Jesus Sound Explosion (Association of Writers and Writing Programs Award for Creative Nonfiction) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: jazzy music, new parsonage, missionary kid, Jesus Christ, Central Baptist, The Sure Foundation (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Mark Anderson has magically brought together two only apparently opposing worlds—a passion for pop music and his boyhood as an evangelical preacher's son—in this winning memoir. What a beauty it is, by turns searching and hilarious."--Patricia Hampl, author of I Could Tell You Stories

"Jesus Sound Explosion is an affectionate, sometimes hilarious portrait of growing up evangelical. Anderson depicts the allure of salvation on the one hand, and sex, drugs, and rock and roll on the other. A great read."--Julie Schumacher, author of The Body Is Water

"Jesus Sound Explosion is a wild, funny, moving memoir, a compelling blend of cultural and personal history. Anderson has written a candid and startling story of artistic growth nurtured and provoked by the often contradictory worlds of Rock Music and Evangelical Christianity. From a life of listening closely to musicians and preachers, Anderson has found his own witty, intelligent, urgent voice, a voice that is worth listening closely to. A remarkable debut!"--Valerie Miner, author of The Low Road and A Walking Fire

"While we expect the details of a memoirist to be revealing of his or her own personal circumstances, Jesus Sound Explosion is remarkable for the way it offers a glimpse into an entire culture—in this case the culture of belief. . . . The people Anderson writes about are divided between those who want to imprison God within their belief and those who do not. What Anderson captures is the journey from one view to the other, the toll it takes, and what remains once he reaches the other shore."--Marc J. Sheehan, Fourth Genre

"The voice of Jesus Sound Explosion carries me along as if on one long rock & roll-evangelical-rebellious riff. Anderson’s voice is so strong that, ironically, I sense the power and cadence of the best of the evangelical preachers—even as the author rebels against the sermons. There are no false notes here. The voice is sure, playful, witty, sincere, insightful, compelling, urgent. Like the best rock music, it is full of rhythm and soul. I couldn't put this book down, wanting to accompany Anderson on his rock & roll-evangelical saga to the moving conclusion."--Sue William Silverman, author of Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You

“Charming, thoughtful debut memoir of a Baptist adolescent’s drift toward earthly temptation. . . . Anderson effectively employs a quiet Midwestern humor; his understanding of how transient pop culture can affect personal watersheds reinforces his incremental portrait of a young rocker tempted and transformed. Deeply concerned with discerning larger communities, his narrative is solidly rather than flashily written. . . . Unusual, worthy of consideration, and admirable for the spiritual questions it raises."--Kirkus Reviews

"Mark Curtis Anderson is the son of a preacherman. . . . Anderson's memoir is hilarious, affectionate, and irresistable."--Pam Kingsbury, Southern Scribe

"For anyone who’s juggled the lures of Saturday night fever with the limits of Sunday morning fervor, Jesus Sound Explosion is the new New Testament—a funny, insightful rumination on higher fidelity and the not-so-disparate ingredients that make up and sustain the soul."--MinneapolisCity Pages

Product Description

Mention the record album Jesus Sound Explosion to a typical child of the 1970s and that person is likely to picture one of those collections shown on TV (Call now! Not available in stores!). When Mark Curtis Anderson spied a copy in a junk store a few years ago, he knew just what he'd found, and the memories of growing up in a Baptist minister's family came flooding forth.

The title of Anderson's memoir is a nod to the live concert album from Explo '72, a kind of evangelical Woodstock emceed by Billy Graham. Explo's crowds of 100,000-plus signaled that enterprising evangelicals were discovering how to use rock and roll in the marketplace of conversion. Anderson was eleven that year, too young to be at Explo but old enough to wish he was. Other preachers' kids may have gazed out at the wider world and craved its movies, clothes, or toys, but he wanted its music. And not just the Jesus-rocker fare of Explo's Armageddon Experience or Children of Truth, but the real stuff, too.

Jesus Sound Explosion recalls Anderson's quest for worldliness-through-rock as he came of age under the gaze, he often sensed, of his father's entire congregation. All of the backsliding and revival, idealism and disillusionment one would expect is here, told with delightfully understated humor and set against the sounds of The Guess Who, Yes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Bruce Springsteen. Here is a knowing look back on a time when Jesus Christ Superstar climbed the pop charts, The Cross and the Switchblade hit the big screen, and anxious parents played their kids' records backwards in search of hidden messages from Satan.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820325546
• ISBN-13: 978-0820325545
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,162,796 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be transported to another era..., January 12, 2004

By	Jerry L. Faust (Vancouver, BC Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchased "Jesus Sound Exposion" yesterday and became quickly captivated by Anderson's engrossing memoir of navigating his adolescence and young adulthood between the twin poles of Evangelical Christianity and Rock n Roll.

Anderson transports his readers to a parallel universe riddled with dualisms: Heaven or Hell, Jesus or Satan, chastity or making out, etc. The book presents an honest look at the conservative end of the Christian spectrum and the narrow-minded worldview that accompanies it. Picture a typical 17-year-old boy compelled to share "The Four Spiritual Laws" with his high school classmates, motivated by visions of hellfire awaiting the unrepetant.

But Anderson leavens the tale with humour and musical discoveries while dispensing grace to his parents, siblings, and Sunday School teachers. While no longer a believer per se, Anderson reveals a significant amount of personal growth and maturity, eschewing fundamentalism and black/white thinking for a catholic (little c) worldview that encompasses divorce, teaching, retail work, and the horns blaring out on Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dreary, March 26, 2009

By	J. Knape - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had to read Jesus Sound Explosion in a creative writing course. This is a memoir by a guy who was raised Christian, being a pastor's son, but lost his faith. He loves rock music, and throughout his youth and young adulthood, rock competes with religion for his allegiance, eventually winning.
It may not be intentional, but the book gives the sense of a wasted life. Mr. Anderson somehow never got it. My professor believed Anderson was, consciously or not, seeking salvation by works rather than by grace through faith. (I think she was right, because young Anderson keeps thinking about "rededicating himself to Christ," and at least one Christian pastor I know of has suggested that thinking of "rededication" indicates belief in salvation by works.
Anderson is nobody famous, but as of the publication date, teaches writing at a college somewhere--Minnesota, I believe the book said. The title of the book comes from the album collecting the music from "Explo '72"--a Woodstock of Christian rock bands.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is tremendous fun, May 28, 2004

By	Allison (Salem, Or) - See all my reviews

Mark Anderson's account of his life growing up in the 60s and 70s and his relationship to pop music, Christian music, God and teen sin is immensely fun and entertaining. I hope he writes another book soon!