This is one of the best things I've ever listened to—which I did NOT expect from an essay collection. Bragg reads 70-ish pieces of his nonfiction work, most of which have been previously published. Some are just a few minutes long; the longest runs for about fifteen. He covers A LOT of ground: football, fishing, book tour, his mama's cornbread, wardrobe concerns, New Orleans cuisine, natural disasters. These stories are compact, wistful, funny, and poignant. So good.

You all had been telling me to listen to Rick Bragg read his own work for years, and I finally did last summer. Now, I get it: My Southern Journey was the best thing I've listened to in a good long while, and maybe, ever—which I did NOT expect from an essay collection. In it, he covered a lot of ground, including his mama's cornbread and southern cuisine. Here is his latest collection, a tribute to the south and his family in the form of stories and recipes. Bragg's writing is wistful, funny, and poignant. SO GOOD. Add the Audible whispersync narration to this ebook collection to listen to him read this part cookbook, part memoir.

Rick Bragg has become pure comfort listening for me: I especially love to listen to his stories while I'm cooking. This new collection compiles magazine essays from his decades writing for Garden and Gun and Southern Living. Some are piercingly poignant, like his tales of Harper Lee, Pat Conroy, a talented photographer, and his Aunt Jo (everyone needs an Aunt Jo). Others are laugh-out-loud funny, like his one about Tupperware, or what precisely is wrong with country music these days. While his books would make beautiful editions to any coffee table, I think I will always listen to Rick Bragg.