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| The Prince of Frogtown | 
 enlarge | Author: Rick Bragg
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $24.00
Buy New: $10.99
You Save: $13.01 (54%)
New (47) Used (25) Collectible (7) from $8.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 13166
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 140004040X
Dewey Decimal Number: 976.1063092
EAN: 9781400040407
ASIN: 140004040X
Publication Date: May 6, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: new hardback in dustjacket from bookstore warehouse, stated FIRST EDITION
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| Customer Reviews:
 Another Gem From A Gifted Writer June 9, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Having read Rick Bragg's other works, I can say that this book not only didn't disappoint me in any way - it is as beautifully written as All Over But The Shoutin' and Ava's Man - but it also fulfilled a curiousty created by All Over But The Shoutin, in particular. It dug in to just who Rick's father was and created a three dimensional man, giving those of us who have followed this family saga an understanding of what made that man tick. There is tremendous sadness in this understanding, but Rick manages to weave in humor that will simply touch your heart. Watching the relationship develop with The Boy through passages so descriptive it was as if I could see the two of them together...more than once I found myself with a lump in my throat...and more than once I beamed with joy (particularly at the church league basketball game)! These "characters" are so rich, you'll forget that these are real people and not some beautifully crafted works of fiction. Very well done!
 Another fine view into fathers and sons August 15, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I am a huge fan of Rick Bragg's previous autobiographical books, It's All Over But the Shoutin' and Ava's Man. He writes was an amazing voice that puts the reader right there in the middle of the story and manages to convey respect for his hardscrabble ancestors. In The Prince of Frogtown, Bragg revisits the story of his father who he dismissed in Shoutin' as an abusive alcoholic who abandoned his family. Bragg was forced to take another look at his father after marrying a woman with a 10-year-old son. The son is protected and soft compared to Bragg's rough upbringing, and at first Bragg has a hard time relating to this child and then wants to toughen him up. Chapters alternate between a biography of Bragg's father and Bragg's growing relationship with "the boy". He never excuses his father's bad behavior, but he comes to understand him and himself better. The chapters about "the boy" are sharp insights into Bragg as a man, and as they grow closer, both are changed by the relationship. It's a terrific book about fathers and sons.
bragging on bragg May 19, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is my favorite by Bragg, but I love all of his books. This one reads like a novel and I enjoyed every bit of it.
Guilty when it's over May 27, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I first read Rick Bragg about ten years ago, and I have been struck by his writing ever since. And in The Prince of Frogtown I got to enjoy his writing again. This book, like his others, give faces and voices to people too long ignored. He uncovers a piece of the South that makes you proud to say you live below the Mason-Dixon. But most of all, his writing and storytelling are so well done I feel a little guilty every time I finish a chapter. I'm not sure why exactly -- maybe because I'm getting to see into lives I don't know I've paid a high enough price to get the priviledge. I deliberately read the book as slowly as I could because I know the sadness that comes with finishing a great piece of work. He reveals the greatness in regular people and makes one hope that maybe a little of that same greatness is in each of us.
Memories May 31, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have been a fan of Rick Bragg for a long time..I've seen him on CSPAN at the book festivals..read his books and listened to him on tape...and I think " The Prince of Frogtown" is one of his best.. I bought the CD version and there is something soothing in his voice..the sadness comes through, the southern softness. The story he told of his alcoholic father is sad..but loving. There is no bitterness...he is telling a story like it was..and with a love of a child for his father..regardless of the pain he caused his family. It's not a happy story, but a nostalgic, loving story and i will listen to it many times before the CD wears out..
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