All Over but the Shoutin', by Rick Bragg (1997)
All Over But the Shoutin’ is ostensibly about the author’s mother, but it is really a love song to her.
Margaret Bundrum fell hard for the handsome young Charles Bragg and ran off and married him. His experience as a soldier in Korea, however, left him a broken and tortured man. By the time Rick Bragg was born, his father was well on his way to being a mean-spirited and hard-core alcoholic. Mercifully, Bragg spares us the abuse his mother endured from her absent husband. It is clear that this abuse affected the author all throughout his adult life. It has also colored his ability to form long-term relationships with women (although in his 40s, he found the love of his life, married and became a step-father to her son.)
Margaret Bragg struggled to protect her three sons from her husband’s abuse. When the author was about six years old, his father left the family permanently. Still, he remained a huge presence throughout the household. Charles spent what ever money he had on himself, leaving his wife and children with nothing. Margaret was forced to rely in the charity of family to raise her sons. She worked in the cotton fields to earn a few dollars to clothe and feed her young family. She often went without food so that her sons could eat.
Born in the back woods of Alabama, Rick seemed destine for a life echoing that of his father. On impulse, he signed up for a journalism class at a nearby college. Although he could only afford to take one class at a time, this made him a “collage man” and opened the door to a new life. He was offered a job as a sports writer for a local paper. Although the pay wasn’t much, he found his passion. This lead to jobs at other small, local papers through out the south, before landing a plum position at the New York Times.
Bragg had to write this book to save himself. He uses this book to explain to himself and his mother how her sacrifice saved him from becoming his father. Bragg never really knew his father. His brief time with the family was not pleasant. Charles Bragg died when the author was 16. Shortly before his father’s death, Bragg visited him. Bragg acknowledges that, although he felt no grief when his father died, is was grateful for allowing this visit to bring some closure so he doesn’t hate his father. (Bragg has subsequently come to terms with his father in a later book entitled Prince of Frogtown.)
As a reporter, Bragg found himself in some hairy situations, such as the Miami riots and the Haitian revolution. He couldn’t tell his mother about these situations, however, because he didn’t want to worry her. She had enough to worry about with her youngest son, Mark. Mark was the wild son who found himself on the wrong side of the law.
Bragg is incredibly proud of his mother, and rightfully so. When he won a Pulitzer Prize, he wanted his mother to attend the award event. She was apprehensive about going because she didn’t want to be seen before all “rich folks.” Fortunately, she overcame her fears and was able to take her first plane trip and enjoy the spotlight with her son.
Bragg’s proudest moment was when he was able to purchase for his mother a house of her own.
Interestingly, Bragg earns his keep through writing, yet I found that in this book, he used many grammatical phrases that are pure South. My favorite line in this book was: “Sometimes in this world, you don’t get the whole dog. Now and then, you have to settle for the tail.” Rick Bragg didn’t settle for the tail.
Read: May 15, 2010
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