Ava's Man

Rick Bragg

Jan 2010 · Sold by Vintage

About this eBook

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.

Ratings and reviews

Oh my!! I loved this book. I did not live in the South, but I lived in the Blue Collar area of the MidWest . In a rural area almost the same , Wisconsin was the place and my first years were on a farm, which I loved. My relatives and neighbors reminded me of Mr. Bragg' characters so much. I lived those years again while reading the story. I laughed, I was surprised, and I cried. I couldn't put it down. Thank You!! P Brose

I LOVED this book! These words are so true of the South and I saw so many of my own family members in these pages!

If you loved stories this one is great

About the author

Rick Bragg is the best-selling author of All Over but the Shoutin’ and Somebody Told Me. A national correspondent for the The New York Times, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1996. He lives in New Orleans.