south to look back a few generations and see why we are the way we are. There are few books that are able to truely captivate and move one the way Bragg's books can. He is truely a modern day Dickins.
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Summary: Bragg Has Laid It All Out -- The Flaws and the Gems
Review: If you read only this one book in the next several years, you will have experienced the best of the English language, and met some of the strongest characters ever depicted in literature.With all the flaws and gems of his people splayed over its pages, Bragg has brought us characters we can almost touch-- folks whose integrity and honor and loyalty and values stand out as icons of a south never before depicted with such inner core truth -- I am a yankee from New York --who fell in love with all of his kinfolks and with an era and place that jumped out of the pages in 3-D.And if you loved reading it -- give it a listen. Bragg's reading on tape is a symphony in words.
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Summary: More than I had even hoped for!
Review: Rick Bragg has surpassed my expectations and, once again, made me proud to be a Southerner! With no apologies he details a life that would have been difficult at best. At the same time, the simple pleasures his kin enjoyed make me ashamed of having 200+ cable channels and still being bored. Listening to this cd, read by the author, was sheer pleasure. I thought "All Over But The Shoutin" would be difficult to top, and it absolutely was, but Mr. Bragg did himself (and Charlie Bundrum) proud. If you're Southern, there's no way you won't enjoy and appreciate this book.
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Summary: AVA'S MAN
Review: Best book I have ever read, period. I couldn't put it down. Mr.Bragg draws you into his family and you feel you know them. I never thought I would be interested in a book about the south, but by the end of the book I wanted to meet Rick Bragg and hug him. I recommend this book to everybody. Just pure reading pleasure.
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Summary: WRITING DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS
Review: I recently read Bragg's "All Over But the Shoutin'" and just had to read this one...and am not disappointed. This is about his grandfather and grandmother and the times in which they lived in the South before, during, and after the Great Depression. A daily battle existed to earn enough money to stay alive in order to provide for Ava's family as done by her husband Charlie (& herself)doing a multitude of different things. For me, the characters came alive and I thought the whole thing was as good as it gets. You will enjoy reading Rick Bragg!
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Summary: The Remarkable Story of an Ordinary Man
Review: This is the story of a working man who might appear to be downright ordinary except for the lasting impressions that he made on just about anyone he met. Rick Bragg deserves his Pulitzer Prize for his deft handling of the vernacular of the people he interviews so you get the uncanny feeling that you are actually hearing the person tell the story. He uses that talent in "Ava's Man," which is full of stories of a man who Bragg never met, but whose biography he pieced together. In the process he recreated his grandfather Charlie Bundrum, who obviously thrilled Bragg because he takes great pleasure in the way he shares this discovery with us. Charlie understood the finer points of the law as it applies to poor people and drinking men. One of Charlie's rules, for example, is that it may be all right to beat a man in anger, but it's just wrong to shoot him as he comes out on his own porch with his family inside. Then, you must be careful about whom you kill and under what circumstances because you might end up "riding the lighting" and then who will take care of your wife and kids? "Ava's Man" is full of how Charlie lived by his laws, and Bragg never lets his own person interfere with telling the story. Rather he just lets the people he interviewed and their memories of Charlie speak for themselves. This is such an enjoyable read that when you finish the book, you'll want to call up the author and say, "Hey, Rick, do you have any more stories of your granddaddy to tell?"
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Summary: A Shadow of a Man
Review: Who wouldn't want to go back in time & document a grandparents life? Although it was an interesting read, there is a distinct feeling of still not knowing Charlie Bundrum - Ava's man. The character did not come to life as I expected in this book. Bits and pieces of a man's life & nature come together to form a shadow of who & what Charlie was. A great attempt at recapturing a lost time, that left me wanting to know more.
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Summary: A man who knows how to use language
Review: Rick Bragg knows how to write and that is so, so rare in these days of dumbed-down literature that you read him with a half-smile on your face, a smile that's always ready to break out into a full-fledged grin. Once in a while, out of nowhere, he'll throw in a metaphor that lights up the sky for you -- like fireworks that throw an awesome new light on the commonplace. Read the book. Unlike most out there, it's worth it.
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Summary: Made me think of my grandfather
Review: My brother gave me "Ava's Man" saying I wasn't "as country and red-necked" as he (my brother) is. But I loved it. I grew up in NE Georgia in the 50's & 60's. Anyone that wants to know what life was like in the deep South should read this book; then they will know why I am so proud to be "Southern". Read this book - you won't regret it.
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Summary: I'd Like You To Meet Charlie
Review: What a beautiful story! Not often does one have the opportunity to read a book that captures the essence of a man and a time and place gone forever. Even though the lifestyle he describes is foreign to most readers, Rick Bragg has the ability to introduce you to his grandfather, spin stories about his life, and make you cry at his death. Even though the culture of the Old South as lived by the poor, hard-working and hard-living white folk from Alabama and Georgia of the 20's, 30's, and 40's is lost forever, Bragg has the ability to insert you in the midst of that time and feel the kinship and love of family, the hard-living and hard-dying. Rick Bragg never personally knew his grandfather. After hearing the stories of his life from the many old friends and relatives he got to know Charlie Bundrum well. Fortunately, through Bragg's talent, he has written a beautiful story and I have had the pleasure to know Charlie too. I would have liked him and I think you will too.
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