American master Denis Johnson's nationally bestselling collection of blistering and indelible tales about America's outcasts and wanderers. Denis Johnson's now classic story collection Jesus' Son chronicles a wild netherworld of addicts and lost souls, a violent and disordered landscape that encompasses every extreme of American culture. These are stories of transcendence and spiraling grief, of hallucinations and glories, of getting lost and found and lost again. The insights and careening energy in Jesus' Son have earned the book a place of its own among the classics of twentieth-century American literature. It was adapted into a critically-praised film in 1999.
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"I could talk about how Denis Johnson's voice is like William Blake wrapped in an army surplus coat, taking pulls from a fifth of Old Crow as he drives through an Iowa sunset, but that would be overplaying it. This is simply a hell of a book, generous, painful, and astonishingly written." — Matt (5 out of 5 stars)
"I could talk about how Denis Johnson's voice is like William Blake wrapped in an army surplus coat, taking pulls from a fifth of Old Crow as he drives through an Iowa sunset, but that would be overplaying it. This is simply a hell of a book, generous, painful, and astonishingly written."
“Patton's narration is pitch perfect; he produces voices for a collection of gritty, bent souls who spend their lost days riding buses, hitchhiking, breaking into abandoned houses, drinking at the Vine, and stealing pills from the hospital dispensary. An absolute must for Johnson fans and a fine introduction to the author's work.
Appropriately, Patton's reading is anything but warm and welcoming, but his delivery is so inescapably present that it draws listeners into the work and compels them to drop any preconceived notions about the protagonist and his life. The result is a memorable journey.
Will Patton keeps matters interesting with his gruff yet puzzled narration, making his clueless characters just "with it" enough to stay sharp and real.
Will Patton is the growly voice of your audiobook dreams. His voice sounds like it's wearing a beat up leather jacket and worn out jeans, which is perfect for Denis Johnson's stories of drug adventures and smoky dive bars. Characters with a wild past deserve the kind of voice that may have made some questionable and risky decisions.
" Um, has somebody been watching me? "
" A great read from which a great film was made. Simple stark prose that packs mystical punches. "
" This book has an even more tragic baby rabbit story than "Of Mice and Men". "
" you know, i feel like i should be giving this more stars just based on the fact that everyone seems to like it so much that i feel i must've missed something. but that fact remained that it left me feeling almost wholly unaffected. i didn't feel anything for the characters, though i recognized their plight... and while some sentences were clearly beautiful, i still felt bored. i think maybe i should reread it some other time... "
" We'll camp in the wilderness, and in the morning we'll breakfast on its haunches! "
" Good, good, very good. Bravo. Consumable, delicious. "
" One of the best books about drugs. Humanizes what and why of drugs. A great collection. If you are going to write short stories, you must have this in your quiver. "
" Best damn collection of words ever. "
" What can be said about this book? "
" Recently read the short story, "Emergency" in a writing group. Fantastic! "
" a beautifully maligned world where the celebration of life comes through in the tragic light of mistakes and regrets. "
" One word. Funny. Well, sometimes, haha. "
" beautiful losers. "
" The perfect gift for your friend entering rehab. "
" The pinnacle, from Johnson, anyhow. "
" Untouchable. The only book of fiction every fiction writer seems to agree on. "
" 4.5 Stars for me. I loved this book. Something about the straight-forward quirkiness and the grit of each individual story collecting up to a coppy narritive flow really hit with me. "
" All my friends cream over this book. I merely liked it. "
" This guy got his MFA from the Iowa Writer's Workshop but I'm not going to hold it against him. "
" This read more like poems in short story form. And what wonderful prose it was. "
" Great author, great stories. "
" Good writing. I wish it was longer. "
" An unbelievable collection. I couldn't put it down. I kept going over to make sure the sentence I'd just finished was as remarkable as I'd imagined. A perfect mix of hard-edged reality and the subconscious. "
" this is one of my favorite short story collections of all time. "
" If you feel like taking a walk into a Lou Reed alleyway and seeing the dark side of life you'll enjoy the stroll. There are plenty of great reviews out there -- if you're interested get reading. "
" A wonderful book and an utterly believable change-of-self story. FH is one of my favorite characters in prose. Also, it has nothing to do with Jesus, so beware my squeamish friends. "
" As it turns out, drug-addled binges, paranoia, and hallucinations provide great material for a poet. "
" A- Really good stories - reminds me of maybe John Fante. Lots of characters with little future, drugs, alcohol…hard to find them redeeming or even to want to root for the narrators, but the writing is quite good. "
" Favorites: 'Emergency', 'Steady Hand at Seattle General' and 'Work'. "
" His style reminded me of Ernest Hemingway, the use of dialogs and the lack of explicit emotions. He definitely let his soul fly when writing the stories. The characters have no inhibitions and deal most of the time with strangers. "
" Hard to say anything about this. Hadn't read it over the years although I was very aware of it's impact on other writers. Changed completely my view of the short story as a form. Won't be able to write without it's influence after having experienced it. "
" Highly unusual collection. Stories that are unexpected. Loved them. But they're not your typical fare. "
" Ugh, what a gross little book. But I loved it. "Emergency" freaked me the hell out. It's like a more tame Naked Lunch and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. But still bizarre. "
" A perfect novel. I read this and wanted to write like this: spare, lyrical, gritty, beautiful. But I'm not Denis Johnson. It's one of those books I read every couple of years. The movie is good, too. "
" I've read this several times now, but this is the first time in quite a while. A fantastic book. I'm not sure why I have never read anything else by Denis Johnson, definitely on my to do list..... "
Denis Johnson (1949–2017) wrote eight novels, one novella, one book of short stories, three collections of poetry, two collections of plays, and one book of reportage. His novel Tree of Smoke won the 2007 National Book Award and was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize, and Train Dreams was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize.
Will Patton is an award-winning actor and narrator. HIs narrations have earned the prestigious Audie Award for Best Fiction Narration and also won dozens of AudioFile Earphones Awards. His numerous film credits include Remember the Titans, The Punisher, The Mothman Prophesies, Armageddon, and The Spitfire Grill. He starred in the TNT miniseries Into the West and on the CBS series The Agency and won Obie Awards in the theater for his performances in Fool for Love and What Did He See.
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