I've got to say, I love this book. I really wish we could have read it sooner because it would be a great book to write a paper on. Dr. H. couldn't have been more correct when she said this autobiography is a "love song to the South." I find myself saying over and over, "My family does that," or "I eat that every time I go home."
You can tell that Bragg tries to figure out the best way to articulate difficult aspects of his past. I don't really believe that he is trying to gloss over or make aspects of his past seem less severe, I think it is hard for him to find the words to say the things he really wants to, especially when talking about his feelings for his dad as he was dying.
I also admire the respect he has for his mother. Their relationship seems really traditional in one sense but also extremely dynamic in another. He obviously loves her very very much and like most children he didn't realize all the things she sacrificed for him. It is as an adult that he can reflect on those things. I think he feels shame at being embarrassed of his mother and the home he grew up in, particularly when he brings the girl home. I think its hard for him to admit to these things, but he does. Its sort of like a confessional.
This book is probably the first I can really connect with on a personal level. Some parts of it really spoke to where I am from and my childhood. Bragg's book is delightfully funny at many parts. I liked seeing the shift from more affluent white society to the average white Southern. Rick Bragg takes a much less guilt-ridden approach to the South, showing a great love and appreciation for where he is from. His book deals much more with class and money than necessarily race even though he does mention some African-Americans like the little boy who brings the family food.
I feel like Bragg is truthful in his autobiography. His job as an award-winning journalist lends him credibility on the veracity scale as he makes a living out of telling the truths of others' lives. Also several points in his narrative he explicitly says "I was I could write this out" or "Wish this didn't happen but it did" or some phrase to that effect. Then Bragg makes a confessional about his past. I agree with Jackie that this book is very confessional as Bragg opens up about several topics that he has trouble probbing as he talks about his dad and later his brother Mark. Some points his narrative does break down, only because the emotions are so strong or he is having difficulty finding the right words to say.
In a way, this book seems to be the least crafted of any we have read (although I realize the problems involved in making such a claim about a _book_). Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Bragg is more subtle in his story telling than other authors we have encountered. Like he claims--somewhat suspiciously--in the introduction, _All over but the shoutin'_ is not an "important book" in so far as it seems fairly depoliticized. Rather, it reads like an honest assembly of fragments, and beautifully hints at a larger picture, still obscured from view.
Additionally, Bragg's writing provides an interesting counterpart to Du Pre Lumpkin's exploration of patriarchy--Bragg is never invested in the idea of "Southern Gentlemen"--in fact, the first time he mentions upper class white folk, he does so with a fair bit of distain. Instead, Bragg seems invested in exploring both the glories and the failures of the working class South. He seems to focus on his mother, whom he figures as heroic, and on his father, whom he figures as flawed, tragic, a failure.
Overall, Bragg's picture of the South seems to start from the ground up, not from the top down. Likewise, he seems invested in telling the story of the South within the limits of personal history, without the burdensome worry of "The History of the South" at large.
This book is by far my favorite, stylistically, of the works we’ve covered. Bragg manages to pack more description of the South into every sentence than seemingly possible. It is his use of small, often mundane, yet recognizably representative elements of the South that provoke a feeling of nostalgia. The food, the activities, even the people are familiar, if not always pleasant. Also, it becomes apparent that Bragg is neither totally proud nor completely ashamed of his upbringing. He presents a complex set of emotions about his childhood and the South that are common to many Southern writers. Bragg is ashamed of his family’s poverty, yet feels that without these hardships, he would not be the man he is today. Reminiscent of Faulkner, Bragg’s identity as a Southerner seems to be tied up both in his environment and especially the South. Bragg, or at least his writing, is unable to completely escape the anger and bitterness evoked by his difficult childhood. However, the question that remains is whether the negativity expressed is sincere emotion or simply an attempt to draw readers and sell books.
This is I think one of the best autobiographies we have read this semester. The way that Bragg writes is captivating. He is very good at conveying the emotional setting of the scene. The audience feels the sadness and the feeling of defeat that his mother has throughout the book as well as the small points of happy in the book. The major contributing factor to the book is the sense of honesty throughout. Bragg tells us that he is trying his best to tell the truth and in a poignant moment in the prologue apologizes if he does get a little off track. So that shows how sincere he is in telling the story of his mother. Braggs descriptions of other people are so to the point that I could pick out someone I knew that was just like them and yet he doesn't stereotype those around him. THe way he writes just shows how the person really was.
