HELL IS A WORLD WITHOUT YOU: Annotated Study Bible Edition by Jason Kirk

“Divinely savage, emotionally pure, and devilishly funny, HELL IS A WORLD WITHOUT YOU took me back to my days as a hopelessly confused church kid. I absolutely adored this sweetly subversive romp with every fiber of my being.”

"Although the author layers this story with humor, he meticulously examines Christianity as well. Blends sublimely. Hilariously blunt. Endearing. Get it."

"Joyous and sobering. Readers will be swept away. A wonderful novel."

“It’s funny, but also compassionate, romantic, and optimistic. Open-hearted, it rings with the specificity of the personal while evoking the universal. Whoever you are, you’ll find some of yourself in it.”

“Hilarious, big-hearted, and deeply humane, it transported me right back to a world in which spiritual crises can be faced at Pizza Hut. The miracle of HELL IS A WORLD WITHOUT YOU is that it sees both sides of that equation with equal clarity and tenderness.”

“No book I’ve read has better or more lovingly depicted the Evangelical terror of the 2000s. I loved it, even when it made me remember times I wish I could forget.”

“Almost astonishingly accurate. Comical, endearing, and purely hideous. It is unlike anything else I’ve read about the Evangelical church: unshakably critical, yet unshakably empathetic.”

“Genuinely funny, with real laughs to be found in its painfully accurate depiction of a pious world. It’s a deeply funny book, which is the best kind of book.”

“A magic trick: a portrait that feels almost tactile in its specificity, yet utterly universal. You’ll be thinking about it for a long time.”

"Uncannily familiar. And while I got severely weepy at several points, I’ll just pretend ‘longing to be strangled by lesbians’ was my favorite passage anyway.."

"A resonant novel, briskly told, with laugh-out-loud comedy and poignant insight."

“An enthralling coming-of-age story, equally as engaging as it is hilarious. A sweet yet biting portrait of extreme religiosity. A refreshing debut from a unique and imaginative writer.”

"It isn’t just welcome representation for ex-youth group kids. Almost anyone can find themselves here.”

“Kirk pulls off a miracle by making such an insular part of American culture so universal.”

“As Jason Kirk juggles dozens of voices, it’s so quick and funny and smart, you almost forget he’s trying to square the unsquarable contradictions of hardcore Christianity.”

“Relatable af. I felt like I was reading my own teenage Evangelical diary. A hilarious way to feel grateful for the people who helped us leave the harmful parts of our faith behind.”

“I’d never before read a book so in tune with what it’s like to grow up Evangelical: self-hatred, fear for your soul, and trying to impress your date by recommending a Christian replacement for Sublime. Deeply funny and deeply felt. The good, good shit.”

“Will remind you what it was like to be — or be classmates with — the religious kids. At turns cathartic and cringe, Kirk’s book drops you into all the horror, humiliation, and humor of high school — with the added burden of ‘saving souls.’”

“A sweet, wry story that will be familiar to so many of us. A crisis of faith that rings with uncommon truth, shot through with surprising humor and kindness. I loved this book.”

“Devastatingly funny, heartbreaking, and incisive. Will resonate with readers regardless of background. I love every single one of these idiot church kids, and so will you.”

“HELL IS A WORLD WITHOUT YOU isn’t just a comedy. It’s got real heart, and I don’t say that lightly. Jason Kirk, you bastard, you made me cry my own tears. Nobody makes me cry my own tears.”

“Leaving the faith can be lonely. Even though Jason Kirk tells the story in a novel, it seems at times as if he wrote the biography of many of us. Sometimes this book will leave you laughing or crying, but at all times it will leave you feeling a little less alone.”

“Humor, heart, and attention to details. Engaged me as both a former pastor’s kid and a current scholar of religion. A message vital to our moment. It will make you laugh, cry, think, and maybe listen to MxPx, whether you’ve been to youth group or not.”

“As funny as it is unpredictable, it’s for anyone who’s ever felt disappointed by an institution or struggled to reconcile inherited ethics with nuanced realities. (And anyone who experienced formative moments via AOL Instant Messenger.)”

“In between artfully woven portraits of adolescence, Jason has constructed something extraordinary: a compelling case for the existence of a better world. This book is for anyone who hopes or even believes that world might someday be real.”

“As a non-Evangelical, I had no idea what it’s like on the inside. It’s a sometimes terrifying galaxy, and Jason writes his ass off about it: beautifully, angrily, and with deep empathy for people stranded on Planet Jesus.”