| Description: |
|
Product Description
2 cassettes / 3 hours
Read by the author
"Searingly honest, beautifully written, All Over but the Shoutin' is perhaps the most courageous thing Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rick Bragg has ever written. "
--Willie Morris
"Rick Bragg writes like a man on fire. And All Over But The Shoutin' is a work of art. While reading this book, I feel in love with Rick Bragg's mother, Margaret Bragg, a hundred times. I felt like I was reading one of the prophets in the Old Testament when reading parts of this book. I thought of Melville, I thought of Faulkner. Because I love the English language , I knew I was reading one of the best books I've ever read. By explaining his life to the world, Rick Bragg explained part of my life to me. You feel things in every line this man writes. His sentences bleed on you. I wept when the book ended. I never met Rick Bragg in my life, but I called him up and told him he'd written a masterpiece, and I sent flowers to his mother."--Pat Conroy
"This is a moving, memorable audio, the kind that stays in the listener's mind long after it ends." --Billboard
"A sort of Alabama version of Angela's Ashes, this memoir details the miserable, impoverished childhood that informed and inspired a young man who became a successful writer . . . . Throughout, Bragg's own vice barely contains his bitterness and rage." --Chicago Tribune
"Listening to myself read it aloud gave me the opportunity to hear my words in my own voice, not just in my mind. Reading the sad parts out loud brought tears to my eyes. It was a delightful experience, and I'm proud to have done it."
-Rick Bragg
A haunting memoir about growing up dirt-poor in the Alabama hills--and about moving on but never really being able to leave. Rick Bragg's extraordinary gifts for evocation and insight are here brought to bear on the wrenching tale of his own family's life. It is the story of a war-haunted, hard-drinking father and a strong-willed, loving mother who struggled to protect her sons from the effects of poverty and ignorance that constricted her own life. It is the story of the life that Bragg was able to carve out for himself on the strength of his mother's encouragement and belief. And it is the story of his attempts to both atone for and avenge the mistakes and cruelties of his past.
All Over but the Shoutin' is a gripping account of people struggling to make sense and solidity of life's capricious promises. A classic piece of American literature, it is made vividly, movingly particular by Rick Bragg's searching vision, generous humor, and richly nuanced voice.
Amazon.com Review
One reason Rick Bragg won a Pulitzer Prize for his feature articles at the New York Times is that he never forgets his roots. When he writes about death and violence in urban slums, Bragg draws on firsthand knowledge of how poverty deforms lives and on his personal belief in the dignity of poor people. His memoir of a hardscrabble Southern youth pays moving tribute to his indomitable mother and struggles to forgive his drunken father. All Over but the Shoutin' is beautifully achieved on both these counts--and many more.
|
