The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of All Over but the Shoutin’ continues his personal history of the Deep South with an evocatio...
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Jan 18, 2011
Snotchocheez
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In 2004, I (by happenstance, if not a strange, whimsical predestination) found myself uprooted from 35 years of stasis in Los Angeles, and replanted in semi-rural Northeast Alabama. Many of my friends and acquaintances back home (and, heck, most people I meet here) wonder why I'd do something that crazy. I really don't have an explanation for any of them, but after reading Rick Bragg's brilliant love-letter to NE Alabama and his family ("Ava's Man"), I can direct any questioners of m
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Mar 29, 2009
Wendy
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Unflinching look at poverty that did and can exist in our country, and the families that somehow manage to survive. This book also made me a little homesick for my own family, and probably had a hand in us moving back to Atlanta. Good stuff.
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Dec 03, 2011
Chloé
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Books I can't bring myself to finish get 1*... With this one I couldn't bring myself to read more than a quarter. From the praise I read both on the inside jacket and on this site I was expecting Rick Bragg to be up there with Jeannette Walls or Lac Su but I was sadly disappointed. The prologue warns of what's to come, itself being long winded, gushing and largely unnecessary. From the little I read it seems that Charlie was a likeable enough man but I didn't feel saddened by their poverty, whic
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Sep 14, 2011
Lori L
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In Ava's Man Rick Bragg has written a unique tribute to his maternal grandfather, Charlie Bundrum, a man he never knew but one he learned about through the stories of others. Bragg introduces us to Charlie through the carefully written anecdotes he has collected from those who knew Charlie personally. Charlie was a husband, father, roofer, and bootlegger. He was a man who lived by his own personal code in a specific area and place in time.
Charlie Bundrum was "so beloved, so misse More...
Charlie Bundrum was "so beloved, so misse More...
Jun 09, 2011
Karima
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This is my third Bragg book (ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTIN' and THE PRINCE OF FROGTOWN)and I have thoroughly enjoyed them all. I recommend listening to them because the reading,in authentic southern/appalachian dialect, captures the essence in a way that this northerner (me) could not do on her own.
Bragg has done his family proud.
From Publishers Weekly
Following up his bestselling memoir, All Over But the Shoutin', Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bragg again creates a soulful, po More...
Bragg has done his family proud.
From Publishers Weekly
Following up his bestselling memoir, All Over But the Shoutin', Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bragg again creates a soulful, po More...
Jan 19, 2010
Kay
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This follow-up to All Over But the Shoutin' shows us once again why Rick Bragg was honored with the Pulitzer Prize. This story chronicles the life of his grandfather, who Bragg never knew. He relied on the stories and legends handed down from family. Bragg's family is a sort of antithesis to the Tara and Twelve Oaks crowd of Gone with the Wind Fame. Having grown up in the south myself, I learned a great deal about southerners, like me, who aren't part of the mint-julep, debutante South. No, ou
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Mar 27, 2011
Erin
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My first experience in Alabama occurred in 1995 in Enterprise, AL. It was there that this Catholic girl first learned about "being saved." In 2010 I returned to the lower Alabama area and the Florida panhandle to once again live in the highly God fearing, heavily Protestant, Deep South. I am sad that I finished this book. I enjoyed reading about Charlie. I am happy to walk in the red clay, see those muddy rivers he loved, and to live near those foothills that this story brings to life.
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Sep 29, 2010
Deb
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Author Rick Bragg tells the story of his grandfather, Charlie Bundrum, using the stories told by Charlie's children and grandchildren during a family reunion in 1999. Charlie is a larger-than-life character; a tall, strong man who fiercely loved and protected his family all his life. His story is set in the time of the Great Depression, in rural Alabama.
My favorite quote:
"He ought to have a monument," Travis says, "because there ain't no more like him. More...
My favorite quote:
"He ought to have a monument," Travis says, "because there ain't no more like him. More...