I have to agree with my classmates and say that this is probably my favorite autobiography this semester. The sections that stand out in my mind after reading are usually the sad memories of Bragg. For example, I could not help but be sad when the reader learns that Bragg's younger brother Mark gets in trouble with alcohol. As I had begun to forget about the father's drinking problem, I was instantly reminded when Mark seemed to follow that pattern. Another scene I vividly remember, although short, is the instance when Bragg reports about the conjoined twins that die as babies (182). He notes the moment he recognized that objectivity was "pure crap" if emotion is unable to be removed. This is an important revelation to the reader because Bragg did not write his autobiography from an objective perspective. I expected it would be somewhat, if not mostly, objective because of his work as a journalist, but I found this book to be more personal and subjective than most of the other autobiographies we have read in class.
I think this is a great autobiography to end the course with. I think that each work has been better than the last, and it has been very insightful to be able to chart the sort of evolution of southern thinking and biography.
All Over But the Shoutin' starts off with densely packed descriptions that make your mouth water and your eyes race across the page to the next. Bragg's description seems to be a combination of Wright's descriptive detours and Mebane's nostalgic food references, and they work very well to draw the readers into his world.
This world was "where gray mists hid the tops of low, deep green mountains, where redbone and bluetick hounds flashed through the pines," and "where old women in bonnets dipped Bruton snuff and hummed "Faded Love and Winter Roses" as they shelled purple hulls" (Bragg 3). Color is important in these quotes, and in this introductory paragraph, just in the first few lines, Bragg uses five colors.
He goes on to say, "black Buicks loaded with yellow whiskey [steered] down roads the color of dried blood, where the first frost meant hog killin' time and the mouthwatering smell of cracklin's would drift for acres from giant, bubbling pots" (3). Bragg seems to conjure up these sensory driven memories of the Appalachians, and in doing so, puts readers in his mind, where they experience his memories as well.
I would say this is right up there with "Mary". I find myself not questioning the validity of this statements like I did in other works this semester. I think it stems from my ability to identify with him. His story is the closest to mine that we have read. Like Trina said in class, I KNOW these characters. I have seen unpretentious starched white shirts and blue jeans on Sunday mornings. Perhaps the words are more familiar to me. "He only wupped me twice in my whole life" (29). I don't have to struggle with it, I know exactly what a "wuppin" is as sure as havin gotten it for takin off out yonder when I shoulda been collectin the eggs like I was told.
I also think that I get all dreamy and drawn into the food aspect of the South. When he starts talkin about red eye gravy and tomatoes you might as well shake me awake. I am out in the field getting the tomatoes for Grandma to cut for dinner (and eating a few on my walk back to the house). Where was I again...
He is a writer and can tell me anything he chooses, but unlike some others that I felt glossed over details I believe Bragg's story.
I agree with several others that this is my favorite book of the semester. I was drawn in from the beginning not just from an attraction to his writing style but from how honest it comes off. The details of the very specific things describing his life from so early on are so beautifully written that I felt very connected to the story from the beginning. It was nice how he gives such a deep description of his southern roots in the beginning and then seeing how during his stories of all of his travels he still consistently refers back to comparisons of the south throughout. Being a southerner I couldn’t help but feel an understanding or sense of a connection to the ways of life he describes so beautifully. The story of his life along with the way he tells it was a pleasure to read.
This book is my favorite book we have read this semester. I like it because the purpose of the book isn't hidden. He has a reason for writing the book and there are no hidden suggestions as to why, unlike some of the other books we have read. He is writing this book for himself, but also for his mother. He is conveying the message she didn't have the strength to say outloud. It is so different from all of the other books because it just feels so much more personal. In the other books I feel that the author was holding back and not expressing their true feelings. Bragg isn't holding back, he lets everything out, and that's why I feel it is so compelling. It is almost like he is talking to me when I read and I get lost in the book and stop counting how many pages I've read. It's hard to say that about other books I've read.
