Jesus Saves - by Darcey Steinke (Paperback)

About the Book

"There's such yearning in the stained terrycloth folds of this story that none of its dark or dirty details come across as shock-arty or facile . . . Jesus Saves is a poem of a novel."--Lydia Millet, from the new introduction

Book Synopsis

Layering the dreamscapes of Alice in Wonderland with the subculture of River's Edge, this New York Times Notable Book of the Year is an unforgettable passage through the depths of literary imagination.

Jesus Saves is a chilling horror story, a suburban gothic set not among green manicured lawns and cul-de-sacs, but the trash-filled woods between subdivisions and superhighways and the strip malls and duplexes on the back side of town. It's the story of two girls: Ginger, a troubled minister's daughter; and Sandy Patrick, who was abducted from summer camp and now smiles from missing-child posters all over town.

In her introduction to this new edition, Pulitzer Prize finalist Lydia Millet reflects on the book's long-lasting effect on her and the way she reads while tracing its influence on "subsequent, similarly powerful fictions like Emma Donoghue's Room and Barbara Gowdy's Helpless." Like Jesus Saves, Millet's introduction is moving and unsettling, and provides the perfect frame for this cult classic.

Review Quotes

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

"A disturbing and beautiful novel from one of America's most interesting young female writers."--Details

"A disturbingly beautiful piece of writing. Darcey Steinke has found a trashy and intensely spiritual poetry in the suburban malls and backwoods of the South, and she has set them before us in gorgeous, unsettling prose."--The New York Times Book Review

"Steinke writes with an admirable level of attention to sensual detail. As in David Lynch's films . . . it seems characters will ignite their combustible surroundings."--L.A. Weekly Literary Supplement

"The most ferocious and chilling portrait of suburbia in years . . . Imagine a goth-rock, literary lovechild of Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O'Connor."--The Village Voice

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

"A disturbing and beautiful novel from one of America's most interesting young female writers."-Details

"A disturbingly beautiful piece of writing. Darcey Steinke has found a trashy and intensely spiritual poetry in the suburban malls and backwoods of the South, and she has set them before us in gorgeous, unsettling prose."--The New York Times Book Review

"Steinke writes with an admirable level of attention to sensual detail. As in David Lynch's films . . . it seems characters will ignite their combustible surroundings."--L.A. Weekly Literary Supplement

"The most ferocious and chilling portrait of suburbia in years . . . Imagine a goth-rock, literary lovechild of Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O'Connor."--The Village Voice

About the Author

Lydia Millet is the PEN Award-winning author of eleven works of literary fiction, including Sweet Lamb of Heaven and Magnificence, which have been New York Times Notable Books and Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalists. She lives in Arizona.

Darcey Steinke is the author of New York Times Notable Up Through the Water, Suicide Blonde, Sister Golden Hair, and the forthcoming Flash Count Diary. Her journalism has appeared regularly in Spin, George, Guardian (London), Artforum, and The Village Voice. She teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and The New School. She grew up in Virginia and now lives in Brooklyn.