Jesus’ Son discussion

Obviously, this is a subjective question. I do think this is one of the best story collections EVER. Here's my (highly subjective) answer as to some of the reasons why:

http://weedlit.blogspot.com/2012/07/s...

What do you think?

Wow. ya I would like to know why people like this collection so much too. Honestly I read these and I can not understand what people see in these.

No accounting for taste, I guess.

Do not think my disliking this book goes to discernment or appreciation. I bet (do not know for sure) I would like a lot of the same authors Denis Johnson likes -Dickens, Hubert Selby, William Burroughs, Kerouac, Anthony Burgess- yet this book is not in that League.

It's subjective, there's no doubt about it, and short stories are a tough genre. There are very few authors writing short stories today I'm that thrilled by - but now that I've read this, Johnson's right up there. Also like Robert Stone, George Saunders, Jim Shepard, Tower Wells, Paul Murray. Not many others I can think of that are in this league for me, but again, it's highly subjective. Maybe especially so with stories as opposed to novels?

Nice list I am going to check these out.

just posted a review of this about a week ago. Writing that review and letting the world see it was a difficult experience for me.

Interestingly, I never really felt like this is collection of shorts. I think that because Johnson does so well at having the stories build upon themselves it feels more like a cohesive novel(la) than a collection to me.

Ultimately I believe I love Jesus' Son so passionately because it is the only work about addiction and recovery that I have read that I felt was entirely authentic, without being misanthropic. That's just me. I saw myself in these pages.

As a collection this is up there with the best work of Ray Carver, although it's more lyrical in its prose. I found it brilliant.

raw writing with a lot of heart and honesty

A string of of random incidents with no obvious connection, amplifying the the feeling of being lost and trying to connect to purpose unknown. "When you're on a run like Jesus' Son".