This is also the first book that really explains the South, I feel. All the other authors tried to blame the South for being backwards and wrong but Bragg explains his heritage and why his family was the way it was and leaves nothing out. It was the constant inner struggle and outer conflicts that made the southerner who he was, not the "race question". I really enjoyed this book and plan on recommending it to my friends and family.
Like everyone else, I love this autobiography. What is most interesting to me is his journalistic writing style. We are allowed clips of what he has written from each of the newspapers he works for and what really stands out for me is the flowery use of the language. When I think journalist, I think details and facts and Bragg takes these and uses more images than you would imagine from a journalist. In his articles he creates more of a story than the fact after fact I expect from a newspaper writer, and I feel that is because he is southern. More than anyother cultural group in the U.S. the south seems to use more metaphor and colloquial language and it is impressive that Bragg is able to draw that in to his writing. While reading the second half I've also seen my own shame about the south. Bragg takes on the people at the Harvard Fellowship head on. He doesn't change his accent and even the interviewers think his personality is a gimmick. I notice when I go visit family up north I consciously try not to say "Y'all" or anyother southern colloquialisms. Reading Bragg made me feel like I should do better to accept my southerness and be proud like he is. Maybe that is pat of the reason why we're still seen as backward...because the more sucessful southerners pretend to not be from the south.
I agree with AE. The other autobiographies that we've read in the class have focused in some way to addressing the race question. Bragg in this text isn't really concerned with that aspect of the South. It certainly comes up in the text when the black family gives food to his family. I think one of the strengths of the book is its focus on Southern culture outside of the race question that has tinted the outlook of the other books we've read. Yet looking at the class as a whole I find it hard to place Bragg's book. The class has focused so much on books dealing with the autobiographical side of race relations that "All Over but the Shoutin'" seems a sort of odd man out. Except for perhaps "Sherman's March" which is an odd man out in every situation...I suppose that Bragg's book just raises more questions about southern autobiography than anything else. Are their earlier southern autobiographies that look at southern culture outside of race relations or was race relations the only real motivation for early autobiography? To me that's an important question. A lot of the class has been a sort of southern downer. So to have a whole region, which in many ways we in NWA are very much a part of, and be so confronted with a negative aspect of that region is hard. I think Bragg's book is a good end to the class, since it opens up a whole new view of southern identity and as Dr. Hinrichsen has said is a sort of love song to the south. I would agree. I think a lot of Bragg's book is focused on reminding him where he came from. That it's a book written for to himself as a reminder of where he came from.
I've really enjoyed _All Over But the Shoutin'_. I can't say that it's my favorite book of the semester, but I think it serves a break from the autobiographies we have read before. Bragg's novel really is "a love song to the South." He appreciates the culture and he values his history. The South is not a monster, nor is it something we must "convert" from. It just is.
I find Bragg's perspective in _All Over But the Shoutin'_ interesting in conjunction with the piece Bragg writes for _The Oxford American_. He discusses his lack of a muse, saying, "That muse, though, I would welcome. But where is mine? Did I not get one because my great-great grandmother did not run and hide the silver when she heard the Yankees a’comin’? Did the muse pass me by because none of my relatives speak like Foghorn Leghorn?" Here, Bragg implies his muse is missing because of his Southern heritage. In _All Over But the Shoutin'_, Bragg is short on the Southern apologetics (what I mean to say is, he's not trying to apologize for his Southernness). However, he seems to understand it as problematic somehow. I think that, instead of apologizing for history, Bragg is pointing out that the South continues to be judged by those outside the South. Whomever--or whatever--assigns muses seems to recognizes Southernness, and possibly southern failings.
I had a feeling when I picked up _All Over But the Shoutin’_ from the book store four months ago that it would be among my favorites of the course. We have spoken about the warmth of the front cover, the photo-album arrangement and the endearing colloquialism that draw us in. But I couldn’t have known that almost immediately upon creasing that burnt-sienna spine, it would become one of my favorite books, period. I knew when I excitedly read the prologue aloud to a friend over the phone. He said, “Of course _you_ would like something like that.” I didn’t need to ask him what he meant. Bragg’s humble account of life in the South, of its injured yet iron-willed inhabitants, of the jolting expressiveness of the language, captures at once a South that I feel I know and wish I knew better.
