Tag: Knoxville

“Searching for Suttree” — Wes Morgan Photographs Cormac McCarthy’s Knoxville

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University of Tennessee professor Wes Morgan has documented some of the key locations in Cormac McCarthy’s novel Suttree. A few samples, but check out his website for more–

"Suttree's Home" (#1 on the map) -- This photograph is taken looking east from the Henley Street Bridge. It shows the Gay Street Bridge in the background with Volunteer Landing at the center. It is on this left bank of the Tennessee River, about where Volunteer Landing is located, that Suttree docked his houseboat. The suicide (p. 9) jumped from the Gay Street Bridge and the "...edge of the railroad" (p. 10) mentioned can be seen to the left of the parking lot. First Creek (p. 115) enters the Tennessee River on the left just above the docked riverboat.
The Huddle -- "They came down the steep street and turned in two by two." (p. 72) The Huddle, now vacant, was located at 219 Cumberland Avenue just a few yards east of Gay Street. The location had previously been occupied by a cab company before The Huddle opened in 1952 or 1953. Its mention in the text in 1951 is an anachronism
Ragpicker's Home -- The ragpicker's "...dark cavern beneath the vaulted concrete...." (p. 11) where "Water ran from a clay drain tile and went down a stone gully" (p. 421). The ragpicker's home under the south end of the Henley Street Bridge