With the Devil's Help: A True Story of Poverty, Mental Illness, and Murder
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-09-26 11:21:43
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Neal Wooten
- ISBN：1664685103
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
In the tradition of The Glass Castle， Educated， and Heartland， Neal Wooten traces five decades of his dirt-poor， Alabama mountain family as the years and secrets coalesce。
Neal Wooten grew up in a tiny community atop Sand Mountain， Alabama， where everyone was white and everyone was poor。 Prohibition was still embraced。 If you wanted alcohol， you had to drive to Georgia or ask the bootlegger sitting next to you in church。 Tent revivals， snake handlers， and sacred harp music were the norm， and everyone was welcome as long as you weren’t Black， brown， gay， atheist， Muslim， a damn Yankee， or a Tennessee Vol fan。
The Wooten's lived a secret existence in a shack in the woods with no running water， no insulation， and almost no electricity。 Even the school bus and mail carrier wouldn’t go there。 Neal’s family could hide where they were， but not what they were。 They were poor white trash。 Cops could see it。 Teachers could see it。 Everyone could see it。
Growing up， Neal was weaned on folklore legends of his grandfather—his quick wit， quick feet， and quick temper。 He discovers how this volatile disposition led to a murder， a conviction， and ultimately to a daring prison escape and a closely guarded family secret。
Being followed by a black car with men in black suits was as normal to Neal as using an outhouse， carrying drinking water from a stream， and doing homework by the light of a kerosene lamp。 And Neal’s father， having inherited the very same traits of his father， made sure the frigid mountain winters weren’t the most brutal thing his family faced。
Told from two perspectives， this story alternates between Neal’s life and his grandfather’s， culminating in a shocking revelation。 Take a journey to the Deep South and learn what it’s like to be born on the wrong side of the tracks， the wrong side of the law， and the wrong side of a violent mental illness。
Neal Wooten grew up in a tiny community atop Sand Mountain， Alabama， where everyone was white and everyone was poor。 Prohibition was still embraced。 If you wanted alcohol， you had to drive to Georgia or ask the bootlegger sitting next to you in church。 Tent revivals， snake handlers， and sacred harp music were the norm， and everyone was welcome as long as you weren’t Black， brown， gay， atheist， Muslim， a damn Yankee， or a Tennessee Vol fan。
The Wooten's lived a secret existence in a shack in the woods with no running water， no insulation， and almost no electricity。 Even the school bus and mail carrier wouldn’t go there。 Neal’s family could hide where they were， but not what they were。 They were poor white trash。 Cops could see it。 Teachers could see it。 Everyone could see it。
Growing up， Neal was weaned on folklore legends of his grandfather—his quick wit， quick feet， and quick temper。 He discovers how this volatile disposition led to a murder， a conviction， and ultimately to a daring prison escape and a closely guarded family secret。
Being followed by a black car with men in black suits was as normal to Neal as using an outhouse， carrying drinking water from a stream， and doing homework by the light of a kerosene lamp。 And Neal’s father， having inherited the very same traits of his father， made sure the frigid mountain winters weren’t the most brutal thing his family faced。
Told from two perspectives， this story alternates between Neal’s life and his grandfather’s， culminating in a shocking revelation。 Take a journey to the Deep South and learn what it’s like to be born on the wrong side of the tracks， the wrong side of the law， and the wrong side of a violent mental illness。
Reviews
Ellen Pilch
，
When I found out Neal Wooten had a book about to be published， I immediately pre ordered the kindle version on Amazon。 Neal Wooten owns Mirror Publishing， the company that published my two children's picture books。 He made my dreams come true as well as countless others， so I was thrilled that one of his dreams has come true。 This book is part memoir and part true crime。 From the first chapter I was pulled in to learn more about his family。 He grew up in a poor family in Alabama and suffered abu When I found out Neal Wooten had a book about to be published， I immediately pre ordered the kindle version on Amazon。 Neal Wooten owns Mirror Publishing， the company that published my two children's picture books。 He made my dreams come true as well as countless others， so I was thrilled that one of his dreams has come true。 This book is part memoir and part true crime。 From the first chapter I was pulled in to learn more about his family。 He grew up in a poor family in Alabama and suffered abuse at the hands of his father。 Despite that he managed to become successful and remain kind instead of continuing the abuse into another generation。 The murder in the story gives this memoir extra interest as well as a surprise twist at the end。 I only wish the book was longer and told more of how Neal managed to succeed in life。 He tells some in the epilogue， but I would love a second memoir。 I highly recommend this to anyone that likes memoirs， true crime or just an overcoming the odds story。 。。。more
Lucas Wooten
，
