Buy my book, 'HELL IS A WORLD WITHOUT YOU'

The exvangelical novel has great reviews AND raised $50K for the Trevor Project.

Hello, sports journalist and religion podcaster Jason Kirk here. My exvangelical coming-of-age novel — Hell Is a World Without You — is good, according to a bunch of reviews cited below.

A best-seller on USA Today’s booklist, Bookshop.org, IndieReader, and a handful of Amazon lists, it enabled me to donate over $50,000 to LGBTQ charity the Trevor Project.

• The book is available everywhere paperbacks, ebooks, and hardcovers are sold (Amazon, Apple, Book Shop, and so forth).

• The audiobook is available via Audible, Supporting Cast, Shutdown Fullbooks, and everywhere else.

• The ANNOTATED STUDY BIBLE ebook, with 160 pages of bonus stuff (including a post-apocalyptic girl-gang novella), is exclusive to Shutdown Fullbooks.

If you’d like to talk about getting a review copy, doing an interview, or hosting an event (see below for many examples of each), holler: jasonkirkbook at g mail dot com.

Hell Is a World Without You praise:

• “Meticulous. Sublime. Hilarious. Endearing. Get it.” — Kirkus Reviews

• “Brutal honesty. Laugh-out-loud. Poignant.” — Publishers Weekly

• “Joyous. Taboo-shirking. Searing honesty. Wonderful novel.” — Independent Book Review, Starred review

• “A miracle. Makes an insular culture universal.” — Book and Film Globe

• “Painfully, beautifully true.” — Columbia Daily Tribune

• “Compassionate. Bitingly funny.” — Readers’ Favorite, five-star review

  ---

• “Like reading my own teenage Evangelical diary. Hilarious.” — April Ajoy, Evangelicalish

• “Will make you laugh, cry, think, and maybe listen to MxPx.”  — Dr. Mike Altman, Religious Studies, University of Alabama

• “Extraordinary. A case for a better world.” “Jason writes his ass off.”  — Holly Anderson and Spencer Hall, Channel Six

• “Almost astonishingly accurate. Unshakably critical, unshakably empathetic.” — Jon Bois, 17776

• “I laughed so hard, but also cried ugly tears.” — Matt Brown, Extra Points

• “Funny, infuriating, and tender.”  — Jay Busbee, Earnhardt Nation

• “Too real. Cathartic.” — Blake Chastain, Exvangelical and Beyond

• “No book has better depicted Evangelical terror.” — Jane Coaston, CNN

• “Divinely savage, emotionally pure, devilishly funny. I absolutely adored it.” — Brian Dannelly, Saved! and Queer as Folk

• “Surprisingly relatable. Read it.” — Trey Ferguson, Theologizin’ Bigger

• “Absolutely slaps, whether you were Evangelical or not.” — Dr. Jonathan Beecher Field, English, University of Clemson

• “So good that I had to walk around while reading it.” — Tony Ginocchio, Grift of the Holy Spirit

• “I loved this book. It’s painful, thoughtful and has a ton of soul.” — Mike Golic, Jr., national sports broadcaster

• “I’m thankful this book exists!” “Shifts the paradigm.” — Casey Haas and Matthew Pierce, Fun Sexy Bible Time

• “With his hilarious, heartbreaking, and compassionate novel, Jason has created a fellowship.”— Bill Hanstock, We Promised You a Great Main Event

• “Excellent. Humanizes church kids.” — Scott Hines, Action Cookbook

• “Not just for ex-youth group kids. A gift.” — Tyler Huckabee, Sojourners

• “It’s excellent, I love it, and I hope you will too.” “So fucking powerful.” — Andrew Klema and Dani Burford, Lit Lit

• “Barely distinguishable from my own upbringing.” — Dan Koch, You Have Permission

• “So evocative.” — Bonnie Kristian, Christianity Today

• “I moved between laughing and crying so many times.” — Zach W. Lambert, Better Ways to Read the Bible

• “Great read. Not antagonistic toward Christianity, but has lots of rightful challenges.” — Dave Lester, Veterans of Culture Wars

• “Ripped me apart and put me back together.” — Literary Transgressions, Year in Reading awards

• “Funny, but also compassionate, romantic, and optimistic. Whoever you are, you’ll find yourself in it.” — Will Leitch, How Lucky 

• “Uncanny. I got severely weepy.” — Jeb Lund, national columnist

• “Enthralling. Hilarious yet biting portrait of extreme religiosity.” — Zito Madu, The Minotaur at Calle Lanza

• “Genuinely funny. Painfully accurate depiction of a pious world.” — Drew Magary, The Night the Lights Went Out

• “Comedy with real heart.” — Jennifer C. Martin, Dirtbag Christian

• “A magic trick, almost tactile in its specificity, yet universal.” — Claire McNear, Answers in the Form of Questions

• “Will leave you laughing, crying, and feeling less alone.” — Mason Mennenga, A People’s Theology

• “Funny. For anyone who’s ever felt disappointed by an institution.” — Ryan Nanni, We’re Not So Different

• “Radiant compassion. A joyous and nourishing intoxicant.” — Dr. Van Newell, English, University of Alabama

• “Profound empathy. An immersive introduction into Evangelical world.” — Dr. Erich Nunn, English, Auburn University

• “Hits close to home, lands gently.” — Kevin Nye, Grace Can Lead Us Home

• “A crisis of faith that rings with uncommon truth. Surprising humor and kindness. I loved this book.” — Anthony Oliveira, Dayspring

