Radio interview regarding the novel and growing up a Jehovah's Witness
Hosted by Russ Foster on Pirate Cat Radio.
The Barcelona Review, Review by Jill Adams
I love this book for its excellent storytelling, for the clarity and effectiveness of the prose, for making me laugh, for causing me to gasp and to feel empathy for so many of the characters.
The Barcelona Review, 11 Questions for Tony DuShane
Memoir tells the story, fiction shows the story. From the beginning I knew in order to deal with a heavy theme, I had to give it a light brush stroke and stay inside Gabe?s head.
Largehearted Boy, Book Notes playlist
Writing is failing. Then just keep failing less and less on each rewrite. Embrace that failure. Failure is creativity.
Ashcan Magazine, Interview by Sean Logic
They were right, satanic music will totally get you out of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
San Francisco Chronicle, Author's Experience Informs Story of Conflicted Youth by Evan Karp
[DuShane] confronts these weighty issues with that same kind of emotional honesty, he presents them in a remarkably comic tone that could only be possible with the right amount of distance and personal maturation.
ILiveHereSF, Mission District Essay and Photoshoot
The ring that got the DuShanes frisky in the Mission and gave me the chance to spend time on this planet and live in my favorite place on this earth.
Pop Dose by Scott Malchus NOTE: SPOILER ALERT
The pressures to conform to his religious upbringing and to try and please his parents makes Gabe?s story, and Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk, a fascinating and often, heartbreaking read.
Portland Mercury, An Interview with Jesus Jerk's Tony DuShane by Dave Bow
"It's embarrassing, but I also think it's true to the human condition, so I'm not embarrassed by that. I'm sure Gabe is and if he ever became a human being he'd probably sucker-punch me."
Boston Globe, Fundamentalist Teenage Wasteland by Steve Almond
"DuShane also nails the sense of fear and paranoia that grips younger members of his congregation. It's like having the Stasi crash your school dance."
Sacramento News and Review, Review by Jenn Kistler
"DuShane shines a bright light on the hidden world of J.W.s with minimalist eloquence, well-timed humor and raw honesty."
Portland Mercury, Meet the J-Dubs by Dave Bow
"As the novel progresses, underlying sadness threatens to overwhelm its wit. Thankfully, though, Gabe's interior dialogue is constantly funny, a fevered litany of PG-13 desires."
Vanity Fair, Hot Type, March 2010 pick (print edition) by Elissa Schappell
"Former Jehovah's Witness Tony DuShane confesses to being a Teenage Jesus Jerk (Soft Skull) in his
coming-of-age-while-ringing-doorbells-for-God novel."
Hipster Book Club, Review by Jennifer McCartin
"Tony DuShane has created a highly engaging narrative that is as hilarious as it is deeply moving."
Hipster Book Club, An Interview with Tony DuShane by Mark Haskell Smith
"He?s funny, awkward, fucked up, and sincere, and he makes reading this novel a surprisingly heart-warming experience."
The Brooklyn Rail, Jehovah Jerk by Christopher Vola
"It provides a sharp and powerful introduction to a poignant new voice."
SF Weekly, Awkward Armageddon by Jonathan Kiefer
"If Armageddon does come, God will probably smite Tony DuShane."
February 1 - 5, 2010 - Guest Blogger at Powell's
February 1 - Leaving the Nest
February 2 - Punk Rock, Me and My Novel
February 3 - So, You Wanna Write a Novel
February 4 - Pushing Pause on the Treadmill of Life
February 5 - Ten Minute Coffee Break
Colorado Springs Independent by Kel Munger
A wise and funny coming-of-age story about a guy who doesn't know he's an artist, if only because he's never seen any art.
Three Imaginary Girls
"DuShane adroitly lets us into this veiled world but also makes the awkward longings and petty punishments relatable for anyone who's craved both familial and community acceptance but wanted personal freedom, too."
SF Weekly, by Andy Wright
Monthly Rumpus preview
The Oregonian, review by Steve Duin
"Because DuShane's prose is stripped refreshingly and equally clean of pomp and pretense, Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk is a book that will stay with me for awhile."
Not About Religion, review by Todd Hebert
"The book is simply too engaging."
>isgreaterthan, Jesus Jerk by Leland Cheuk
"Just when it seems the book won't go much deeper than boy-meets-girl, the book smartly shifts into darker, more significant territory."
The Last Book I Loved, by Evan Karp for The Rumpus
"Freedom is something we can all get used to. Don't."
