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Jesus' Son: Stories by Denis Johnson

Jesus' Son: Stories Denis Johnson ebook
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Page: 59
ISBN: 0060975776, 9780060975777
Format: pdf

The title of Denis Johnson's sparse, haunting short story collection Jesus' Son is pulled from the Velvet Underground song Heroin, written by Lou Reed. It's a bit embarassing to admit that I've just recently read this collection, but we all have those books on our shelves - Moby Dick anyone? The underlying difference is that one is a prophet – a great one at that; and the other, the Son of God! They are heading in one direction. A child-friendly, lyrically written book that weaves 44 Bible stories into a common tapestry that clearly shows God's plan for mankind. Johnson is probably best known for his National Book Award-winning and Pulitzer Prize-finalist novel Tree of Smoke, but his highly acclaimed Jesus' Son continues to be influential to this day. In the other direction, at the same time, you have another crowd — the crowd following a widow as she goes to bury her only son. And all our stories today have this theme of God and life defeating Sin and Death. Harlem woman dies jumping from 8th story window with son in her arms. Jesus could directly command the dead man to get up. The misfits and sinners that populate his stories are lost, sometimes physically, but most often emotionally. We have sons coming back to life. We have widows getting back their places in society. This second lesson on the Baptism of Jesus turns to baptism.