Ava's Man

By: Rick Bragg

Narrated by: Rick Bragg

Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • With the same emotional generosity and effortlessly compelling storytelling that made All Over But the Shoutin’ a beloved bestseller, Rick Bragg continues his personal history of the Deep South.

This time he’s writing about his grandfather Charlie Bundrum, a man who died before Bragg was born but left an indelible imprint on the people who loved him. Drawing on their memories, Bragg reconstructs the life of an unlettered roofer who kept food on his family’s table through the worst of the Great Depression; a moonshiner who drank exactly one pint for every gallon he sold; an unregenerate brawler, who could sit for hours with a baby in the crook of his arm.

In telling Charlie’s story, Bragg conjures up the backwoods hamlets of Georgia and Alabama in the years when the roads were still dirt and real men never cussed in front of ladies. A masterly family chronicle and a human portrait so vivid you can smell the cornbread and whiskey, Ava’s Man is unforgettable.

©2001 by Rick Bragg (P)2001 Random House Inc., Random House AudioBooks, a Division of Random House Inc.

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Winner, Best Narration by Author or Authors

"Grab[s] you from the first sentence....[and] stays with you long after you put it down....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

“Earthy, mischievous, yet gorgeous. . . . [Bragg’s] tales . . . would not be out of place if they were told around a campfire.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“As toothsome as a catfish supper. [Bragg] is every bit the equal of . . . Harper Lee and Truman Capote.” —People

Spellbinding

I loved it. The characters came alive vividly, and allowed me to walk back
Through the past of the life I too was born in.

Beautifully Nostalgia

This story is about the struggles of yesteryear. There is so much love, and family that one could easily forget how hard life was back then. It was what it was, and that was enough.
If you love love, and enjoy having your heart strings tugged-this is the story for you. The reading is so powerful that I was right there in the truth of the story. Beautifully done!

Loved it, and was upset to hear, at the end, that it was abridged

Rick Bragg does a wonderful job narrating his book. I enjoyed it tremendously. I would not, however, have purchased it if I had known that it was abridged.

Deeply moving

I saw Rick Bragg on a Sunday morning interview show and immediately downloaded his book. This book is simultaneously amusing, humbling, deeply moving, and inspiring. Mr. Bragg's engaging narration contributes significantly to the overall experience. I am eagerly awaiting access to his other novels.

i liked it

a historical look at one families history - along with the way the economics and history of the era and area affected them - It was also interesting to hear the musings of the author relating his relatives experiences in the past to his own current activities.

Great Writer

If you appreciate the southern voice, Rick Bragg is the guy for you. He has the knack of writing in a voice that many can speak but few can capture on paper. Great book. His previous book "All Over But The Shouting" is exceptional

More , and less, than expected

I would listen to Rick Bragg read anything! Being from the Deep South, and lately hearing all the northern transplants that have moved down here, I’d begun to wonder. I feel better now!
His story is not unlike lots of my kin, and in that I reveled, but the moonshine taking him away from his family at a young-ish age was sort of expected. I’ve seen it in my family, too.
But, as he says, family is family, and we are all we have. And we always stick together. This reminds me somewhat of the “Hillbilly Elegy,” book, that I enjoyed immensely.
For anyone that’s not heard/read that particular story, you might like it, too.
Now- I’m going to go make myself some biscuits, in Rick Bragg’s name!

My family

This could have been written about my family my daddy was larger than life and my mama was the wend beneath his wings there were 7 of us kids two boys and five girls we were poor if you measured us by money but we were millionaires if you measured us by love this book made me laugh out loud and wept my heart out thank you for writing it

Excellent

This book transports you back to time that we would all do well not to forget! Captivating and engaging.

Great Book

Fantastic book. I was like listening to the old timers tell our family stories from the old days.