Ava's Man by Rick Bragg Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Ava's Man
Book Review: A mighty thin mix to try to cast a hero from
Summary: 2 Stars
I read Rick Bragg's book, ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTIN' and felt uplifted and proud of my poor, rural southern heritage. AVA'S MAN did not leave me with the same pride of place and time. I was born in 1935 in rural Arkansas and picked my first cotton in my maternal grandfather's and his neighbor's fields as a four year child. Although my folks were what others have characterized as "the gentle poor" as opposed to what they characterize as "poor white trash", I worked with and alongside and lived among whole communities of folks like the Bundrums. When and where I grew up, men like Charlie Bundrum were not heroes. Chronic drunks who die early of cirrhosis with no provision for their widows and children, who were brawlers and jail birds were not a breed to be celebrated even though their children might have loved them and their grandchildren, for their own not so difficult to understand reasons, placed them on a pedestal. In the rural south of Charlie's day, fighting among children trying to find their place in the pecking order of a three room school was standard, but heroic men fought only under extreme provocation and their fights were often to the death. If there is a hero in AVA'S MAN, it is Ava, not her man. Charlie Bundrum did a little too much likkerin', brawling, drunken driving, fishing and general carousing for my taste in heroes, and casting him as one creates a model that has been followed by far too many young of the underclass of southern white male to the downfall of thousands of their families and communities. Bragg's mother was very rightly the hero of his first family memoir, and his father the heavy. I suppose he needed some male in his direct line of ancestors to carry the mantle of the hero, but Grandfather Charlie seems to provide very little cement, to go along with all the likker and sand, for the casting of the likeness of a real hero. I started reading this book fully prepared to praise it, as so many of it's reviewers have. I ended it depressed and sorry that Charlie's life was not one that I find heroic. God knows, we could use a few more of these among the poor southern white male, but it seems that most of our poor white Dixie heros have been female, and our male heroes have been, to a large extent, black. wfhBook Review: A model memoir.
Summary: 5 Stars
Rick Bragg is the man. Why is it that when I read his books, I feel like I must have roots in the South, too? Simply put, he captures Southern, hard scrabble, depression-era life from the perspective of his lovable and flawed grandfather so poignantly that readers from anywhere will identify. Truly a gifted writer who captures family history in all of its beauties and pains. A model memoir.Book Review: A wonderful peak at an American family!
Summary: 4 Stars
Well after reading this book, two things became clear to me: the first is that Mr. Bragg has a wonderful writing style that can make some ordinary things into a magical and warm experience; and second is that I was quite surprised about the story line. I feel guilty just saying this but rarely in our society do we have a positive mental image when we speak of poor Southerners. This book allowed me (a "northerner") to understand what life was actually like for southern folks in the early part of the 1900's, showing us that they weren't minority hating, wife beating drunken, white hoods wearing thrash. WHAT A WONDERFUL BREATH OF FRESH AIR! It is a great book to read about family struggle in general without looking at a map, but I think it does teach us a couple of lessons too. Imagine if each of us were as proud of our family as Mr. Bragg is of his, how wonderful we would feel??Book Review: AVA"S MAN Super,thrilling and informative, a must read.
Summary: 5 Stars
I could not stop reading after the first few pages. It was a wonderful story and one feels like they are right there with all the characters as part of the, "family", it would not let me go, I had to stay with them, so I spent all day and into the night. I feel I really know, Ava's man's family.Book Review: An Appalachian Writer Stands in Awe of "Ava's Man"
Summary: 5 Stars
Ever since Rick Bragg won the Pulitzer Prize for "All Over but the Shoutin'", I've been waiting for him to strike another chord with my heart. But with "Ava's Man," he's done more than strum a collection of musical notes: He's played the entire song. In April, 2006, Dr. James Gifford of the Jesse Stuart Foundation recommended that I read "Ava's Man," that it was the kind of book he had always wanted to write himself. So, having respect for Dr. Gifford's opinion, I purchased a copy. What I found at the end of each sentence was the longing that I had been the one to create that sentence. I don't know when another author has affected me in such a manner as this, if ever. It has indeed captured my soul. Thank you Rick Bragg. I didn't think you could outdo "All Over but the Shoutin'," but you did, and seemingly, you did it with ease.
David Lee Thompson, Author
River of Memories: An Appalachian Boyhood