• The Most They Ever Had

  • By: Rick Bragg
  • Narrated by: Rick Bragg
  • Length: 4 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (617 ratings)

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The Most They Ever Had

By: Rick Bragg
Narrated by: Rick Bragg
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Publisher's summary

In 2001, a community of people in the Appalachian foothills had come to the edge of all they had ever been. Across the South, padlocks and chains bound the doors of silent mills, and it seemed a miracle to blue-collar people in Jacksonville, Alabama, that their mill still bit, shook, and roared. The mill had become almost a living thing, and they served it even as it filled their lungs with lint and shortened their lives. In return, it let them live in stiff-necked dignity in the hills of their fathers.

In these real-life stories, Rick Bragg brilliantly evokes the hardscrabble lives of those who lived and died by an American cotton mill.

©2009 Rick Bragg (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"It is hard to think of a writer who reminds us more forcefully and wonderfully of what people and families are all about." ( The New York Times Book Review)
"Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bragg again creates a soulful, poignant portrait of working-class Southern life." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Most They Ever Had

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story.

Rick Bragg knows the South and tells the story just as it was. Thank you sir.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The most they ever had .

All heart . Have read 4 times .
All of his books I've read 2-3 times . They speak to my soul ,make me laugh and his voice makes me so proud to be southern.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Another good book from Rick Bragg

I also look forward to Rick Bragg's books and this is another good story. Bragg doesn't just write books, he makes art. He says he wrote the stories of these people because he thinks it is important - so do I and I am glad to have met them through this book. His books are favorites in my library and I recommend them, especially Ava's Man, to friends. His narration of his own books makes the listen even more enjoyable.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Book

I look forward to books by Rick Bragg and this one, like his others, is well written. While all of his books describe the difficulties of life in the rural south, this one is more somber than his other books. There was a tone of bitterness in parts of the book. I recommend it but not as much as Ava's Man.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Hard Driving Prose

Rick Bragg is at his best when writing about those who play by the rules, but struggle none-the-less. This book, however, is special even among his other volumes. It centers on a cotton mill in the middle of the last century. I see my mother and dad in these stories though they worked in different industries. This book is a kick in the pants to all of us who have a problem - a hard days physical work might kill us.

Thank you Bragg for touching the conscience. This listen isn't very long, but will be well worth the time to anyone and everyone.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A glimpse of my daddy's generation.

Rick brings a terrible time to life of poor southerner, of the generation of my parents. Although my folks did not live as mill workers, they experienced some of the same hard labor and short funds. I am 60 and I remember going back to Mississippi to visit my grandparents; daddy got out of that life before I was born and I never was comfortable with the tough, wild, and somewhat mean side of the family. This gives me insight into their history that my folks did not wish to discuss with me. It makes me appreciate what my daddy did to make my life so much better. Thank you, Rick Bragg, for capturing the true plight of these people and many like them.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars

An American story told by a Southerner about the South

Living in the South and listening to Rick tell the story about the textile mills is like hearing an old friend at the kitchen table talking about your people and our history like only he can tell it. I enjoyed it immensely!

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved the history of the people and the mills.

Being from south, I love to hear Rick Bragg narrate his books. Enjoyed the book

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Southern fore

Love everything Rick Bragg,,, if you was raised poor or otherwise, you’ll draw commonality w/Ricks story’s of “just one more day”.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The Most They Ever Had

I think Rick Bragg is the best story teller I've ever read. His writing and reading are so captivating,

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1 person found this helpful