This stirring effect was revived once more in one of the final chapters, entitled “The Same.” Here, Bragg addresses his father for the last time. He tells him all the ways he has surpassed him, both personally and by providing for their family. He talks, too, of all the ways his father helped to shape who he became. I feel like we all live our lives this way, trying to prove ourselves to someone, whether it’s Daddy, or some demon from our past, or God… or just ourselves. It’s a precarious situation, as it can provide us with both a healthy push in the right direction and a psychological Achilles heal. Bragg’s more affected expressions bear the strain of this tight-rope walk.
Closing thoughts: keep this baby on the syllabus! And thanks to everyone for all our great discussions.
It is almost cliche now, but this too is my favorite book of the semester. It often reminded me of the book "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt in that they both had difficult, poverty ridden childhoods, yet their text is laced with much humor. Anytime a book can make you feel more than one emotion at the same time it is great.
Bragg's treated his mother as a saint, and for most of the book I was in agreement. Then I got to page 299 where she was refusing to go with him to receive the Pulitzer Prize. You could tell it meant so much to him and yet she couldn't bring herself to get past her fears. Then I turned the page and she said "I reckon I can do it." All was o.k. then and I could continue to see her on the pedestal that Bragg had put her. Great book!
I've liked a good majority of the books we've read in this course: I've become a Lillian Smith, Richard Wright and Mary Mabine fan as a consequence. This book is my favorite though, because of the way it cajoles the softer sides. Truly, there is much, much more in this book than a love song to the south. It's more about keeping people from sliding into the land of the dead and forgotten, or trying to anyway. Rick Bragg is what journalists should be. He takes that energy of finding the dignity already there and applies it to himself. He connects you to the world. He shows us little pieces of lives burned by the fires of the fates, or just plain meanness. He really does make the dead dance again, and for a moment they live in your eyes and thoughts as you pass over them and think: at least there is dignity there. There aren't any grand psychological realizations, but somehow, capturing these little moments seems more important.
I've got to say, I love this book. I really wish we could have read it sooner because it would be a great book to write a paper on. Dr. H. couldn't have been more correct when she said this autobiography is a "love song to the South." I find myself saying over and over, "My family does that," or "I eat that every time I go home."
ReplyDeleteYou can tell that Bragg tries to figure out the best way to articulate difficult aspects of his past. I don't really believe that he is trying to gloss over or make aspects of his past seem less severe, I think it is hard for him to find the words to say the things he really wants to, especially when talking about his feelings for his dad as he was dying.
I also admire the respect he has for his mother. Their relationship seems really traditional in one sense but also extremely dynamic in another. He obviously loves her very very much and like most children he didn't realize all the things she sacrificed for him. It is as an adult that he can reflect on those things. I think he feels shame at being embarrassed of his mother and the home he grew up in, particularly when he brings the girl home. I think its hard for him to admit to these things, but he does. Its sort of like a confessional.
This book is probably the first I can really connect with on a personal level. Some parts of it really spoke to where I am from and my childhood. Bragg's book is delightfully funny at many parts. I liked seeing the shift from more affluent white society to the average white Southern. Rick Bragg takes a much less guilt-ridden approach to the South, showing a great love and appreciation for where he is from. His book deals much more with class and money than necessarily race even though he does mention some African-Americans like the little boy who brings the family food.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Bragg is truthful in his autobiography. His job as an award-winning journalist lends him credibility on the veracity scale as he makes a living out of telling the truths of others' lives. Also several points in his narrative he explicitly says "I was I could write this out" or "Wish this didn't happen but it did" or some phrase to that effect. Then Bragg makes a confessional about his past. I agree with Jackie that this book is very confessional as Bragg opens up about several topics that he has trouble probbing as he talks about his dad and later his brother Mark. Some points his narrative does break down, only because the emotions are so strong or he is having difficulty finding the right words to say.
