Reviews
Praise forThe Prince of Frogtown "Bragg crafts flowing sentences that vividly describe the southern Appalachian landscape and ways of life both old and new. . . . His father's story walks the line between humorous and heartbreaking . . . This book, much like his previous two memoirs, is lush with narratives about manhood, fathers and sons, families and the changing face of the rural South." -Publishers Weekly(starred review) "Smooth and rich as bourbon." -Kirkus "Bragg continues in the vein of his legendary storytelling, breathing life into a father he barely knew while learning to love a son." -Library Journal Praise forAva's Man "Rick Bragg has written a powerful and poignant book about his kin, the kind of people we hear about too seldom . . . At the end I shared Rick's pride and awe of what his family had endured." -Tom Brokaw "It is hard to think of a writer who reminds us more forcefully and wonderfully of what people and families are all about." -The New York Times Book Review "Earthy, mischievous, yet gorgeous. . . . [Bragg's] tales . . . would not be out of place if they were told around a campfire." -San Francisco Chronicle "[Bragg] is every bit the equal of . . . Harper Lee and Truman Capote." -People "[Bragg has] a true gift for great storytelling (the kind. . . that makes you think it's just a plain old story, until he gets to the end and you're either weeping or covered with goosebumps)." -New Orleans Times-Picayune "Here is a man with wit, devotion and a fierce sense of dignity." -Time Out New York "Bragg writes like his grandfather drank. . . . He cuts loose with wonderful flowering descriptive floods . . . that can cripple another writer with envy." -The Miami Herald Praise forAll Over but the Shoutin' "An absolutely wonderful book." -Russell Baker "Rick Bragg writes like a man on fire. AndAll Over but the Shoutin'is a work of art. While reading this book, I fell 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 "Searingly honest, beautifully written,All Over but the Shoutin'is perhaps the most courageous thing Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rick Bragg has ever written. Making his reputation on his 'dark gothic' stories of urban riots, community disasters, and Haitian bloodbaths, Bragg has never failed to record the grace and dignity of people who live their lives in the margins.All Over but the Shoutin'is one more such story. But it is braver because the marginal people he gives us are himself, a child of 'poor white Southern trash,' and his familyan alcoholic, mostly absent father, and an extraordinary mother, quietly her, "Nothing less than a triumph." The Tennessean "Powerful.... [Bragg is] a storyteller on a par with Pat Conroy." Denver Post"Rick Bragg has made of the dark shadow in his life a figure of flesh and blood, passion and tragedy, and a father, at last, whose memory he can live with. And that is no small thing for any man to do." The New York Times Book Review "Bragg writes in that sumptuous, multilayered, image-rich Southern yarn-spinning manner that seduces as fast as you can read it. It unwinds beautifully." The Providence Journal "With The Prince of Frogtown , Bragg finds a heartening truth: He is not doomed to take up the defects of his forebears but learns instead to use them as a compass.... Readers will relish the journey." Rocky Mountain News "Vivid.... An evocative family memoir." Boston Globe "By turns gut-wrenching, hilarious and heartbreaking.... A way of looking hard at the past in order to break free of it." St. Petersburg Times "Bragg crafts flowing sentences that vividly describe the southern Appalachian landscape and ways of life both old and new. . . . His father's story walks the line between humorous and heartbreaking . . . This book, much like his previous two memoirs, is lush with narratives about manhood, fathers and sons, families and the changing face of the rural South." Publishers Weekly (starred review)"Smooth and rich as bourbon." Kirkus "Bragg continues in the vein of his legendary storytelling, breathing life into a father he barely knew while learning to love a son." Library Journal, "Nothing less than a triumph." -- The Tennessean "Powerful.... [Bragg is] a storyteller on a par with Pat Conroy." --Denver Post "Rick Bragg has made of the dark shadow in his life a figure of flesh and blood, passion and tragedy, and a father, at last, whose memory he can live with. And that is no small thing for any man to do." -- The New York Times Book Review "Bragg writes in that sumptuous, multilayered, image-rich Southern yarn-spinning manner that seduces as fast as you can read it. It unwinds beautifully." -- The Providence Journal "With The Prince of Frogtown , Bragg finds a heartening truth: He is not doomed to take up the defects of his forebears but learns instead to use them as a compass.... Readers will relish the journey." -- Rocky Mountain News "Vivid.... An evocative family memoir." -- Boston Globe "By turns gut-wrenching, hilarious and heartbreaking.... A way of looking hard at the past in order to break free of it." -- St. Petersburg Times "Bragg crafts flowing sentences that vividly describe the southern Appalachian landscape and ways of life both old and new. . . . His father's story walks the line between humorous and heartbreaking . . . This book, much like his previous two memoirs, is lush with narratives about manhood, fathers and sons, families and the changing face of the rural South." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Smooth and rich as bourbon." -- Kirkus "Bragg continues in the vein of his legendary storytelling, breathing life into a father he barely knew while learning to love a son." -- Library Journal, "Nothing less than a triumph." -The Tennessean "Rick Bragg has made of the dark shadow in his life a figure of flesh and blood, passion and tragedy, and a father, at last, whose memory he can live with. And that is no small thing for any man to do." -The New York Times Book Review "WithThe Prince of Frogtown, Bragg finds a heartening truth: He is not doomed to take up the defects of his forebears but learns instead to use them as a compass.... Readers will relish the journey." -Rocky Mountain News "Bragg writes in that sumptuous, multilayered, image-rich Southern yarn-spinning manner that seduces as fast as you can read it. It unwinds beautifully." -Providence Journal "This book is powerful.... Bragg is a storyteller on a par with Pat Conroy." -Denver Post "Vivid.... An evocative family memoir." -Boston Globe "By turns gut-wrenching, hilarious and heartbreaking.... A way of looking hard at the past in order to break free of it." -St. Petersburg Times "Bragg crafts flowing sentences that vividly describe the southern Appalachian landscape and ways of life both old and new. . . . His father's story walks the line between humorous and heartbreaking . . . This book, much like his previous two memoirs, is lush with narratives about manhood, fathers and sons, families and the changing face of the rural South." -Publishers Weekly(starred review) "Smooth and rich as bourbon." -Kirkus "Bragg continues in the vein of his legendary storytelling, breathing life into a father he barely knew while learning to love a son." -Library Journal, "Nothing less than a triumph." -The Tennessean "Powerful.... [Bragg is] a storyteller on a par with Pat Conroy." -Denver Post "Rick Bragg has made of the dark shadow in his life a figure of flesh and blood, passion and tragedy, and a father, at last, whose memory he can live with. And that is no small thing for any man to do." -The New York Times Book Review "Bragg writes in that sumptuous, multilayered, image-rich Southern yarn-spinning manner that seduces as fast as you can read it. It unwinds beautifully." -The Providence Journal "WithThe Prince of Frogtown, Bragg finds a heartening truth: He is not doomed to take up the defects of his forebears but learns instead to use them as a compass.... Readers will relish the journey." -Rocky Mountain News "Vivid.... An evocative family memoir." -Boston Globe "By turns gut-wrenching, hilarious and heartbreaking.... A way of looking hard at the past in order to break free of it." -St. Petersburg Times "Bragg crafts flowing sentences that vividly describe the southern Appalachian landscape and ways of life both old and new. . . . His father's story walks the line between humorous and heartbreaking . . . This book, much like his previous two memoirs, is lush with narratives about manhood, fathers and sons, families and the changing face of the rural South." -Publishers Weekly(starred review) "Smooth and rich as bourbon." -Kirkus "Bragg continues in the vein of his legendary storytelling, breathing life into a father he barely knew while learning to love a son." -Library Journal