SOURCE: "The Hard Road from Dixie," in New York Times Book Review, September 14, 1997, p. 13.

[In the following review, Walton praises Rick Bragg's All Over but the Shoutin', describing the memoir as "the kind of book that causes us to see ourselves more clearly because it corrects and heightens our vision."]

There is an old saying among African-Americans to the effect that any white man who lives in poverty does so by choice. This saying is based on the premise that being born with white skin is so great an advantage as to determine a successful life. The colloquialism for disadvantaged Caucasians, "white trash," indicates that the nation as a whole holds these people responsible for their station as well. "Trash" means something without value, something unworthy of our attention and barely worthy of our contempt.

In his sad, beautiful, funny and moving memoir, All Over but the Shoutin'...