Where I Come From: Stories from the Deep South

Written by Rick Bragg

Narrated by Rick Bragg

From the best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All Over but the Shoutin' and The Best Cook in the World, a collection of irresistible columns from Southern Living and Garden & Gun

Celebrated author and newspaper columnist Rick Bragg brings us an ode to the stories and history of the Deep South, filled with “eclectic nuggets about places and people he knows well” (USA Today) and written with honesty, wit, and deep affection.
 
A collection of wide-ranging and endearingly personal columns—from Bragg’s love of Tupperware (his mother preferred margarine tubs and thought Tupperware was “just showing off”) to the decline of country music, from the legacy of Harper Lee to the metamorphosis of the pickup truck to the best way to kill fire ants—Where I Come From is a book that will be treasured by fans old and new.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9780593292259

Rick Bragg

Rick Bragg is the author of a trilogy of bestselling books on the people of the American South. He is a professor of writing at the University of Alabama.

Reviews for Where I Come From

[formerenglishteacher · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read mainly nonfiction, often biography, memoir, and essays. This collection of essays by Southern writer, Rick Bragg, caught my eye in the local library’s audio book collection, and I’m glad it did. I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t know Bragg’s work. I recognized his name, but I had never read anything he has written. I say “embarrassed” because I consider myself a well-read person (I read 50-75 books a year), so to come across a writer of this caliber, I should have known about him. Well, I’m glad to found him because this book is nothing short of wonderful. And I am so glad I decided to get the audio version with Bragg narrating. In fact, I don’t think I would want to read a Rick Bragg book in print. At least half of the fun in reading him is HEARING his words in that terrific Southern accent. And if you’re an audio book listener, don’t even think of cranking the speed up to 1.5 or 2.0. Doing that to Rick Bragg is a literary crime. You must hear him at the speed and pace he actually talks. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys good writing and great story telling.

[hobbitprincess · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Rick Bragg grew up in the same place as my father, so it is interesting to read this selection of short pieces on Bragg's life. Some of it takes place not in Alabama but in other places. Still, as a fellow Southerner, I really enjoyed reading his writing and can identify with most of it.

[muddyboy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A compilation of short essays that Bragg has written about his life in the South. Many are nostalgic for the way things used to be such as music and food for instance. The theme here is that things aren't the way they used to be and he generally doesn't like the changes. He does give tips on places you can eat and still get the old dishes are prepared properly. There are essays centering on his mother and dogs his family has owned other the years. If you like Rick Bragg you will like this folksy book.

[jillrhudy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thanks to Knopf and Edelweiss+ for the dARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Where I Come From" is comprised of Rick Bragg's columns in publications such as "Southern Living" and "Garden & Gun." The pieces are of varying lengths, some from a few years ago up to a few from 2020. The columns are organized by general subject matter and and just as insightful and hilarious as you always expect Bragg to be.

A reader who was expecting a large book of original writing might have been disappointed in a collection of columns, but none of Bragg's writing is ever dated, and since I love everything he writes and subscribe to none of the publications for which he writes, I guffawed all the way through the whole book.

Much of our country is angry with the South, and we need our writers to humanize the region and defend its many good points (food, for instance) from the many in other regions of the USA who are hostile toward it, sometimes with good reason. A lovely collection from the greatest living Southern humorist who is currently living, by choice, with his beloved mother in Alabama.

[sleahey_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bragg's trip down memory lane is comprised of chapters previously published as magazine articles, many in Southern Living. In them he celebrates his fondest impressions of the best of the South, especially its culinary delights, humor, and sense of community. The chapters can seem loosely written and repetitive at times, and taken as one dose they come across as overly romanticizing the way things were. Still, at times the writing is masterful, such as the description of Florida as "a dangling participle of a state." During these divisive times of red and blue, masks or not, it is refreshing to read such an upbeat description of Southern culture.