My Southern Journey: True Stories from the Heart of the South

by Rick Bragg

Overview

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From the celebrated bestselling author of All Over but the Shoutin' and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Rick Bragg, comes a poignant and wryly funny collection of essays on life in the south.

Keenly observed and written with his insightful and deadpan sense of humor, he explores enduring Southern truths about home, place, spirit, table, and the regions' varied geographies, including his native Alabama, Cajun country, and the Gulf Coast. Everything is explored, from regional obsessions from college football and fishing, to mayonnaise and spoonbread, to the simple beauty of a fish on the hook.

Collected from over a decade of his writing, with many never-before-published essays written specifically for this edition, My Southern Journey is an entertaining and engaging read, especially for Southerners (or feel Southern at heart) and anyone who appreciates great writing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780848747152
Publisher:	Oxmoor House
Publication date:	09/15/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	378,077
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Rick Bragg is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of All Over but the Shoutin,' Ava's Man, and The Prince of Frogtown. Bragg, who has written for numerous magazines, including Sports Illustrated and Food & Wine, was a newspaper reporter for two decades, covering high school football for the Jacksonville News, and, among other topics, Islamic fundamentalism for The New York Times. He has won more than 50 significant writing awards, in books and journalism, including, twice, the American Society of Newspaper Editors Distinguished Writing Award. A graduate of Jacksonville State University, Bragg was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. Bragg is currently Professor of Writing in the Journalism Department at the University of Alabama, and lives in Tuscaloosa.

Hometown:

New Orleans, Louisiana

Date of Birth:

July 26, 1959

Place of Birth:

Possum Trot, Alabama

Education:

Attended Jacksonville State University for six months in 1970; attended Harvard University, 1992-1993

Table of Contents

Introduction 11

I Home 19

The Roses of Fairhope 20

Mama Always Said…Choose Your Words Carefully 22

My Brother's Garden 24

Pretty Girl 26

Crazy Cat Lady 28

The Porch 30

Take Your Medicine, Boy 32

Time for the Year's Best Nap 34

My Time Machine 36

All-Night Gospel 38

Saving Face 40

Endless Summer 42

Happy As a Pig 44

Red Dirt 46

II Table 53

For a Vegetable, I'll Have White Gravy 54

Back to the Bayou 60

Traveling Food 66

Fully Dressed 68

Your First Oyster 70

Bad Slaw 74

Never-ending Grace 80

The Plane Truth 82

Magic on the Plate 84

Seasoned in the South 88

Summer Snow 90

The Impossible Turkey 92

Honor Thy Matriarch 94

Requiem for a Fish Sandwich 96

III Place 103

South Toward Home 104

What Stands in a Storm 110

No Place Like Home 114

Trade Day 116

Lost in the Dark 118

The Eternal Gulf 120

Donkey Business 122

Armadillo 124

Dixie Snow 128

Merry and Bright 130

Shopping 132

My Kind of Town 138

The Lost Gulf 142

The Yankee Mystique 148

Cotton 154

Stillness 160

IV Craft 163

Why I Write About Home 164

The Fine Art of Piddling 166

The Color of Words 168

The Blank Notebook 170

Fish Story 172

The Quill and the Mule 174

Words on Paper 176

Wood, Paint, Nails, and Soul 178

Grandpa Was a Carpenter 184

Stuck for Good 190

V Spirit 197

Down Here 198

For the Love of the Game 206

All Saints' Day 208

When Fireworks Go South 210

O Christmas Tree 212

Wheels of Time 214

The Gift of Loafering 216

Holiday Lies 218

O Christmas Sock 220

Cowboys Are Her Weakness 222

A Cast of Characters 224

Nick of Time 230

109 Yards Returned, Two Points Denied, and One Twist Left in the Road 242

Long Time Coming 246

Born Too Late 256

Afterword 258

Index 260

Acknowledgments 263

Editorial Reviews

09/14/2015
Full of homespun philosophy and reflection, the 72 short essays in this collection from Pulitzer-winner Bragg (All Over But the Shoutin') present a paean to his Southern roots. Grouped under "Home," "Table," "Place," "Craft," and "Spirit," the pieces explore a range of themes, including Alabama red dirt, rednecks, football, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, gospel singing, All Saints Day in New Orleans, and in the best section, Southern homestyle cooking. Each essay is steeped in personal memories and experiences and most are infectiously funny; for example, "For a Vegetable, I'll Have White Gravy," a celebration of Southern comfort food, asserts that a bagel is "a biscuit without sin or indulgence." They are also full of down-to-earth insights, such as an observation prompted by neighbors working together after a ferocious storm: "As Southerners, we know that a man with a chainsaw is worth 10 with a clipboard, that there is no hurt in this world, even in the storm of the century, that cannot be comforted with a casserole, and that faith, in the hereafter or in neighbors who help you through the here and now, cannot be knocked down." Even confirmed Northerners will find the genial charm of these essays hard to resist. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

''[Bragg has] a true gift for great storytelling, the kind . . . that makes you think it's just a plain old story, until he gets to the end and you're either weeping or covered with goosebumps.'' —New Orleans Times-Picayune, praise for the author

''Bragg tells about the South with such power and bone-naked love . . . he will make you cry.'' —Atlanta Journal-Constitution, praise for the author —This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
 

From the Publisher

Rick Bragg says Southern storytellers speak as if they’re slowly chewing each word, savoring the sound and meaning. And that’s just the way he presents this collection of his published essays. His presentation isn’t labored or slow just for effect. It’s just this tale spinner’s way of presenting the story, neither too slow nor too fast. While the entries were published in print, mostly in Bragg’s “Southern Journal” entries for SOUTHERN LIVING magazine, they clearly were written for the ear as well as the eye. His use of metaphor and rich descriptions comes across especially effectively when spoken. The topics cover Southern life, particularly family and everyday activities. The length of each entry makes this audiobook ideal for commuters, although motorists may be tempted to take a side trip just to hear another tale. R.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2015 - AudioFile