2002 - Five Shades of Shadow
by Tracy Daugherty
"Daugherty . . . juxtaposes his personal and family history against the backdrop of the events surrounding the Oklahoma City bombing to reveal the grief of the survivors as well as the community. . . . The most powerful of these essays . . . beautifully illustrates how literature can change a person's life."—Library Journal
“These essays powerfully chart the intersection between place and character, hope and grief. They courageously open themselves to question after question; and the sum total of all these speculations, observations, insights, doubts and 
eavesdroppings is an uncanny portrait of the America we live in right now, for better or worse.”—Phillip Lopate, author of The Art of the Personal Essay
“Daugherty writes with a deep conviction, and the truths he offers are evidence of his journey toward an understanding of the personal, social, and cultural forces which have shaped his life. But this is more than a story of individual self-resolution: it is the narrative of an entire country coming to grips with its own inner demons.”—Kim Barnes, author of Hungry for the World: A Memoir