“You can take the boy from the mountain， but you can’t take the mountain from the boy。”That line summed up how much I enjoyed Neal Wooten’s memoir “With The Devil’s Help” as I finished it last night。 I no longer live on Sand Mountain， but to read this book made me feel as if I still did。 Being from Sylvania， Alabama myself I understood all the southern sayings， know the towns and places mentioned， what it’s like to go up Sylvania Gap Road， and the cool feeling of what it was like to go to class “You can take the boy from the mountain， but you can’t take the mountain from the boy。”That line summed up how much I enjoyed Neal Wooten’s memoir “With The Devil’s Help” as I finished it last night。 I no longer live on Sand Mountain， but to read this book made me feel as if I still did。 Being from Sylvania， Alabama myself I understood all the southern sayings， know the towns and places mentioned， what it’s like to go up Sylvania Gap Road， and the cool feeling of what it was like to go to class upstairs at Sylvania High School once you reached the 7th grade。 All that and more made it nostalgic for me。 This was such an emotional and engaging account of Neal’s harsh upbringing and family events and adventures。 I loved the dual timeline format。 The way all the aspects of the story finally tie together is great， but the epilogue was my favorite part。 Probably going to listen to the audiobook as well。 5 stars from this fellow Sylvania boy。 Well done sir！ 。。。more
Elyse Walters
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Overdrive - Library Audiobook…。read by the author Neal Wooten …。。9 hours and 48 minutesThis is the authors eighteenth book that he’s written—my first time reading him。 Once I started listening to this book—（planned on it being a library ‘tester’—and would probably send it back）， I kept saying to myself — “okay…just a little more…I have other books I want to get to”…。But I got hooked —stayed hooked — and it became great company and interesting as I went about my day…。 A true crime story > is the Overdrive - Library Audiobook…。read by the author Neal Wooten …。。9 hours and 48 minutesThis is the authors eighteenth book that he’s written—my first time reading him。 Once I started listening to this book—（planned on it being a library ‘tester’—and would probably send it back）， I kept saying to myself — “okay…just a little more…I have other books I want to get to”…。But I got hooked —stayed hooked — and it became great company and interesting as I went about my day…。 A true crime story > is the ‘smallest’ part of this story — The author is terrific in reading it - and by the time I got to the end — a wonderfulepilogue — I realized Neal Wooten not only had an important story to tell — but that he is a damn good writer。 The book was sooo much more engaging to listen to than I had expected ‘at all’。 A few gut wrenching scenes？ Yes！！ …。。 but the writing and telling was real， raw， occasionally funny， and completely absorbing I have one thing to say to Neal: （in his 50’s now）: “I hope that your mother continues baking you your traditional orange cake， with orange frosting， and orange sherbet on your birthday for many more years to come！！！” 。。。more
Ashley
，
A very entertaining family memoir of poverty， mental illness， and blood in the Deep South。 Told in dual timelines of the author's childhood and the life of his grandfather Pete Wooten。 His father and grandfather have tempers that come and go like flash floods to the detriment of anyone within reach of their fist or belt-buckle。 It was infuriating to listen to the cruelties enacted upon the children for the slightest offense and especially the punishments for things that were entirely the father' A very entertaining family memoir of poverty， mental illness， and blood in the Deep South。 Told in dual timelines of the author's childhood and the life of his grandfather Pete Wooten。 His father and grandfather have tempers that come and go like flash floods to the detriment of anyone within reach of their fist or belt-buckle。 It was infuriating to listen to the cruelties enacted upon the children for the slightest offense and especially the punishments for things that were entirely the father's own fault。 The illogicality of the fury is enraging。 And then the way the same man can be seen as charming and loving the next moment。 Makes you wish someone would go and shake some sense into him but they woulda gotten beaten too。 With all that there was a charm in these stories of a poor country life， the author's telling was engaging and entertaining， and while the life was hard he never seemed to doubt it made him a stronger person。 The stories had me chuckling often。 I'm glad the author has been able to break the cycle of abuse。 The audiobook was also an excellent listen and I loved hearing the Southern accent and pronunciation。 。。。more
Karen Bullock
，
A tragic story revolving around the patriarchs of the Wooten families， as remembered by the author， Neal Wooten。Chapters flip back and forth between Pete Wooten（grandfather）- his upbringing， his uncontrollable rage， his inability to save money and provide for his growing family， to chapters on Travis Wooten， his second son， who shares all the same characteristics。Time frames begin in the early 1900’s up through the 1970’s。Large families， poor health， and a poverty level that is devastatingly cru A tragic story revolving around the patriarchs of the Wooten families， as remembered by the author， Neal Wooten。Chapters flip back and forth between Pete Wooten（grandfather）- his upbringing， his uncontrollable rage， his inability to save money and provide for his growing family， to chapters on Travis Wooten， his second son， who shares all the same characteristics。Time frames begin in the early 1900’s up through the 1970’s。Large families， poor health， and a poverty level that is devastatingly crushing to read about。Reads like a historical fiction piece， but can be identified as a memoir/true crime piece based on the murder mentioned within。A heart breaking read that really opens one’s eyes to life in the Deep South。 。。。more
Dianne Matthews
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