Jesus Saves

by Darcey Steinke

Book Overview

From one of the most daring young writers in America, Jesus Saves, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, is a suburban gothic that explores the sources of evil, confronts the dynamic shifts within theology, and traces the consequences of suburban alienation. Set in the modern launch pads of adolescent ritual, the strip malls and duplexes on the back side of suburbia, it's the story of two girls: Ginger, a troubled minister's daughter; and Sandy...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802135986
• ISBN13: 9780802135988
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Consider Me Saved

I just went to buy this book for a friend and I was stunned by the low ratings and mixed reviews. This book does some emotional damage on its reader, but in the best possible way. The author picked up on our culture's fascination with child abductions years before the current media outbreak. There's something very prescient about the storyline. A word about the language--it's surreal and strange and ultimately closer to poetry than prose. To me this is one of the book's great strengths. It's not an easy book, but it's a wild ride. Check it out.

Spiritual Confusion and Suburban Angst

I don't know what those who have posted negative reviews of this excellent novel are talking about. This is one of the best books I have ever read. In clear, shaking prose, Steinke lays out an entire landscape of malls, churches and subdivisions, a world achingly familiar but strikingly different from our own. The thoughts of her two conflicted and endangered adolescent female characters ring true and brutal. As the novel progresses, Steinke's world becomes more and more unreal. Her characters descend into a world like that of Henry Darger's paintings - visceral, violent, and beautiful. This is an important book. I recommend it to everyone of every age - especially young women. I read this book first at age 14 and it changed my life. Now that I'm 20, I still read it every few months. Don't let bad press keep you away from this amazing novel.

As Good As Suicide Blonde....If Not Better

This book is as good as Suicide Blonde.....if not better. She touches base with a reality not many people even know exists....if you haven't already read Suicide Blonde also by Steinke, Please do it too is an in incredible book.

Sickening, though spiritual

I was entranced by the gore and unable to put the book down even when scenes became grossly disturbing. Ginger, the protagonist, wanders between the structured moral life of a minister's daughter and the morbidly depressing society outside her home. Sandy, the kidnapped girl, is trapped in a gruesome situation from which she escapes only through her memories and imagination. The girls' lives are juxtaposed as both experience comfort and order versus dizzying decay in making sense of their lives. Did I mention I liked Sandy's Lewis Carroll-like imagination?

Absolutely terrific

Terrifying, sad, beautifully written, and full of amazing images. I kept asking myself how she did it--it's that good. If you like watching Unsolved Mysteries late at night, here's a book for you.