Welcome to Litsy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Memoir/meditation on his upbringing in the South and especially the lasting shadows of his dad abusing his mom and abandoning the family, and then his path into and through journalism to the New York Times and a Pulitzer. There was a chunk in the middle that was a bit of a slog, but I really enjoyed the last 1/3 or so, his experiences in journalism, and the ways he was pulled back toward home.

So heartfelt! What a beautiful tribute from a son to a beloved mother. My first Rick Bragg but definitely not my last. What should I read next @britt_brooke !!??! Audio narration is a MUST!!

#AudioWalk came upon a gorgeous sukkah / I‘m loving this audio - Rick Bragg is a great storyteller 🎧💚

Nailed it @britt_brooke 💚🙌🏻Just started but I‘m already sucked in🎧

Another Fairhope, AL photo - this is from an amazing bayside restaurant called Sunset Pointe, this meal is aptly dubbed “Rick Bragg‘s ‘Ode to Grouper‘ Sandwich.” Here‘s the lovely article I believe it‘s named from: https://gardenandgun.com/feature/requiem-for-a-fish-sandwich/

How beautiful is this bookshop?! Page and Palette is an indie store in Fairhope, AL - a town that has connections to several authors including one of my faves: Rick Bragg! Fannie Flagg and others have also called this beautiful town “home.” Love the New Orleans vibe! Hubby and I immediately added it to our list of places we‘d like to live. 🤩

"You're ok, little man," she would tell me. "You just been travelin'."

What a fantastic book. I don't go in for memoirs much. Too often, the ones I've read fall into one of two categories- either distinguished people near the end of their lives cataloging their achievements with the dull efficiency of an accountant filling out a ledger, or those too young to have even lived life, much less properly reflect upon it. Though only 38 at the time ?

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain @Arvena

1. All Over but the Shoutin', by Rick Bragg
2. All Over but the Shoutin', by Rick Bragg 😀
3. A few for my daughter for sure!

"I peeked in the windows and through the gloom I could see the counter, the empty shelves that should have been lined with tins of mackerel and sacks of beans and giant jars of pickled pigs' feet. Someday, I believe, some Yankee photographer will drive past, see it as quaint, and put a picture of it in a coffee-table book. That is where a big part of the Old South is, on coffee tables in Greenwich Village."

"Listening to them, I learned much of what a boy should know, of cars, pistols, heavy machinery, shotguns and love, all of which, these men apparently believed, can be operated stone drunk. I learned that fighting drunk is better than sober because a clear-headed man hurts more when hit. I learned that it is okay to pull a knife while fighting drunk as long as you are cautious not to cut off your own head."

1. Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner, Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford, All Over But the Shoutin‘ by Rick Bragg

2. Tampa by Alissa Nutting

3. Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg

#weekendreads

Just received this from my local library. Can't wait to check it out. Thanks @britt_brooke for the recommendation!

Currently reading. Rick Bragg is always an enjoyable read.

#7days7books Day 7 Books that impacted me, changed me or never let me go. I can‘t choose one of these over the other so for day 7 it‘s a twofer.

Without Litsy I never would have picked up this book and would have missed out on a memoir that is full to bursting with love for his mother. Bragg writes about the poverty of his upbringing and his abusive father but he also writes of the beauty of growing up in the south and of his strong, kind family I was less enthralled with his accounting of his journalism career but I am glad I read this for #parentandchildmemoir #booked2020

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The first time I read this many years ago, it dragged and really lost my interest. Indeed, it *is* slow-moving, but since having the immense pleasure of listening to Bragg speak last year, I realized that that‘s just his tempo. It‘s that charming, slow, southern drawl. Damned nearly a character itself. This is about his early life, family, and incredible journalism career. Loved it!

DAY 5 #Sorry | I‘m *not* sorry that this is the last soccer practice of the season. It‘s dark and chilly and I‘m over it. At least I have my book blanket and reading material. Loving this reread! ⚽️🥶🧤

#MOvember
@Cinfhen

#Dignity #QuotsyOct19 @TK-421

⏳What is your most special family heirloom? ⏳I got to go through old photos with my grandma, yesterday. I love getting to know family history and the stories they bring. I don‘t know a lot of my family history, but what I can learn I cherish it. My favorite heirloom is my great grandma‘s cookbook. It is filled with old family recipes of dishes I‘ve never heard of and the most cherished part is the hand writing of all the women who wrote them.

No big deal- just had breakfast beside Rick Bragg and got his autograph for the wonderful and amazing @Kaye he asked me to tell him something about you and I said “she calls herself an old grump” 😂 He sends his best! I will mail this to you when I get home.

This is a book to make you cry, fill your heart, slap your knee laughing, & look around with new eyes at the bitter-sweetness & tragedy in life & see some dignity, tenderness, & even beauty. Bragg writes gorgeously & there were so many passages I had to stop and read out loud, but even more importantly, he writes with so much humility, respect, & love for his family, his people, & humanity at large, whether in NYC, Haiti, or Possum Trot, Alabama.

Witty, warm, heartbreaking, funny, and soaringly lyrical, Rock Bragg‘s writing is just so good! 🙌

I found this treasure at a local bookstore coffee shop today. One that is closing. Whose last weekend is today. I went in to have my last pimento grilled cheese sandwich. And to buy one last book. And I found this. Well loved first edition of a book by one of my favorite authors. It cost me the huge sum of $2.73. #GoodbyeEclipse #NotHappy #GoingToMissYou

So this happened today! Can't believe I found this copy of Bragg's memoir for only $2! It's practically brand new. Thanks to a Friends of the Library bookstore I rarely frequent (odd hours). #bookhaul

"Life here between the meandering dirt roads and skinny blacktop was full, rich, original and real, but harsh, hard, mean as a damn snake."

This has to be listened to. Rick Bragg's story of growing up and becoming a Pulitzer winner has to be told in his smooth Southern voice.

I really enjoyed reading this. Maybe people outside the South read it and wonder if it's real, but it really is.

I'm coming back to add an edit - sometimes a book makes me think "I'd like to read more about ___." This book made me want to read more about so many different things.

Reading buddy (on the left is a teeny little bit of another cat's nose.) #catsoflitsy

I am ready for nothing but reading! Happy Saturday Littens!

"... with crashing cymbals and an earth-quaking 'Roll Tide'..."

@imajod

All I wanted was 10 minutes to read. That's why I picked the seat furthest away from everyone. But nooooo. Someone still sat next to me to talk. An open book is not an invitation.

#readandeat #marchintoreading Big Bowl O' Oats, coffee, Rick Bragg and Kerstin Gier. Power Breakfast.

Every life deserves a certain amount of dignity, no matter how poor or damaged the shell that carries it.

For #recommendsday I love this memoir. When I found myself as a southerner living in NYC during my 20s, I turned to it for comfort. One day while reading it, there was Rick Bragg. Like a true moron I started speaking gibberish. He smiled, talked to me at length and signed my book "from home"

Rick Bragg writes like a poet--one whose gift found him in the hardscrabble country of the American South. I'm rereading this book as a possible summer read for my AP English students.

I was very fortunate to hear Rick Bragg speak last month at the university where I work. He was born to be a storyteller. As a Californian now living in the South, I can think of no better way to try to understand what it means to be Southern than to read this book. Amazing, heartbreaking, lovely.