All Over but the Shoutin'

The working poor in today’s economy may well earn less than $16,000 a year on the minimum wage. Has anything changed for the lower classes in the fifty years since Bragg was a child?

Bragg is mostly self-educated and he succeeds professionally without a college degree. Would it be possible to earn a decent living in today’s economy without a higher education?

Bragg’s mother received welfare payments that were not sufficient to support her and her children. In what ways is the social safety net for single mothers better or worse now?

Bragg describes a very macho culture of drinking, fighting, and racing. To what extent is this stereotypical depiction of the Southern male accurate or inaccurate?

Bragg’s mother wished for a girl when her son Mark was born. How do you think the family dynamic would have changed if Rick and Sam had had a little sister?

Karl Marx described religion as the “opiate of the people,” a kind of drug that makes the lower classes obedient and averse to challenging an unfair economic system. Does this book demonstrate such an effect on the people who work in the factories of the South? Are they made docile by promises of rewards in heaven after death?

This book is in many ways a confirmation of the value of the American dream that emphasizes home ownership as an indicator of economic success and happiness in life. In what ways are Bragg’s mother’s struggles erased by her happy ending in a house she owns? In what ways does she still carry the burden of a lifetime of poverty?

Bragg believes his writing can, and has, made a difference. He has consoled people who have experienced painful losses through his stories. He has also influenced public opinion, as in the case of the atrocities in Haiti. Which of these kinds of impact is more important for a journalist?