In a way, this book seems to be the least crafted of any we have read (although I realize the problems involved in making such a claim about a _book_). Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Bragg is more subtle in his story telling than other authors we have encountered. Like he claims--somewhat suspiciously--in the introduction, _All over but the shoutin'_ is not an "important book" in so far as it seems fairly depoliticized. Rather, it reads like an honest assembly of fragments, and beautifully hints at a larger picture, still obscured from view.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, Bragg's writing provides an interesting counterpart to Du Pre Lumpkin's exploration of patriarchy--Bragg is never invested in the idea of "Southern Gentlemen"--in fact, the first time he mentions upper class white folk, he does so with a fair bit of distain. Instead, Bragg seems invested in exploring both the glories and the failures of the working class South. He seems to focus on his mother, whom he figures as heroic, and on his father, whom he figures as flawed, tragic, a failure.
Overall, Bragg's picture of the South seems to start from the ground up, not from the top down. Likewise, he seems invested in telling the story of the South within the limits of personal history, without the burdensome worry of "The History of the South" at large.
This book is by far my favorite, stylistically, of the works we’ve covered. Bragg manages to pack more description of the South into every sentence than seemingly possible. It is his use of small, often mundane, yet recognizably representative elements of the South that provoke a feeling of nostalgia. The food, the activities, even the people are familiar, if not always pleasant.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it becomes apparent that Bragg is neither totally proud nor completely ashamed of his upbringing. He presents a complex set of emotions about his childhood and the South that are common to many Southern writers. Bragg is ashamed of his family’s poverty, yet feels that without these hardships, he would not be the man he is today. Reminiscent of Faulkner, Bragg’s identity as a Southerner seems to be tied up both in his environment and especially the South. Bragg, or at least his writing, is unable to completely escape the anger and bitterness evoked by his difficult childhood. However, the question that remains is whether the negativity expressed is sincere emotion or simply an attempt to draw readers and sell books.
Rather, like Faulkner, his identity is tied up in his environment and the past. Typo.
ReplyDeleteThis is I think one of the best autobiographies we have read this semester. The way that Bragg writes is captivating. He is very good at conveying the emotional setting of the scene. The audience feels the sadness and the feeling of defeat that his mother has throughout the book as well as the small points of happy in the book.
ReplyDeleteThe major contributing factor to the book is the sense of honesty throughout. Bragg tells us that he is trying his best to tell the truth and in a poignant moment in the prologue apologizes if he does get a little off track. So that shows how sincere he is in telling the story of his mother.
Braggs descriptions of other people are so to the point that I could pick out someone I knew that was just like them and yet he doesn't stereotype those around him. THe way he writes just shows how the person really was.
I have to agree with my classmates and say that this is probably my favorite autobiography this semester. The sections that stand out in my mind after reading are usually the sad memories of Bragg. For example, I could not help but be sad when the reader learns that Bragg's younger brother Mark gets in trouble with alcohol. As I had begun to forget about the father's drinking problem, I was instantly reminded when Mark seemed to follow that pattern. Another scene I vividly remember, although short, is the instance when Bragg reports about the conjoined twins that die as babies (182). He notes the moment he recognized that objectivity was "pure crap" if emotion is unable to be removed. This is an important revelation to the reader because Bragg did not write his autobiography from an objective perspective. I expected it would be somewhat, if not mostly, objective because of his work as a journalist, but I found this book to be more personal and subjective than most of the other autobiographies we have read in class.
ReplyDelete(Aaron Nugent)
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great autobiography to end the course with. I think that each work has been better than the last, and it has been very insightful to be able to chart the sort of evolution of southern thinking and biography.
All Over But the Shoutin' starts off with densely packed descriptions that make your mouth water and your eyes race across the page to the next. Bragg's description seems to be a combination of Wright's descriptive detours and Mebane's nostalgic food references, and they work very well to draw the readers into his world.
This world was "where gray mists hid the tops of low, deep green mountains, where redbone and bluetick hounds flashed through the pines," and "where old women in bonnets dipped Bruton snuff and hummed "Faded Love and Winter Roses" as they shelled purple hulls" (Bragg 3). Color is important in these quotes, and in this introductory paragraph, just in the first few lines, Bragg uses five colors.
He goes on to say, "black Buicks loaded with yellow whiskey [steered] down roads the color of dried blood, where the first frost meant hog killin' time and the mouthwatering smell of cracklin's would drift for acres from giant, bubbling pots" (3). Bragg seems to conjure up these sensory driven memories of the Appalachians, and in doing so, puts readers in his mind, where they experience his memories as well.
