Hell Is a World Without You

Jason Kirk

Feb 2024 · Shutdown Fullbooks

About this eBook

Rarely has an Evangelical upbringing been depicted with the relentless honesty, wide-ranging empathy, and Superbad-meets-Siddhartha playfulness of HELL IS A WORLD WITHOUT YOU. During the time of Pizza Hut buffets, 9/11, and all-night Mario Kart parties, a grieving teenager faces a mortal crossroads: fire-and-brimstone certainty vs. forbidden love. And whether or not you've ever begged God to delay the Rapture (so you could have time to lose your virginity), that kid's story is about you.

"Best-seller"— USA Today, IndieReader, and Bookshop

“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

“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

“Holy fucking shit.” — Top-rated Goodreads review

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

“Thank you to Jason Kirk.” — The Trevor Project, after this novel’s launch raised over $50,000 in donations for the LGBTQ charity

“Divinely savage, emotionally pure, devilishly funny.”— Brian Dannelly, Saved!

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

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

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

“Whoever you are, you’ll find yourself in it.”— Will Leitch, How Lucky 

“Almost astonishingly accurate.”— Jon Bois, 17776

“Genuinely funny. Painfully accurate.”— Drew Magary, The Night the Lights Went Out

“I loved this book.”— Anthony Oliveira, Dayspring

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

“Hilarious yet biting.”— Zito Madu, The Minotaur at Calle Lanza

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

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

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

“Devastatingly funny.”— Victoria Zeller, One of the Boys

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

“So quick and funny and smart.”— Tommy Tomlinson, The Elephant in the Room

“Deeply funny. Deeply felt.”— Tyler Parker, A Little Blood and Dancing

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

“So evocative.”— Bonnie Kristian, Christianity Today

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

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

“What being raised Evangelical is like.”— Dr. Jonathan Redding, One Nation Under Graham

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

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

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

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

“I’m thankful this book exists!”— Casey Haas, Fun Sexy Bible Time

“So good.”— Tony Ginocchio, Grift of the Holy Spirit

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

“You will relate.” “This is for you.”— Emily Rojas and Abigail Hewing, Readirect

“Immersive introduction into Evangelical world.”— Dr. Erich Nunn, English, Auburn University

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

“Helped me understand myself.” — Dr. Neil Shanks, Baylor University

“I love it.” “So fucking powerful.”— Andrew Klema and Dani Burford, Lit Lit

“Painful, thoughtful, and has a ton of soul.”— Mike Golic, Jr., broadcaster

“For anyone.”— Ryan Nanni, We’re Not So Different

“Extraordinary.” “Jason writes his ass off.” — Holly Anderson and Spencer Hall, Channel Six

Ratings and reviews

quite literally, I laughed, I cried... I didn't grow up religious (for which I'm grateful, lol) but this is revelatory of a lot of the kind of thinking that permeates a lot of American Christianity (probably more than just America, and probably more than just Christianity). my heart breaks for the kids who are still trying to appease god by hollowing themselves out. this book is absolutely worth a read.

This book was remarkable in the way that it put into words my feelings about my Christian upbringing, my current feelings about religion, and my philosophy of loving others. It really brought up some long forgotten memories of being a teenager in church. Thank you Jason.

Witty, insightful, and empathetic. Also, really funny!

About the author

Jason Kirk, a longtime sports journalist, co-hosts the Vacation Bible School Podcast and the Shutdown Fullcast. He’s contributed to The Athletic, This American Life, Penguin Random House’s Hazlitt Magazine, Slate, USA Today, Vox, and many others. An Atlanta native, he grew up as a maximum-effort Southern Baptist and is now a lazy Christian pantheist. His non-fiction agent is Erik Hane of Headwater Literary Management.