Blog Braggin' with Rick Bragg

How is this for luck? The author of my first book, Rick Bragg, came to Oxford last week to Off Square Books and I asked him if I could take a picture with him for my blog! It was so neat to get to meet him. He was in town promoting his third book, The Prince of Frogtown. He read an excerpt from it and answered questions and spoke a while. It was interesting to me because I liked his book All over but the Shoutin' but I am not sure I really like him. He is very honest and open about his childhood spent in poverty and that he still has a chip on his shoulder. He does not like rich people - in fact in Oxford he said, "I still hate rich people." I figured he probably had more money than anyone in the room! I did not like the way he treated women. (Although now he has remarried.) But what I did like is his stark honesty. I liked the way he has used his understanding of poverty to help other poor people and get their story out. I like that he never has tried to be someone he is not and has no patience for people who think too highly of themselves! All in all I think this is a book I would recommend. I plan to read his next two but not as a part of my three books. Lettura felice!