Holy Roller: Growing Up in the Church of Knock Down, Drag Out; Or, How I Quit Loving a Blue-Eyed Jesus

by Diane Wilson and Diane Wilson

In this rollicking memoir, Diane Wilson--a Texas Gulf Coast shrimper and the author of the highly acclaimed An Unreasonable Woman--takes readers back to her childhood in rural Texas and into her... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933392827
• ISBN13: 9781933392820
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

A writer to rival Garrison Keillor--sweet, sassy, honest, and rare

Gather the likes of Garrison Keillor, Molly Ivins, Clyde Edgerton, Mark Twain, and the next evangelical bible-thumping missionary who appears at your door--and you'll have Diane Wilson in all her rollicking, metaphor-bustin' glory. Wilson speaks a down-home language that--once ye've developed an ear for it--will speak to your heart, true and pure, and you'll want her to go on speaking and writing in her sweet, sassy, honest voice. She's that rare, as a person and writer. Here's hoping you'll give us a third book, Diane Wilson, about your teenage years and early adulthood, which would surely be quite as spectacular as this one.

Super Southern Writer ...

"Holy Roller: Growing Up in the Church of Knock Down, Drag Out; Or, How I Quit Loving a Blue-Eyed Jesus": The title is captivating and enough to draw you in to an authentic southern-style feast of a book. Diane Wilson's first book, "An Unreasonable Woman", brought to light her story of spirit and activism on the Texas Gulf Coast. It also started her on a path to creating this fine regional story of growing up among Gulf Coast shrimpers. Though this story was penned before it, "Holy Roller: Growing Up in the Church of Knock Down, Drag Out; Or, How I Quit Loving a Blue-Eyed Jesus" is especially fascinating in the wake of the horrific damage of Hurricane Ike. Diane Wilson has been likened such fine Southern storytellers as Carson McCullers, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, and Harper Lee. Diane Wilson, the storyteller, brings her world to life!

VERY enjoyable although some may find offensive

Living in an area where Holy Rollers are known to abound, I've had more than a few real life experiences with many of the same types mentioned in this book...suffice to say that I could really relate. Now, not every part of the book was funny especially for those that don't have first hand experience dealing with the mentality or lifestyle portrayed...on the other hand, if you have ever found yourself sitting in the midst of a Holy Roller church as people are slayed by the spirit, running up and down isles (if not literally rolling) and speaking in "tongues" while you search for the nearest exit then the book makes a lot more sense. Having said that, the book isn't for everyone and some may even find it somewhat offensive...particularly those of a strongly religious pentecostal background or other denominations with similar positions. Likewise, those with little to no experience with these religious types may not fully identify with the book and miss out on the rich descriptions, lifestyle and identity the author portrays. The author does not belittle the religious beliefs nor does she sugar-coat it but rather presents her own experiences from the perspective of someone who has grown away from that way of life - and a way of life it is. Readers that miss the point of the book fail to realize exactly how central the religious dogma is...the author does a superb job describing how it impacts every action of life and way of thinking for both young and old. Even hypocrites and back-sliders skirt around the central theme which is still defined by the religion. No other point in life exists outside of that perspective. All in all an enjoyable read for the right readers - by no means a book for everyone but those with prior experience will appreciate the book.

Portrait of an Activist as a Young Girl

In "Holy Roller", Environmental and Social Justice Activist and Code Pink co-founder Diane Wilson has penned a profound memoir of deep insights, high comedy, and everyday human strengths and failings. Raised on the Gulf Coast in rural Texas in a fourth-generation family of shrimpers, Diane's tale unfolds in the hothouse environment of Pentecostal fundamentalism and the raw natural world of sea, sky and earth. "Holy Roller" is populated by a set of hilarious characters straight out of central casting and reflects the hardscrabble existence of blue collar folks struggling to make a living, while at the same time attempting to give meaning and purpose to their lives in the larger world and cosmos. Diane's narrative is a window into a world of Americana 50 years ago - of a little girl trying to make sense of hard working, hard loving, hard drinking and hard worshipping family and extended relatives rooted (or not) in a Biblical tradition of black/white, good/bad, salvation/damnation, world/heaven and Jesus and the Devil. "Jesus had found my hidey-holes so I slid to the floor and laid my head flat against the picture-show chair and the tears welled from my eyes and pasted my face to its red oily surface. I could taste the salt in my mouth. Then God or Jesus or, I don't know, maybe the Holy Ghost poured me into a little heap of useless powder on the floor and warned me if I moved an inch without getting myself born again, he would blow me into a fiery furnace. The time was now. The time was now. Nine years old don't mean nothing to God." The message contained for me in Diane Wilson's rollicking memoir of magical realism is that of inclusivity and interconnectedness. Diane has become a grown woman of fearless activism who stands up and defends the sacredness of the natural world and justice for common folk. She has taken her family's traditions of hard work, dreaming and imagination (her Grandfather dreams and speaks with spirits) and expanded this lineage to include all beings and the earth itself. We see in "Holy Roller" how she was influenced by this rich tapestry of labor, love, worship and magical thinking and how she both honors her ancestry and ultimately grows beyond it later in life. This to me is the key to this wonderful work of mysterious memoir - people cannot help but be influenced and conditioned by the matrix of the world and family they grow up in; they can see and accept that world for the beautiful quality of being that it is (warts and all), and they can honor that world by expanding and acting upon its visions. "Holy Roller" offers us a glimpse of the foundations on which Diane Wilson's adult life of activism was built - a world of humble origins, extreme contradictions and a core of self-reliance, common sense and profound justice. Diane has been praised as one of the best Southern writers of her generation and this outstanding book is highly recommended.

review

Good delivery in good shape but I don't care for the author's writing - totally about religion and her hangups