Jesus' Son

Stories

By: Denis Johnson

Narrated by: Will Patton

American master Denis Johnson's nationally bestselling collection of blistering and indelible tales about America's outcasts and wanderers.

Denis Johnson's now classic story collection Jesus' Son chronicles a wild netherworld of addicts and lost souls, a violent and disordered landscape that encompasses every extreme of American culture. These are stories of transcendence and spiraling grief, of hallucinations and glories, of getting lost and found and lost again. The insights and careening energy in Jesus' Son have earned the book a place of its own among the classics of twentieth-century American literature. It was adapted into a critically-praised film in 1999.

©1992 Denis Johnson; (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Patton's narration is pitch perfect; he produces voices for a collection of gritty, bent souls who spend their lost days riding buses, hitchhiking, breaking into abandoned houses, drinking at the Vine, and stealing pills from the hospital dispensary. An absolute must for Johnson fans and a fine introduction to the author's work.” —Publishers Weekly

“Appropriately, Patton's reading is anything but warm and welcoming, but his delivery is so inescapably present that it draws listeners into the work and compels them to drop any preconceived notions about the protagonist and his life. The result is a memorable journey.” —AudioFile, Earphones Award Winner

“Will Patton keeps matters interesting with his gruff yet puzzled narration, making his clueless characters just "with it" enough to stay sharp and real.” —Winston-Salem Journal

“Will Patton is the growly voice of your audiobook dreams. His voice sounds like it's wearing a beat up leather jacket and worn out jeans, which is perfect for Denis Johnson's stories of drug adventures and smoky dive bars. Characters with a wild past deserve the kind of voice that may have made some questionable and risky decisions.” —BuzzFeed

Incredible stories

Will Patton does an amazing job on a masterpiece of American literature. Denis Johnson is a treasure.

One of my favorite Denis Johnson stories

I first knew of this book from the Billy Cruddup movie based o. tbe book. It was a very faithful adaptation as I gladly found out. I like the narrations in this version. The tone adds character to our Ill named protagonist.

great stories, so-so narrator

the narrators performance feels wrong to me. he has the grit but doesnt pull off the self loathing. I'm sure he'd be great for a Cormac McCarthy novel

Poetic

The life of the scum of the earth (for lack of a better term). The forgotten, unseen people of the world. Dirty. Exposed poetically. This book is not for everyone. It definitely has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus if you were hoping for that. In the beginning I considered the descriptive writing overdone but by the middle I appreciated the writing style.

Beautiful

I love this book, and the performance of it was beautiful. I’m definitely sold on audiobooks after this listen.