• “You won’t be able to help but feel protective of these kids, even if — or especially if — you were one of them.” — Molly Olmstead, Slate

• “What it’s like to grow up Evangelical. Deeply funny. Deeply felt.” — Tyler Parker, A Little Blood and Dancing

• “Encyclopedic about Evangelical pop culture and compassionate about its effects.” — Dr. Leah Payne, God Gave Rock & Roll to You

• “Loved that book! Highly recommend.” — Alex Perry, Mashable

• “Scott Pilgrim vs. Focus on the Family. I recommend to anyone interested in this subculture.” — Adam Fleming Petty, Very Distant Lands

• “Hilarious and big-hearted.” — Brian Phillips, Impossible Owls

• “Anyone who connects to this podcast would definitely enjoy this book.” — Kevin T. Porter, Good Christian Fun

• “What being raised Evangelical is like. This book is the one.” — Dr. Jonathan Redding, One Nation Under Graham

• “If you grew up like we did, you will relate.” “If you didn't, this is still for you.” — Emily Rojas and Abigail Hewing, Readirect

• “Beautifully written and strong.” — Tom Sexton, Trillbilly Worker's Party

• “Helped me understand myself, my faith, and my purpose.” — Dr. Neil G. Shanks, Baylor University

• “So quick and funny and smart, you almost forget Jason’s trying to square the unsquarable contradictions of hardcore Christianity.” — Tommy Tomlinson, The Elephant in the Room

• “Hilarious, harrowing, and romantic. A triumph.” — Pete Volk, Polygon

• “Obviously, it’s entertaining. But there are parts that make you say … oh shit.” — Stephanie Warren, Focus On Your Own Family

• “Devastatingly funny and incisive. I love these idiot church kids.” — Victoria Zeller, One of the Boys

• And here are the numerous five-star reviews on Goodreads, led by: “Holy fucking shit.”

We also did a bunch of live events …

… including the sold-out Atlanta brewery in the video above, a bar in Wisconsin (with Matt Brown and Mason Mennenga), a poetry event in South Carolina (with Anna Sandy Elrod, Shannon Finck, and Joshua Martin), a bookshop in Philadelphia (right before WrestleMania), St. Clare’s Episcopal Church in Michigan (where I got to preach lol), and the University of Alabama (with profs Mike Altman and Van Newell). Also:

Editorial reviews

• Book and Film Globe by Jake Harris

• Columbia Daily Tribune by Aarik Danielsen

• Dirtbag Christian by Jennifer C. Martin

• Independent Book Review

• Kirkus Reviews

• Literary Transgressions

• Not the Sun by Andrew Klema

• The Post-Evangelical Post by Blake Chastain

• pcvulpes

• Publishers Weekly

• Rach Against the Machine

• Readers’ Favorite

• Sojourners by Tyler Huckabee

• Very Distant Lands by Adam Fleming Petty

• Does the TV Tropes page go here?

• Tbh not sure where else to brag that it has a Wikipedia page

Public review roundups

• Amazon

• Apple

• Goodreads

• Storygraph

Print interviews

• Action Cookbook with Scott Hines

• Awful Announcing with Andrew Bucholtz

• Channel 6 with Spencer Hall

• Christianity Today with Bonnie Kristian

• Dane Johns

• Grift of the Holy Spirit with Tony Ginocchio

• Penguin Random House’s Hazlitt with Anthony Oliveira

• Religion Dispatches with Mike Altman

Podcast appearances

• Big Screen Sports with Alex McDaniel and Kyle Bandujo

• Brigham Young Money

• Casual Diehard with Jesse Spector

• City Saint / Country Saint with Charles Star and L. Ron Mexico

• Decent Christian Music Talk with Eric McClanahan, Josh Olson, and Kylan Savage

• The Distraction with Drew Magary and David Roth

• Evangelicalish with April Ajoy

• Exvangelical with Blake Chastain

• Focus on Your Own Family with Stephanie Warren

• Fruitless with Josiah Sutton

• Fun Sexy Bible Time with Casey Haas and Matthew Pierce

• Good Christian Fun with Kevin T. Porter and Caroline Ely

• Hand in the Dirt with Michael Felder, Michael Surber, and Stephen Hartzell

• HM Magazine’s BlackSheep Podcast with Mason Mennenga, Cullen Mack, and Justin Hunter

• How Did You Get Here? with Jamie Howard

• Lit Lit with Dani Burford and Andrew Klema

• Message Board Genuises

• NPR’s SouthBound with Tommy Tomlinson

• Ovies & Giglio with Joe Ovies and Demetri Ravanos

• Readirect with Abigail Hewins and Emily Rojas

• Remember That Guy?

• Rock That Doesn’t Roll with Dr. Leah Payne and Andrew Gill

• The Shutdown Fullcast (the audio-only version of our Atlanta event)

• Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

• Trillbilly Worker’s Party with Tom Sexton

• Unanimous Decision with Daniel Palmer

• USA Today’s For The Watercooler with Caroline Darney and Matt Scalici

• Veterans of Culture Wars with Zach Malm and David Lester

• The Vinyl Preacher with Zach Parris

• Waitin’ Since Last Saturday with Will Leitch

• You Have Permission with Dan Koch

• And of course the Vacation Bible School Patreon

Public Q&As

• Goodreads

Once again, if you wanna talk about doing any of this sorta thing: jasonkirkbook at g mail dot com.