JesusDevil: The Parables

by Alexis De Veaux

A brilliantly crafted voyage of queer, black possibility.

Evocative and experimental, JesusDevil is a nonlinear tale of black life and spiritual expression. Writing in a style she calls “afiction,” Alexis De Veaux expands and moves beyond traditional narrative, following the adventures of Fhill, a black, queer spirit who has taken human form. Neither male nor female, Fhill moves fluidly and disruptively across concepts of identity, passing through the nine “parables” that comprise this text. Examining aspects of what it means to be black and human—from a nonhuman perspective—Fhill’s liminal nature redefines social and literary categories, exploring social constructions of blackness as well as themes of desire, memory, sex, revenge, and more. A daring new work and crowning achievement from a veteran storyteller. Cover art by Sokari Ekine, photographer and visual artist.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Fiction

140 pages, Paperback

Published June 13, 2023

About the author

Alexis De Veaux is a black queer feminist independent scholar whose work is published in six languages and internationally known. She is the author of several books and her work is anthologized in numerous collections. The recipient of many honors and awards, Alexis penned Warrior Poet (WW Norton, 2004), the first biography of the late lesbian poet activist, Audre Lorde; and was tenured faculty at the University at Buffalo, Department of Women’s Studies, for more than twenty years, mentoring a new generation of interdisciplinary scholars of black, feminist, and queer studies. She has won two Lambda Literary Awards; one for her Lorde biography (2005) and one for her novel, Yabo (2015).

Reviews

[annacharryse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, where do I even start?
"JesusDevil" is unquestionably the most interesting book and a culmination of novels/parables that I have read so far. This is the first book by Alexis De Veaux that I have read, and certainly will not be the last. "JesusDevil" was intriguing.
Being taken on the ancestral journeys, teachings, and expressions through Fhill's life is just purely experimental and impeccable. Each parable was a new founding and learning of Fhill's ancestors - and really most ancestors of Black Americans. It was a bit confusing, at first, for me to follow Fhill's stories and connect with what was going on at the moment. But even as I am writing this journal entry/review right after completing my reading of "JesusDevil", I am coming to more realizations and understandings of mindfulness and the concept of times as it relates to blackness. Blackness, as a spirituality.
I appreciate all of the teachings I gained: Love, Trust, Truth, Memory, Fears, Love Hunger, Concept of Self, Concept of the Human Body, Concepts of being Human, Black Depression, Evil, nonbinary, Oya, GoddessMother, Grief, the Divine, and so much more.
"JesusDevil" has opened my perspective to the depth of Spirituality, prompting me to now focus on, learn, and practice Black Spirituality.
I am forever grateful for Alexis De Veaux and her display of The parables in "JesusDevil". I have developed so many new and profound perspectives from this book and will be implementing them in my life. I took so many notes/highlights from this book and will keep it as a go-to.

[David]

Unfortunately I had a hard time connecting with this book of experimental poetry / parables. I probably wasn’t the intended audience, but I do enjoy reading things outside my comfort zone.

[Python · Rating 5 out of 5]

had the pleasure of watching Alexis De Veaux perform some parts of this book last month

p s if you want to borrow this let me know

[Tris Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway.

It is a wild, and somewhat confusing, ride.