THE SPECKLED BEAUTY A Dog and His People

You don't have to be a Southern boy to love a terrible dawg, but it don't hurt. There's something in the commodiousness of a rich Southern voice that makes bad luck, bad judgment, and suffering sound bearable--if not outright triumphant. Spec is short for The Speckled Beauty, a stray with a mangled eye and an ear sewed on crooked. In a voice powered by grits and molasses, Bragg somehow manages to lionize old Spec, and we're delighted to set a spell and listen. It's hard not to admire a dog that loses so many fights but still has the heart to herd a mule, an empty water jug, a flock of birds, and a one-ton truck. "Seventy-six pounds of wet hair and poor decisions." B.H.C. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2021]