Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite

Above Neil Rock: Stories & Poems by James Ross Kelly is a memoir that captures the rugged beauty and harsh realities of life in the Pacific Northwest. Through a blend of stories and poems, Kelly reflects on the environmental devastation caused by corporate silviculture, the extinction of indigenous cultures, and the personal struggles of his upbringing. His writing, deeply rooted in experience, conveys a love for the land and a mournful awareness of its losses. Kelly’s work is both an homage to nature and a critique of the forces that have shaped, and often harmed, the region. Kelly offers a narrative style with an authentic, lived-in quality that brings the Pacific Northwest to life with precise detail, and the striking sense that every moment he chooses to document carries huge emotional weight behind it.

James Ross Kelly’s ability to blend this narrative with broader environmental and cultural issues is immense, and it’s clear that a lot of interconnected thought has gone into the construction of this work to offer a poignant snapshot of the dangers of money-minded silviculture. Kelly’s courage in confronting painful memories and societal injustices lends a raw honesty to this work, and his poetic use of language is powerfully impactful, with memorable phrases that resonate long after reading. I was particularly struck by the imagery of ‘The Forester’ in which the call of the elk and the screaming cables of the logging industry create a horrendous, ill-fitting harmony in the decimated woodland. Overall, Above Neil Rock is a deeply impactful and relatable memoir that I highly recommend to those interested in personal stories, but also those keen to preserve the lands they’ve grown up in and celebrate them.

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