The Prince of Frogtown (Large Print)

In this final volume of the beloved American saga that began with All Over but the Shoutin and continued with Avas Man, Rick Bragg closes his circle of family stories with an unforgettable tale about fathers and sons inspired by his own relationship with his ten-year-old stepson.

He learns, right from the start, that a man who chases a woman with a child is like a dog who chases a car and wins. He discovers that he is unsuited to fatherhood, unsuited to fathering this boy in particular, a boy who does not know how to throw a punch and doesnt need to; a boy accustomed to love and affection rather than violence and neglect; in short, a boy wholly unlike the child Rick once was, and who longs for a relationship with Rick that Rick hasnt the first inkling of how to embark on. With the weight of this new boy tugging at his clothes, Rick sets out to understand his father, his son, and himself.

The Prince of Frogtown documents a mesmerizing journey back in time to the lush Alabama landscape of Ricks youth, to Jacksonvilles one-hundred-year-old mill, the towns blight and salvation; and to a troubled, charismatic hustler coming of age in its shadow, Ricks father, a man bound to bring harm even to those he truly loves. And the book documents the unexpected corollary to it, the marvelous journey of Ricks later life: a journey into fatherhood, and toward a child for whom he comes to feel a devotion that staggers him. With candor, insight, tremendous humor, and the remarkable gift for descriptive storytelling on which he made his name, Rick Bragg delivers a brilliant and moving rumination on the lives of boys and men, a poignant reflection on what it means to be a father and a son.

In this final volume of the memoir that began with "All Over but the Shoutin'" and continued in "Ava's Man," Bragg closes his circle of family stories with an unforgettable tale about fathers and sons.

The final volume in the beloved family saga that began with "All Over butthe Shoutin'" and continued with "Ava's Man, The Prince of Frogtown" is a revelatory book about fatherhood, a perfect gift for Dad.

Rick Bragg is the author of two best-selling books, Ava's Man and All Over but the Shoutin'. He lives in Alabama.