Jesse James Was My Neighbor [Paperback]

Homer Croy (Author), Richard E. Meyer (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1997

Born in 1883, the year after Jesse James was killed by Bob Ford and buried in his mother’s backyard, Homer Croy grew up near the James farm in northwest Missouri. He talked with many old-timers who knew Jesse and Frank James and their remarkable mother, Zerelda.

 

Eyewitness accounts (sometimes humorous) and Croy’s familiarity with the milieu that produced the outlaw brothers enrich Jesse James Was My Neighbor. Jesse read the Bible before he went out to rob a bank or train (Frank preferred Shakespeare), and he was honest except for those raids, according to Croy. The author follows the James boys, documenting their criminal activities and their human side while sorting out the growing legend. He adds a necrology of the twenty-eight bandits who rode with the James gang at one time or another.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The classic 1949 history of the James brothers, containing many interviews with the people who knew them firsthand.

Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This offers "everything you always wanted to know about Jesse James but were afraid to ask." Croy was the James boys' neighbor and knew the family well. Additional interest in this 1949 title might be generated by recent claims that the outlaw did not die in 1882 from the wound inflicted by back-shooter Robert Ford, as legend has it, but actually survived well into the 1940s.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 315 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (May 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803263805
• ISBN-13: 978-0803263802
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,272,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Down home history., November 6, 2001

By 

Robert S. Clay Jr. (St. Louis, MO., USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jesse James Was My Neighbor (Paperback)

Homer Croy wrote this informal biography of the James boys of Missouri, first published in 1949. The author uses homespun sources for many of the stories and anecdotes of Jesse and Frank, the Younger brothers, and their nefarious associates. Mr. Croy lived near Jesse's base in northwestern Missouri, hence the title. Croy was born the year after Jesse died, and considered himself almost a contemporary. He traveled to various towns and farms interviewing folks who remembered the Widow James and her famous sons. The result is a casual history, and reminds one of sitting on a front porch in small town Missouri while the old people spin tales. Lest one doubt the credibility of the sources, Mr. Croy takes care through newspaper archives and other, more objective sources to verify the facts. He also briefly examines the influence of Frank and Jesse on dime novels, art, and movies. Croy is forthright in his biases, but also keeps his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. Out in Missouri, folks truly admired Jesse and Frank, especially their low opinion of banks and railroads. It's doubtful that Jesse James was really an Old West Robin Hood, but the book never seriously suggests that as a fact. We can believe that Jesse's killer, Bob Ford, was a coward, and that Pinkerton men were considered polecats. Decent folks just didn't stand for that type of behavior. The book won't give the reader any particular insight, beyond the obvious, of the James boys and their motivations. Nevertheless, it's an entertaining blend of fact and folklore. Good light reading for students of Western history. ;-)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly entertaining, August 29, 2000

By 

Bonny (Cedar Crest, NM United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jesse James Was My Neighbor (Paperback)

I first read this book in grade school, UMPTEEN years ago, when , mostly to annoy my Mom, I set about reading every book I could find on western outlaws. After my "Billy the Kid" era, I moved on to Jesse James. First I read the "scholarly" books with the ooky pictures of dead outlaws and Jesse's scary one-armed mother (her hand was blown off by a bomb lobbed through the family door by the Pinkertons.) Then I found Homer Croy, who tells roughly the same stories, but with a wonderfully humorous and personal writing style. Stylistic, yes, and probably more legend than truth. But of all the books, this is my very favorite. I was so happy to learn it was back in print. I assume that Mr. Croy has passed on, but he hasn't, I'd travel to wherever he is to buy him lunch. Perhaps not a "great" book in the sense of, say, WAR & PEACE, but a great book nonetheless.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun book on Jesse James, January 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jesse James Was My Neighbor (Paperback)

A well written book by a fellow NW Missourian, Mr. Croy interviewed many eyewitness's to the actual James gang robberies. It is easy and fun to read. A must have book.