Customer Reviews

Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr. DuShane has brilliantly coupled growing pains and good old fashioned religious guilt into a bittersweet memoir, punctuated w/ priceless sarcastic humor. Even if you didn't grow up in a Jehovahs Witness-believing home, you will be entertained by the hilarious stories of puberty amidst close living quarters with the parents.
Additionally, I think I will give this book to any of my future offspring in lieu of having the sex talk. Excellent read!

The most deviant thing about Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk is the hypothesis that an orderly, structured Christian fellowship can, for a horny teenager, be nearly as dysfunctional as growing up in a crack den. Yes, the book is funny-- but you knew that already, from the title. The ghetto of teenage is done really well here. The Jehovah's Witness culture was new to me. Armageddon as breakfast table fodder. That, set against the new population of pubic hairs on our hero. Read it!

The quirky voice reminded me a bit of Vernon God Little. Fun!

Everyone knew a 'Gabe' in school and this book made me wish i made out with him. ;-) The characters is this book are so vividly written that you see them in your head...and you'll think twice about the jehovah who comes to your door next time. Gabe rocks and so does this book. Can't wait to read Tony's next book.

I ordered this from Amazon after reading an article by its author. The title recalls books that I'd normally skip, so I'm thankful for Amazon's "look inside" feature.

"Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk" is a book that manages the impressive feat of wringing a thoughtful, addictive page-turner out of an unlikely source: the first person narrative of an intelligent, pubescent boy struggling to reconcile his hormonal impulses with the tenants of the faith he was born into.

It's actually quite a testament to the author's talents that he can convey so many details of that faith in a manner that is at turns hilarious, heartbreaking, and compelling.

I am surprised at how ravenously I devoured this book and that I already want to read it again, which is probably the highest compliment I can pay it.

I was skeptical about reading another "coming of age" story - boy likes girl, boy gets acne, boy gets shot down, years in the desert, maturity, boy gets girl. I've read that about 10,000 times.

But this book zipped with a completely new perspective: life from the perspective of a Jehovah's Witness. Remember how much girls and masturbation freaked you out in high school? Just imagine those emotions magnified by the prospect of dying in Armageddon! Tony DuShane's characters brought back all the familiar teenage angst, delicately rendered - but kept me guessing with completely fresh character motivations (and new - I knew almost nothing about Jehovah's Witnesses, except for that Costner movie a couple decades back) that continued to delight and entertain.

At a lithe 210 pages, it's the perfect subway/airplane read.

If you want to understand what it was like growing up a JW, read this book. If you grew up as a JW, definitely read this book!! He doesn't slam the Witnesses -- just presents a picture that tells it all. With humor that makes you laugh outloud and emotion that recalls your very own pain in the journey, it is well written and over way too soon.

Let me start by saying that I highly recommend this book. In many ways the writer mirrors my adolescent years growing up a JW (except I am female and did not need to look at the "Miles Kimball catalogue"). Despite being a work of fiction, it could truly be a memoir. If one ever wondered what it was like to be the "weird" kid in school because of your religion - and trying so desperately to fit in - this is the book for you. I laughed out loud and my heart ached as I recalled my own memories. Read this book - you will not be disappointed!

I enjoyed reading this account of Tony DuShane's life as a teenage Jehovah's Witness. For people who do not know much about this strange 'Doomsday Cult' the book will help you see how they live/think/act.

The story is so strange you think it's fiction, however it is all to real for JWs around the world.
I couldn't put it down. I read it in one sitting.

It made me laugh at times and mostly it made me feel so sad for the life Tony had growing up and it reminded me of my time as a young JW trying to understand the world around me while I was being brainwashed into believing the BS of the Jehovah's Witness faith.

I highly recommend it for JWs & non JWs alike.

I'm a big fan of coming-of-age stories. And then this book is also about religion, specifically conservative Jehovah's Witnesses. I was raised pentecostal; only a small leap really from that to Jehovah's Witnesses. So when Tony DuShane pulls those two elements together in Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk he had me in his thrall.

How does a boy navigate the treachery of the contradictions in the bible with reality? These are tenets that are thoroughly believed in youth, tenets that begin to crumble in early teens. Are they still in place when a boy graduates from high school? That is the progression that DuShane writes, the progression that happened with me. I wonder how autobiographical it was.

The characters change and grow in unanticipated ways. The plot, well it isn't a book of plot twists, though it is intriguing.

I liked this book a lot. It was honest, didn't shy away from tough questions. It had humor through it all. I was never able to find a good spot to put it down, to go to sleep. That is truly a sign of a book that I enjoy. I will have to keep my eyes out for other novels as DuShane writes more.

Please won't you come in and show me what you have? I tucked into this well written book with an air of carefree anticipation. I was rudely uncomfortable by the end of the first page. If Dushane was telling a joke, it was funny; but funny at his own expense. The man understands pathos. I felt for Gabe and wanted to help him. I tried to read it quickly and muttered things to myself like, "true, how true." But by the end, I never wanted the story to end. Dushane's writing hurt me and made me laugh. Please don't leave, here sit down at my kitchen table and write another.