Customer Reviews

From The Shadow Side: And Other Stories Of Knoxville, Tennessee

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I look forward each week to reading Jack Neely's "Secret History" column in Knoxville's alternative newspaper. "From the Shadow Side" presents a collection of 26 stories based upon the best of those columns and other feature articles he has written for the paper.

Compared to his earlier two collections (which I very much enjoyed), the present work seems as if it would appeal to a wider audience. In my opinion, the present book is the best of the crop, and Neely has improved upon his already well developed ability to find and tell a good story.

In a sampling of the stories one might find "Night School" which presents an account of how Adolph Ochs, legendary publisher of the New York Times, got his start in the Newspaper trade (in Knoxville, of course). In "Appalachian Aviators" one finds the timely accounts of how the Rev. Melville Murrell, John Crozier Jr., and Edward C. Huffaker contributed to the history of early aviation. In fact, the stories cover an astonishing range of topics.

The title story chronicles the visit of the writer and photographer, Annemarie Schwarzenbach," to Knoxville in November 1937. What was this wealthy Zurich heiress, close friend of Thomas Mann and Carson McCullers doing here in Knoxville? Among other things she photographed Knoxville's Front Street, an area along the river that Cormac McCarthy was to immortalize in "Suttree" some years later. But "for the rest of the story" you will need to read the book. It is worth your time.

I greatly enjoyed this latest book by Jack Neely regarding tales of Knoxville's past, which can be described at times as having a civic multiple-personality disorder. Many of the stories were particularly appealing as they complemented stories about various places and people told to me by my mother and grandmother. Mr. Neely is able to take legends or old newspaper stories and research them to give added dimension and information. He shows that Knoxville can be a very interesting place, if often frustrating, when one decides to just enjoy people as they are (or were).