Jesus Swept

by James Protzman

Following in the tradition of John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces and William Kotzwinkle's The Fan Man , James Protzman's Jesus Swept plays fast and loose with every known Southern archetype and stands magical realism on its head without missing a beat. Joining classic hippie-jester-heroes Ignatius C. Reilly and Horse Badorties is Gary Gray, part-time sidewalk sweeper and full-time savior. The unlikely story of hope lost, found, and lost again on the North Carolina coast, Jesus Swept celebrates a philosophy of life you can put on a bumper Do Good, Be Nice, Have Fun. Meet Hook, Sinker, Liz, Frank, Dog and Jesus himself, six souls twisted in a tangle of threads that will make you cry until you laugh - or until you try dying.

276 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2008

Reviews

[Lcarroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do good. Be nice. Have fun. Is that what there is to life? I happen to believe there is something greater, but this story is woven together in a wonderful way. Give it a read! (And, support a North Carolina author, too.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read and enjoyed Jesus Swept by James Protzman during the Easter weekend. It was the perfect antidote to the all the cute bunnies and religious well wishing. The novel tracks the events of an almost miracle and almost second coming in North Carolina. Centered around the almost miracle is an ancient bracelet, three young men (who take turns being Jesus) and the woman who finds the bracelet and tries to make the miracle happen.

The narrative is told in short snippets moving from different characters, not always being where I wanted the story to be. There are the street sweepers: Gary, Luke and Mark. Gary, the novel implies is the second coming of Jesus except that Gary doesn't believe it and is perfectly willing to share the job around with Luke and Mark. Then there are Liz and her husband. Liz has the bracelet for most of the book. There is Hook and Sinker (I kept waiting for Line to show up) a sister and brother pair who have a hand in the miracle too, although they don't see it that way. There are a handful of other colorful characters who make up this tale of "Do Good, Be Nice, Have Fun."

The goofy matter-of-factness to Jesus Swept reminds me favorably of Christopher Moore's books. Although I'm a fan of Moore's novels (especially the ones set in Pine Cove), I liked Jesus Swept more than I did Lamb. I like it more because Protzman keeps the story short. The novel makes its point, tells its jokes and then ends before there's a chance for rambling tangents.

There's also a hint of Dogma and Oh God! too. I suppose I would remise if I neglected my favorite character: Ho Dog. She shows up around the midway point and offers advice but doesn't tamper too much in the overall miracle.

The author information on the back of the book mentions a second novel in the works, Plaid. I'm looking forward to it.

[Diane Kistner · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you did not like the best-selling book "The Shack," "Jesus Swept" will likely make your head explode! (If you "don't even want to know," move on. There's everything to see here. Including yourself reflected back and back at you.)

But if you were intrigued by the implications of "The Shack"; if you appreciated the still-voiced heart of the movie "Crash," the acid-like reality shifts of "The Matrix," the shades-of-shining darkness in the LOTR trilogy; and if (ONLY if) you could handle "that scene" in "Borat" (the one that almost killed everybody in the audience) THEN I can recommend James Alexander Protzman's deceptively simple first novel without reservation.

But be warned: You will be psychically Rolfed. Protzman tears the flesh off words and beliefs and puts it back on you again. Is it "good nice fun"? Not always. The experience is, for lack of a better description, disconcerting and Dadaesque. (If you really, really think about it, so is life.)

Protzman's writing is spare and the chapters short, but don't let that fool you. There is poetry in these pages; a soft yellow glow shines through all the skull cracks and vulgarities and character flaws. When you've finished reading the book for the first time, you may shake your head and ask, "What just f*ing hit me?" Don't be surprised if you then hear Jesus (or the Jesus who comes briefly after the next Jesus) reply "Blessed are they who don't say f*ing all the time."

Reading this book is like finding this bracelet, you see. It's like this tangle of threads. And maybe Dog will whisper to you: "You cannot hold the threads." And you won't believe it, of course, so eventually you'll pick it all up again from the beginning, this little lump of silver that has said too much already.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprise find. I can't remember where I even heard of this small press book by an unknown author, but I really enjoyed it. The writing is something like a cross between the absurdist humor of Christopher Moore in Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal with the gritty street characters of Denis Johnson in Jesus' Son, but bound together with more hope and optimism, more like those who inhabit Junot Díaz's Drown. That's a lot of name dropping for one review, but please take it as the genuine effort to convey the style that it's meant to be and not just pretentious nonsense. Fair warning, the book is not for the easily offended. There's a bit of casual sex, a good dose of religious commentary, and some general philosophizing going on in these pages. Is there more to life than "Do good. Be nice. Have fun."? This book explores, but does not answer, this question.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I received Jesus Swept but it certainly wasn't what I got. Perhaps I'm simply not meant to read literary fiction because I did not understand this book at all. I found it very difficult to follow, with incredibly short chapters and fast changes of scene and characters. The whole book felt disjointed to me. Because I was never able to spend a substantial amount of time in the story with any one of the characters, I never felt connected to any of them.

The description also fails to mention the heavy use of foul language and sexual references which really turned me off from the book as well.

With the hope that the characters' stories would eventually connect and begin to make sense to me and in the interest of writing a fair review, I did read the entire book. Unfortunately it never did get better for me and I was as confused when I finished reading as I was after the first few chapters.

[Ursula Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up on a whim. Best described as a long strange trip. I read it on a drive across two states. It's in a pov I hate, and yet I could not stop reading. Great charactarization. Kept thinking about it after I read it. Had only a few spots of drag. Had me wondering: social commentary vs. religious commentary vs. I have no clue but found it an entertaining read. Not my normal fare, not by a long shot, and glad I picked it up.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an entertaining story. I enjoyed it.