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Mar 28, 2007
James
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A wonderfully gritty biography of the author's grandfather, whom he knows only through family legend, sung beautifully in the voice of the south. Dripping in metaphors and history, it left me whistful for my own past and thankful to be among my family as I absorbed it. As it's sat around the house it's been picked up by almost everyone and has developed an impromptu waiting list. I'm off to drop it at my Grandma Amy's right now.
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Apr 15, 2011
Bonnie
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Imagine sitting around a campfire...
Imagine a boy telling amazingly funny, sad, joyous, devastating stories about his family... Imagine being so enthralled you experience all the emotions experienced by those family members being remembered...
Ava's Man is the life story of the authors' grandfather Charlie who did not merely exist but lived during the depression era on the border of Georgia and Alabama, crossing it many times to keep his family together. Charlie is one of th More...
Imagine a boy telling amazingly funny, sad, joyous, devastating stories about his family... Imagine being so enthralled you experience all the emotions experienced by those family members being remembered...
Ava's Man is the life story of the authors' grandfather Charlie who did not merely exist but lived during the depression era on the border of Georgia and Alabama, crossing it many times to keep his family together. Charlie is one of th More...
Nov 09, 2010
Kathy
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I read All Over But the Shoutin' about 10 years ago, and thought it amazing. Why I have waited so long to read another Rick Bragg book, I have no idea.
Ava's Man is the story of Charlie Bundrum, Mr. Bragg's grandfather, who died before he was born. It is a living story though, vibrant and powerful, showing why Charlie Bundrum is a legend in his own family, but also showing his flaws.
Mr. Bragg has a wonderful facility with words, and there are so many delightful turns More...
Ava's Man is the story of Charlie Bundrum, Mr. Bragg's grandfather, who died before he was born. It is a living story though, vibrant and powerful, showing why Charlie Bundrum is a legend in his own family, but also showing his flaws.
Mr. Bragg has a wonderful facility with words, and there are so many delightful turns More...
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Feb 21, 2009
Eileen
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This was the River Read's selection at my library a couple of years ago. Not so long ago the rural South was a very different place to live and where poverty was endemic. It was hard to make money and moonshine was both a cash crop and a killer.
Rick Bragg tells his family's tale with honesty and great sensitivity. Who says you can't go home again!
Rick Bragg tells his family's tale with honesty and great sensitivity. Who says you can't go home again!
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Aug 27, 2008
Jan
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Poverty may deprive men and women of luxuries, special treatment, the peace of knowing you'll have a house over your head and food on the table, medicine for your babies, help for the injured, clothing to keep out the cold, but poverty does not prevent anyone from being strong, loving his or her family, or fighting for what is right and true (or "just because" on a Saturday night)!
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Dec 29, 2008
Vanessa
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I really loved this book. Bragg is a natural-born storyteller. It's funny that this book is a biography about his grandfather, but feels so familiar. It's a book about a man who was far but perfect but impacted his family profoundly, just like most of our grandfathers. Also, if you know anything about commodity cheese, there's a section about it that will make you laugh.
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Mar 18, 2011
Chrissie
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NO SPOILERS!!!
On completion: I am sad to leave this book. It was a delight to read. I fell in love with Charlie, Ava's Man. the author's grandfather. Rick Bragg talked with all his relatives to find out about his grandfather. He was in fact born after his death. It wasn't easy finding out about Charlie because when he died everybody simply could no longer talk about him. It was too hurtful. You can look at this man and say he wasn't so great; he did so many things he shouldn't do. Th More...
On completion: I am sad to leave this book. It was a delight to read. I fell in love with Charlie, Ava's Man. the author's grandfather. Rick Bragg talked with all his relatives to find out about his grandfather. He was in fact born after his death. It wasn't easy finding out about Charlie because when he died everybody simply could no longer talk about him. It was too hurtful. You can look at this man and say he wasn't so great; he did so many things he shouldn't do. Th More...
