Perspective

The perspective of All Over But the Shoutin' is the author's, Rick Bragg. It is written from the first person, save the few occasions in which Bragg is retelling stories of events that he wasn't around for. Bragg's perspective is deeply shaped by being born on the tail end of the baby boomer generation. Calhoun County in northeast Alabama was deeply socially and financially stratified in Bragg's youth at a time when such stratification was coming under serious criticism. Bragg remembers that his town was largely segregated and the fact that black people lived only a few miles down the road didn't mean he ever saw them or talked to them.

Bragg was most affected by his childhood poverty. While he was too young to realize how poor he was until high school, the fact that Bragg lost one of his girlfriends when she visited his house made...