With the Devil's Help

A True Story of Poverty, Mental Illness, and Murder

Neal Wooten

• Publisher: Pegasus Crime
• Year: 2022
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781639362417
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

In the tradition of The Glass Castle, Educated, and Heartland, Neal Wootentracesfive decades of his dirt-poor, Alabama mountain family astheyears 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 askthebootlegger sitting next to you in church. Tent revivals, snake handlers, and sacred harp music werethenorm, 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 liveda secret existence in a shack in the woods with no running water, no insulation, and almost no electricity. Eventhe 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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Chapter One: The Men in Black Suits (1969)
• Chapter Two: Pete Meets Elsie (1926)
• Chapter Three: Roy and Helen Helms (1970)
• Chapter Four: Wedded Bliss (1930)
• Chapter Five: The Family (1971)
• Chapter Six: Like Father, Like Son (1941)
• Chapter Seven: Life’s a Gas (1972)
• Chapter Eight: A Brother’s Love (1956)
• Chapter Nine: Dinner and a Movie (1973)
• Chapter Ten: Potato Pact (1962)
• Chapter Eleven: When in Rome (1974)
• Chapter Twelve: Trial and Error (1963)
• Chapter Thirteen: Raising Cane (1975)
• Chapter Fourteen: Kilby Prison (1963)
• Chapter Fifteen: Take This Job… (1976)
• Chapter Sixteen: Just Walk Away (1965)
• Chapter Seventeen: The Key to Happiness (1977)
• Chapter Eighteen: On the Lam (1966)
• Chapter Nineteen: Seasons Change (1978)
• Chapter Twenty: A New Home (1969)
• Epilogue
• Photographs
• About the Author
• Copyright