| Nate Merritt's skill as a raconteur is amply displayed in this engrossing tale wherein we experience the psychedelic sixties as well as life in the Jehovah's Witness cult. You'll be fascinated by Nate's progression from a physically and verbally abused--but idealistic--boy of fifteen into a dangerous gun-wielding psycho of nineteen. All brought about by a rageaholic father and the demented teachings of the Watchtower. The Watchtower prophecy that 1975 would bring the End of the World pushed Nate over the edge into a life that mercifully few of us have ever experienced. Even fewer writers have ever let their readers as deeply into their minds and hearts as Nate does, and we are rewarded with a tale that is as hilarious as it is shocking, as uplifting as it is disturbing, culminating as it does in a deeply moving experience of the redeeming power of human friendship. I Was A Teenage Jehovah's Witness is gritty, tough, real and no-holds-barred. With a unique and fascinating style Nate takes us on an intimate but wild trek into two opposing subcultures. Through the author we vicariously enjoy his adolescent fantasies as he is lured into the Jehovah's Witness cult by the sexy come-on's of a female Jehovah's Witness classmate. Nate, however, is not a typical fifteen year old, and his clash with the Jehovah's Witness authorities is almost immediate. His rude awakening to life in a totalitarian cult as well as his discovery of his own burgeoning manhood is a tale that will keep your attention riveted and leave you begging for a sequel! Car chases, gang warfare, runaway girls, drugs, sex, crime, prostitutes, giants, dwarves and midgets are juxtaposed with tightly wound life inside the Jehovah's Witness cult. Coupled with the angst, rage, and disillusionment Nate experienced through it all, and you have a unique and exciting coming-of-age tale that ranks alongside Catcher In The Rye or Rule Of The Bone! |