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Sep 08, 2011
Susanhayeshotmail.com
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Oh.my.word. How have I lived without this author? I cannot wait to get my hands on his other books because this is one heapin' helping of wonderful! Rick Bragg never knew his grandaddy, Charlie Bundrum, and also knew remarkably little about him as well. Bragg set about rectifying the situation by asking questions at the family reunion. Turns out the lack of information is not, as he feared, because Charlie was a scallywag, which he was to a certain degree, but because Charlie was so loved a
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Feb 15, 2011
Lori
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Rick Bragg is a pleasure to read. It was an honor to read his love letter to his grandfather.
A favorite excerpt:
"He thinks that if people really wanted to honor someone who was part of this place, about this place, someone who had courage and heart, then Charlie would do just fine.
The Creamery is gone. The theater is gone. And men like Charlie are gone. Why not, he figured, erect a statue to a man in a pair of overalls and a long-billed carpenter's cap, a More...
A favorite excerpt:
"He thinks that if people really wanted to honor someone who was part of this place, about this place, someone who had courage and heart, then Charlie would do just fine.
The Creamery is gone. The theater is gone. And men like Charlie are gone. Why not, he figured, erect a statue to a man in a pair of overalls and a long-billed carpenter's cap, a More...
Oct 31, 2011
Ryan
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The second installment of Bragg’s family history. This book chronicles the life of Bragg’s maternal grandfather, Charlie Bundrum, who passed away before Bragg’s birth. Bragg expresses great sorrow over the fact that he never knew this man, but does a great job of honestly portraying the man’s character – warts and all. Charlie (pronounced “Chollie” in the foothills vernacular) was a roofer by trade and a sometimes moon shiner for extra money. The family moved back and forth across the Alabama-Ge
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Jul 27, 2011
Elaine
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Some wise person once said "If you read, you live many lives. If you don't, you lead but one." I definitely lead another life in another place among people with a totally other culture: that of the rural South.
This is a family history of hardworking and hard drinking folk who hunted the woods for their supper and picked cotton to earn a few dollars. Owning and having weren't their goals. Family and babies were all.
Tough men cried with deep emotion, dandled babies More...
This is a family history of hardworking and hard drinking folk who hunted the woods for their supper and picked cotton to earn a few dollars. Owning and having weren't their goals. Family and babies were all.
Tough men cried with deep emotion, dandled babies More...
Jun 09, 2009
Raymond
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I have not read, "All Over But the Shoutin'," which is acclaimed by several sources as Rick Bragg's finest work. "Ava's Man," (which I do read) certainly is a literary achievement. Rick Bragg is a writer in the first rank. In, "Ava's Man," he devotes all his considerable effort to telling of the character and personality - to telling the story - of his mother's father, the grandfather he never knew. Charlie Bundrum, father of seven children, in the Great Depression
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Aug 13, 2010
Donna Jo
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The story Rick Bragg tells about his mother's people is like being at a family reunion and listening in on the stories--except this one is told in chronilogical order. These are people you know, or know about, who are fiercely independent, not necessarily schooled, but certainly knowlegable about their world, and very family oriented. It may not be the way YOUR family was raised, but you might want to check back a few generations.
I may not have much in the way of Southern roots, but I ca More...
I may not have much in the way of Southern roots, but I ca More...
Apr 16, 2010
Wendy
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This is a follow-up to Bragg's All Over But the Shoutin' and is somewhat of a prequel to Shoutin'. Ava's Man is a loosely biographical account of Bragg's grandparents and their children with the focus mainly on Charlie Bondrum, his grandfather.
Bragg's prose shines in this book just as it did in Shoutin'. The reader gets a real sense of the time and places that his grandparents lived in as well as a flavor of their culture and personalities.
Bragg pieced together this sto More...
Bragg's prose shines in this book just as it did in Shoutin'. The reader gets a real sense of the time and places that his grandparents lived in as well as a flavor of their culture and personalities.
