What readers think of Ava's Man, plus links to write your own review.

This book, Ava's Man, is one that I wish all people that did not grow up in the rural south would read. This is the story more or less of all of our southern rural families. Hard times - Better times - Pious folk - Good folk - Mean folk... all with millstones around their necks of life but determined to make sure none of their children went lacking, especially for love, because their hearts were bigger than any millstone. This is a chance for none southern rural people to see the southern white in a different light and why the most of us have little pity for those that pity themselves, little charity for those too lazy to hit a lick at a snake. All people are oppressed. All people have an opportunity to better themselves. Thank you Mr. Bragg for telling a true story, without all the cussing that surely went on and the truth, but not in a hurtful or hateful way. And yes there were many that were not in famous news film footage that Bull Conner and the likes oppressed, just nobody ever told our stories before. All God's plan. All God's time table. I felt every emotion you expressed in this wonderful, wonderful book Mr. Bragg and I don't think that I will ever forget it. Thank you!

Picked up the audio book without knowing the story line. From the moment your sweet voice started spinning this lovely tale of my beloved South, I was hooked. I wept. I smiled as your rich tale wove itself into my heart. Growing up in Northwest Florida, I smelled the rich aroma and heard, though not audibly, the sounds of the South. Though not having experienced all, having been born in later time, some of the Old South lingers, indelibly etched in my mind. I remember country Mamaws coming to town, on Saturday morning, wearing sun bonnets and dresses made from feed sack, proud lovely ladies of the South, poor, but with a dignity rare today. Yes, their men wore bib overalls and hats(must be formal on Saturday going up town. They came to town in pickup trucks, Mamaw usually in the back on her rocking chair. The "younguns" spilling out couldn't wait to get to town to see a picture show, all day for 9 cents, and that included two cowboy movies, a cartoon and a serial, which you told you Mama you must see next week to find out what would happen to your hero.



We are blessed to have lived in a part of this country that wore good manners proudly, where people spoke softly, for the most part. We didn't have to lock our doors, and God was and is alive and well and praised on Sunday morning.



A Southern story teller is different from most.You are one of the best! .



Thank you Mr. Bragg for bringing the wonderful memories back to life.



Barbara Mahnke

First, I bought the book on tape, and started listening to it in my car on my way back home to Tennessee from California. By the time I got to Colorado, Mr. Bragg's book had recalled the South so sweetly, so honestly, that I became urgently homesick for the South, and drove nonstop across the country to get back home. Then I read the book, and was enchanted all over again. As I reader I was enthralled, as a writer I was humbled

If anyone west of the Mississippi or North of the Mason Dixon wants to know what the South is all about, they must read Ava's Man. It depicts the honesty, the turmoil and the struggle of the deep South during the depression in a way that no real American can resist. There are heroes here.

Beau Allen Pacheco

Editor-In-Chief

Cycle World's Motorcycle Travel & Adventure

Ava's Man was one of the most touching, yet entertaining books I have read in a long time. Among Rick Bragg's greatest talents is his ability to make the reader laugh and cry at the same time.

Highly recommended book

The beauty of Bragg's writing is otherworldly. I read with tears in my eyes through much of the book at the sheer loveliness of his language. The characters are so real and so loveable that I found myself unable to read the last section because I knew "Charlie" was going to die, and I could not bear the thought. This tribute to a grandfather who died before the author's birth, is a must read for anyone who loves the English language, biographies, good stories or their families! I will re-read this book often, at least sections of it, to remind myself how our language CAN sound when it is used with skill and love. Penelope

this book is crap and a waste of time