Somebody Told Me: The Newspaper Stories of Rick Bragg (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780817310271)

One of the South's most loved authors

Over the past twenty years, writer Rick Bragg has earned legions of fans with his award-winning newspaper stories and with his critically aclaimed memoir All Over but the Shoutin'. His unique storytelling talent and his sympathy for the day-to-day struggles of everyday people set him apart from journalists who focus on political intrigue and the foibles of the rich and famous.

This collection showcases Bragg's talent for turning seemingly ordinary situations into extraordinary stories by bringing together more than sixty of his most recent feature articles, most of them written for the New York Times. Bragg explores such questions as: What happens to someone released from prison for a crime he didn't commit? Who takes care of the graves of poor people? What keeps an elderly woman from selling her land for a tidy profit? Bragg's curiosity often leads him to society's margins, where he wins the confidence of those who have good reason to mistrust others.

Bragg has reported on some of the most newsworthy tragedies in the nation, and his unfolding coverage of events such as the Oklahoma City bombing and the Susan Smith child murders is included here. Once again, though, his special ability to connect with people allows him accesss and perspectives that many other reporters do not achieve.

Whether he's profiling the sheriff who broke the Smith case or relating the efforts of Alabama churchgoers to understand a Sunday morning tornado strike, Bragg writes with genuine compassion and sentiment but without being sensationalist. He looks where others don't and gets behind the headlines to the people standing there stunned and often, until he finds them, voiceless. When asked how he came up with his remarkable stories, Bragg has his answer down pat: "Somebody told me."


Author: Rick Bragg
ISBN-10: 0817310274
ISBN-13: 9780817310271
Publisher: University Alabama Press
Language: English
Published: 04/20/2000
Pages: 288
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.24lbs
Size: 9.68h x 5.98w x 1.03d
Award: Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize - Winner

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 04/03/2000 pg. 76
Kirkus Reviews 04/01/2000 pg. 442
Library Journal 05/01/2000 pg. 128
New York Times 06/25/2000 pg. 18