Bragg pieced together this sto More...
Aug 03, 2009
Danielle
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An engaging and surprisingly tender look at a way of life lost to the past. Bragg writes with genuine feeling about his grandfather, Charlie Bundrum, who died before he was born. Relying on stories and memories from family members, he recreates a life in snapshots. Bragg claims Charlie was a poor white in the Deep South before it was shameful to be so. The reality of an endless stream of rented shacks and moonshine whiskey stills was foreign to me. If those things existed, it was only in fiction
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Dec 04, 2011
Angela
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I loved All Over But the Shoutin' and this one was just as good. Using the South during the Depression as the backdrop, the book tells the story of Bragg's maternal Grandfather who was someone I felt i could recognize in the street after finishing this book. Though the times were hard and Bragg portrayed his Grandfather's shortcomings as honestly as his strenghts, this was such a spirited book. Loved it- made me wish I had closer ties to my family.
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May 23, 2010
Ellen
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This is a very enjoyable memoir the author's grandfather, who died before the author was born. Consequently, all the information comes to him second hand from family members and it is interesting how he finds authority for that.
The book is a wonderful portrait of poor white southerners from the twenties to the fifties, leading a very tough life in the hill country of Georgia and Alabama. The grandfather is a great character - as are a number of others whom we follow for a life ti
The book is a wonderful portrait of poor white southerners from the twenties to the fifties, leading a very tough life in the hill country of Georgia and Alabama. The grandfather is a great character - as are a number of others whom we follow for a life ti
Sep 10, 2009
Connie
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With "emotional generosity and effortless compelling storytelling," Rick Bragg tells the story of his grandfather, Charlie Bundrum, as he lived through the Great Depression until his death at age 51 in 1958. It "celebrates the working people of the Deep South" of Georgia and Alabama, people who experienced poverty of life, but strength of spirit. When finished, I remembered with gratitude the people in our BIC churches of Kentucky and Tennessee. We are blessed to count the
Jan 23, 2012
Joanne
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Rick Bragg wrote an evocative loving tribute to his family. It made me think of my own family, who struggled through those hard old days. They were in NH, not the South, but also hard working poor folk. My grandmother got up early and fired up the woodstove, to make a breakfast that included pork chops and apple pie. She couldn't send her "boys" to the fields and the woods on toast and poached eggs.
I love a book that leaves me with a lump in my throat, and the desire to make a p More...
I love a book that leaves me with a lump in my throat, and the desire to make a p More...
Jul 06, 2011
Kate
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This is a book to read outloud to your best friend. Then read it again, so you repeat all the good parts to yourself. Read it while the rain falls on a tin roof. Read it beside the woodstove. Read it in the cab of a pickup truck while the windshield wipers keep time. Read it to your kids. Read it to your kids in the rain by the light of a kerosene lamp. Keep it on a shelf in the kitchen and when you're feeling down, open anywhere and read. It's like music from an old time radio.
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Jan 17, 2012
Katie
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it took a couple of chapters to get into the book and figure out who is who, but then i got super into it and didn't want to put it down. I enjoyed the author's writing style and how he told his story. The hard life that the Bundrum family lived makes me very much appreciate the easy going life i have. It also makes me not feel so bad feeding my family cheap pasta roni often when all the Bundrum's had were corn bread or the squirrel their daddy killed that morning. I'm going to add the autho
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Mar 12, 2010
Linda
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A superb story written about the author's grandfather. It's a biography that reads like a novel. He tells a beautiful, compelling series of life - stories that knit together to form a real, true, and authentic look at an utterly typical and extraordinary man. They lived in the south on the Alabama and Georgia line. Charlie Brundrum was a hammer-swingin working man with 7 kids and a pile of grandkids. he also made whiskey which eventually killed him. A gentle drunk with a stoic, strong heart. A d
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