I would say this is right up there with "Mary". I find myself not questioning the validity of this statements like I did in other works this semester. I think it stems from my ability to identify with him. His story is the closest to mine that we have read. Like Trina said in class, I KNOW these characters. I have seen unpretentious starched white shirts and blue jeans on Sunday mornings. Perhaps the words are more familiar to me. "He only wupped me twice in my whole life" (29). I don't have to struggle with it, I know exactly what a "wuppin" is as sure as havin gotten it for takin off out yonder when I shoulda been collectin the eggs like I was told.
ReplyDeleteI also think that I get all dreamy and drawn into the food aspect of the South. When he starts talkin about red eye gravy and tomatoes you might as well shake me awake. I am out in the field getting the tomatoes for Grandma to cut for dinner (and eating a few on my walk back to the house). Where was I again...
He is a writer and can tell me anything he chooses, but unlike some others that I felt glossed over details I believe Bragg's story.
I agree with several others that this is my favorite book of the semester. I was drawn in from the beginning not just from an attraction to his writing style but from how honest it comes off. The details of the very specific things describing his life from so early on are so beautifully written that I felt very connected to the story from the beginning. It was nice how he gives such a deep description of his southern roots in the beginning and then seeing how during his stories of all of his travels he still consistently refers back to comparisons of the south throughout. Being a southerner I couldn’t help but feel an understanding or sense of a connection to the ways of life he describes so beautifully. The story of his life along with the way he tells it was a pleasure to read.
ReplyDeleteThis book is my favorite book we have read this semester. I like it because the purpose of the book isn't hidden. He has a reason for writing the book and there are no hidden suggestions as to why, unlike some of the other books we have read. He is writing this book for himself, but also for his mother. He is conveying the message she didn't have the strength to say outloud. It is so different from all of the other books because it just feels so much more personal. In the other books I feel that the author was holding back and not expressing their true feelings. Bragg isn't holding back, he lets everything out, and that's why I feel it is so compelling. It is almost like he is talking to me when I read and I get lost in the book and stop counting how many pages I've read. It's hard to say that about other books I've read.
ReplyDeleteThis is also the first book that really explains the South, I feel. All the other authors tried to blame the South for being backwards and wrong but Bragg explains his heritage and why his family was the way it was and leaves nothing out. It was the constant inner struggle and outer conflicts that made the southerner who he was, not the "race question". I really enjoyed this book and plan on recommending it to my friends and family.
Like everyone else, I love this autobiography. What is most interesting to me is his journalistic writing style. We are allowed clips of what he has written from each of the newspapers he works for and what really stands out for me is the flowery use of the language. When I think journalist, I think details and facts and Bragg takes these and uses more images than you would imagine from a journalist. In his articles he creates more of a story than the fact after fact I expect from a newspaper writer, and I feel that is because he is southern. More than anyother cultural group in the U.S. the south seems to use more metaphor and colloquial language and it is impressive that Bragg is able to draw that in to his writing.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the second half I've also seen my own shame about the south. Bragg takes on the people at the Harvard Fellowship head on. He doesn't change his accent and even the interviewers think his personality is a gimmick. I notice when I go visit family up north I consciously try not to say "Y'all" or anyother southern colloquialisms. Reading Bragg made me feel like I should do better to accept my southerness and be proud like he is. Maybe that is pat of the reason why we're still seen as backward...because the more sucessful southerners pretend to not be from the south.
I agree with AE. The other autobiographies that we've read in the class have focused in some way to addressing the race question. Bragg in this text isn't really concerned with that aspect of the South. It certainly comes up in the text when the black family gives food to his family. I think one of the strengths of the book is its focus on Southern culture outside of the race question that has tinted the outlook of the other books we've read. Yet looking at the class as a whole I find it hard to place Bragg's book. The class has focused so much on books dealing with the autobiographical side of race relations that "All Over but the Shoutin'" seems a sort of odd man out. Except for perhaps "Sherman's March" which is an odd man out in every situation...I suppose that Bragg's book just raises more questions about southern autobiography than anything else. Are their earlier southern autobiographies that look at southern culture outside of race relations or was race relations the only real motivation for early autobiography? To me that's an important question. A lot of the class has been a sort of southern downer. So to have a whole region, which in many ways we in NWA are very much a part of, and be so confronted with a negative aspect of that region is hard. I think Bragg's book is a good end to the class, since it opens up a whole new view of southern identity and as Dr. Hinrichsen has said is a sort of love song to the south. I would agree. I think a lot of Bragg's book is focused on reminding him where he came from. That it's a book written for to himself as a reminder of where he came from.
