Jesus' son
Jesus' Son, the first collection of stories by Denis Johnson, presents a unique, hallucinatory vision of contemporary American life unmatched in power and immediacy and marks a new level of achievement for this acclaimed writer. In their intensity of perception, their neon-lit evocation of a strange world brought uncomfortably close to our own, the stories inJesus' Sonoffer a disturbing yet eerily beautiful portrayal of American loneliness and hope.Contains:Car Crash While HitchhikingTwo MenOut on BailDundunWorkEmergencyDirty WeddingThe Other ManHappy HourSteady Hands at Seattle GeneralBeverly Home'
Stats for nerds
2recommend
3mentions
3people
2017–2024years
67% recommend33% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Fair point. I think a lot depends on how "real" the protagonist is. I have read and enjoyed several works with protagonists who make choices that extremely different from my own. Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson comes to mind. Hardly any character in it is good or admirable, but it is written well enough to illuminate why they behave that way, and the rewards that offers. IMO, TFA doesn't pull that off.
- A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley: Decent. I think this book would best be read in conjunction while working through a textbook. I will admit that it did do quite a bit to help relieve math anxiety, but the nature of the book is practicality.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: A reread. A bit depressing considering the state of the world today. I found myself wondering which reality would be preferable.
Letters to a Young Mathematician by Ian Stewart: Easy, but fruitful read. I've struggled a lot with math confidence, and this helped alleviate a lot of that.
How to Speak, How to Listen by Mortimer J. Adler: A lot of practical advice. My biggest takeaway was this: if it's worth talking about, even if the conversation sucks or the other person doesn't understand, any bit of advancement and understanding is worth the effort. Really helped me increase my patience when talking to people.
Quack This Way by David Foster Wallace and Bryan Garner: Super useful and practical discussion between two lovers of language. I keep a copy with me at all times.
The Autobiography of Gucci Mane: Just a fun read while on vacation. "If Gucci can do it, you can do it".
Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson: A nice if brutal read. It was my first foray in DJ. I felt Cormac McCarthyish vibes.
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy: A classic. The Judge.
Thinking About Mathematics by Stuart Shapiro: Highly recommended for anyone interested in the philosophical questions of mathematics. Shapiro writes clearly, concisely, and in a manner that is easy to read.
The Liars' Club by Mary Karr: Pretty great but brutal.
The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace: I really enjoyed it. It's ode to Wittgenstein and it helped me cope with a lot of questions that I felt after studying LW.
The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: I think we've all been in Werther's shoes. Though I hope that nobody comes to the same conclusion he came to.
Manage Your Day-To-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, & Sharpen Your Creative Mind: A pretty great book. I find myself writing a book report on it to make sure I internalize a lot of the lessons. If you're having trouble doing creative work while working, read this.
- RIP. This hits hard. Before my career as a programmer I was an aspiring fiction writer. Johnson was my Radiohead of writing: an artist working at a seemingly unattainable level of skill, and very nearly transcending the art, as far as my taste is concerned.
You don't exactly read Johnson for his plotting. The magic is in getting lost in the sentences, in the weird and painful beauty they open up. Jesus' Son is his most famous book, but his other works have that same characteristic: Turns of phrase and shocking ways-of-seeing that reveal the world's strangeness and fragility.
I think of it as the "cradling a baby mouse in your hands, feeling its heartbeat, knowing how easily it could be crushed" feeling.
