smojarbs's review
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
The audio book is read by the author. I think it's important to hear these stories as they are meant to be heard.
bcbartuska's review against another edition
4.0
Not my favorite of Rick Bragg’s, but his reading voice could pretty much have a phone book to work with and I’d enjoy it, so… there’s that.
mamaorgana80's review against another edition
5.0
A sad and important American story. Prose that reads like poetry.
belacbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Another great read from Bragg. It was interesting to see stories of the millers—so central to his life’s story—from the genesis of the mill until the final piece of it was sold.
yangyvonne's review
3.0
In 2001, a mill that had been open for what seemed like forever closed its doors. The people who had worked there in Alabama, for generations, had no idea what they were supposed to do for work now. The author, rather than tell tales only of woe, took the many stories of those who came through the mill and painted a picture of who they were and how the mill came to define the town. We learn of the eccentric original mill owner and the shacks he built and "rented" to employees, the young black girl who held the record for hand-picking cotton, the man who lost his arm to the machines, and the many who developed brown-lung from the exposure to the microscopic particles (pre-air filtration regulation), but kept on working as long as they could. It is sad for almost all of them, but a real American story that needs telling.
It's interesting that the author came from this town ("escaped") yet chose to tell this story. I'm sure part of it comes from his brother losing his job but finding a better/safer now in another town such that the tone is not bitter. I cannot imagine listening to story after story of parents who died of brown lung or were fired when they could no longer work because of the ailments brought on by the work itself. It is hard to see these people have to lose their jobs to third world countries who do the work so cheaply and these workers were never "rich", usually just making enough to get by. How can this really be 2001 and not decades earlier that people are living in this kind of circumstance? What lingers is what became of those who didn't find other work?
It's interesting that the author came from this town ("escaped") yet chose to tell this story. I'm sure part of it comes from his brother losing his job but finding a better/safer now in another town such that the tone is not bitter. I cannot imagine listening to story after story of parents who died of brown lung or were fired when they could no longer work because of the ailments brought on by the work itself. It is hard to see these people have to lose their jobs to third world countries who do the work so cheaply and these workers were never "rich", usually just making enough to get by. How can this really be 2001 and not decades earlier that people are living in this kind of circumstance? What lingers is what became of those who didn't find other work?
steviec's review
4.0
Like all of Bragg's works, this is the story about the people of a specific place, told in the rich tones and language of that place. These are my people, these poor white southerners who live to work and despise slackers. These values pulse through the sap of my family tree. I feel deeply connected to all of Bragg's works, and this is no exception. He paints the millworker in the deep red clay hues of this place. He reflects on the value of work over capital for these stubborn mountain people, their conflict with the "rich yankees" who own their mill, and the life-altering uncertainty the closing of the mill brings. Read this. Bragg has a story to tell and plenty of color to tell it with.
legsbian's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Have to agree with another reviewer who wrote, "I would read the stock prices if Rick Bragg wrote them and I’d listen to him read them too."
charity1313's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
4.0
History with depth, emotion, heart, insight, and a bit of humor. Not a lot though. Because this book documents the hard lives of hard people in a hard place. He makes it clear that the purpose of the book is so the stories of the working class whites of the cotton mills in the south won't be forgotten and he meets that purpose. I have a strong emotional attachment to the book due to my own family history in impoverished cotton picking across the south (though my family was part of the Okie migration), so it may have biased my opinion but that's okay. These reviews are written as my personal experience with the book and what I wish to remember. I came away with it as a 5 star because I can't imagine how it could be improved upon. Vivid, heart-wrenching accounts of the difficulties endured by generations thanks to the greed of men and unrestrained capitalism. What bears repeating and remembering is that just as the deplorable conditions of working in a cotton mill reached some level of improvement and the employees earned a small measure of respect....that same greed and capitalism simply shifted production to places where a new set of workers live with disease, near starvation, brown lung, and loss of life/limbs. It's simply easier for us to stomach since it's no longer right in our own front yard.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, and Terminal illness