ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTIN’

Tortured by memories of the Korean War, Rick Bragg's father subjects his wife and three sons to another kind of war when he returns. In rural Alabama, alcohol and poverty beget brutality and shame. Against this, the only weapon is the courage of Bragg's mother and her family's love. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist tells his own story in these pages, producing a tribute to his mother both heartwarming and harrowing. Though Frank Muller's reading is as subtle as ever, his treatment of the Southern voice verges on caricature and might be distracting. Bragg's mother, for example, described as tall, vigorous and beautiful, sounds instead old and a little silly, muting slightly the power of her son's tribute. But Muller, still the master of mystery and innuendo, binds us, nonetheless, to the richness of Bragg's language and the moving story he tells. P.E.F. © AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 00]