In Print

The last time Rick Bragg visited Vero Beach he was here to introduce All Over But The Shoutin’, an evocative memoir of his beloved “Momma,” who worked long, back-breaking hours picking cotton to raise him and his two brothers.

Using the descriptive skills that had won him a Pulitzer Prize, Bragg recalled his early memories of cadging a ride on the sack dragged by his mother through the endless fields. And he told how, when she arrived home, she would take in washing to supplement the family’s meager income, even though she hadn’t bought herself a new dress in 18 years.

With brutal honesty, the author also recalled memories of his father, who drowned traumatic memories of the Korean War with alcohol, then beat the woman who was the family’s main provider. He told us how, after each beating, he and his older brother, Sam, would huddle down in their bed, dreaming up childish plans to kill their father.

Read the entire article in the November 2001 issue