ReplyDeleteI've really enjoyed _All Over But the Shoutin'_. I can't say that it's my favorite book of the semester, but I think it serves a break from the autobiographies we have read before. Bragg's novel really is "a love song to the South." He appreciates the culture and he values his history. The South is not a monster, nor is it something we must "convert" from. It just is.
ReplyDeleteI find Bragg's perspective in _All Over But the Shoutin'_ interesting in conjunction with the piece Bragg writes for _The Oxford American_. He discusses his lack of a muse, saying, "That muse, though, I would welcome. But where is mine? Did I not get one because my great-great grandmother did not run and hide the silver when she heard the Yankees a’comin’? Did the muse pass me by because none of my relatives speak like Foghorn Leghorn?" Here, Bragg implies his muse is missing because of his Southern heritage. In _All Over But the Shoutin'_, Bragg is short on the Southern apologetics (what I mean to say is, he's not trying to apologize for his Southernness). However, he seems to understand it as problematic somehow. I think that, instead of apologizing for history, Bragg is pointing out that the South continues to be judged by those outside the South. Whomever--or whatever--assigns muses seems to recognizes Southernness, and possibly southern failings.
I had a feeling when I picked up _All Over But the Shoutin’_ from the book store four months ago that it would be among my favorites of the course. We have spoken about the warmth of the front cover, the photo-album arrangement and the endearing colloquialism that draw us in. But I couldn’t have known that almost immediately upon creasing that burnt-sienna spine, it would become one of my favorite books, period. I knew when I excitedly read the prologue aloud to a friend over the phone. He said, “Of course _you_ would like something like that.” I didn’t need to ask him what he meant. Bragg’s humble account of life in the South, of its injured yet iron-willed inhabitants, of the jolting expressiveness of the language, captures at once a South that I feel I know and wish I knew better.
ReplyDeleteThis stirring effect was revived once more in one of the final chapters, entitled “The Same.” Here, Bragg addresses his father for the last time. He tells him all the ways he has surpassed him, both personally and by providing for their family. He talks, too, of all the ways his father helped to shape who he became. I feel like we all live our lives this way, trying to prove ourselves to someone, whether it’s Daddy, or some demon from our past, or God… or just ourselves. It’s a precarious situation, as it can provide us with both a healthy push in the right direction and a psychological Achilles heal. Bragg’s more affected expressions bear the strain of this tight-rope walk.
Closing thoughts: keep this baby on the syllabus! And thanks to everyone for all our great discussions.
It is almost cliche now, but this too is my favorite book of the semester. It often reminded me of the book "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt in that they both had difficult, poverty ridden childhoods, yet their text is laced with much humor. Anytime a book can make you feel more than one emotion at the same time it is great.
ReplyDeleteBragg's treated his mother as a saint, and for most of the book I was in agreement. Then I got to page 299 where she was refusing to go with him to receive the Pulitzer Prize. You could tell it meant so much to him and yet she couldn't bring herself to get past her fears. Then I turned the page and she said "I reckon I can do it." All was o.k. then and I could continue to see her on the pedestal that Bragg had put her. Great book!
I've liked a good majority of the books we've read in this course: I've become a Lillian Smith, Richard Wright and Mary Mabine fan as a consequence. This book is my favorite though, because of the way it cajoles the softer sides. Truly, there is much, much more in this book than a love song to the south. It's more about keeping people from sliding into the land of the dead and forgotten, or trying to anyway. Rick Bragg is what journalists should be. He takes that energy of finding the dignity already there and applies it to himself. He connects you to the world. He shows us little pieces of lives burned by the fires of the fates, or just plain meanness. He really does make the dead dance again, and for a moment they live in your eyes and thoughts as you pass over them and think: at least there is dignity there. There aren't any grand psychological realizations, but somehow, capturing these little moments seems more important.
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