When Gordo visits his cousin, El Gordo, he imagines what Jesus should taste like. He eats a piece of his cousin’s doughnut, which he views as a small miracle in itself. Gordo eats more of the doughnut, and then imagines eating Jesus himself. He realizes that the donut he has eaten represents more than a simple miracle, but also a small wonder in his own life.
El Gordo
“The Jesus Donut” opens El Gordo’s Jesus Donut, a collection of stories set in 1970s California migrant communities. The fictional Gyrich Farms Worker Camp is an evocative portrait of extreme poverty and indifference. The story follows four children, Gordo, Sylvie, Cesar, Olga, Tiny, and the baker. One day, Olga decides to go out to a doughnut shop and buy two. But before she decides on what to order, she finds herself in the middle of a tense situation.
“The Jesus Donut” opens with a scene where Gordo imagines what Jesus should taste like. Upon eating a small bite of his cousin’s doughnut, he realizes that he has tasted a tiny miracle. This story shows the limits of what we can expect from our society, and the importance of understanding these limits before we ask for accommodations. El Gordo’s Jesus donut will be a favorite read for many children and adults alike.
Churizo
“Churizo the Jesus donut” is a short story by Juan Cortez, a writer from Guatemala. It follows a character who struggles to deal with his sexuality, weight, and relationship with food. In the first story, Gordo imagines what Jesus would taste like, and he takes a bite. To him, the doughnut is a miracle in a small package.
“The Jesus Donut” sets the tone for a collection of stories about the lives of immigrants in California. The stories are told by the young Gordo, a character in the book. The stories take place in 1970s Watsonville and mostly revolve around the local cast of characters. In one of the most memorable stories, two camp kids duel over a collection of porn magazines left by a former camper. In another story, a gang of La Migra catches a former camper. The stories are well-written and convey the harsh realities of migrant life in California.
Steve
One morning, Dr. Christensen asked one of his students, Steve, to do ten push-ups. Steve said no, but he did them anyway. After each push-up, he sat down and looked at Cynthia. Then, Dr. Christensen placed a donut on Cynthia’s desk. It was a delicious surprise! In the following weeks, Dr. Christensen would ask his students to complete a series of challenging exercises and get a free donut.
One student, Jason, had just transferred to a college. The professor gave him ten push-ups, which he did slowly and with great effort. As he finished, Steve was handed a donut. His students were watching, they began to say “no” to the donut, and it became clear that the donuts were not the best choice for their classes. As the students saw Steve do these push-ups, they refused to eat them.
Dr. Christensen
During his presentation, Dr. Christensen gave several stories to his audience. He told the story of the Jesus donut and how it changed the lives of his patients. These stories became popular and became widely adopted. Within a year, Steve Jobs said that he was influenced by the theory, Michael Bloomberg sent copies to his fifty closest friends, and Bill Gates complained that he was quoted in every funding presentation. Nevertheless, he invited Christensen to his home and the book sold more than half a million copies.
In addition to sharing his story, Christensen tells how his family became Mormons. He was raised in a poor family on the west side of Salt Lake City, collecting paper tray liners from fast-food restaurants. As a teenager, he walked a mile to school each day to wash his clothes and brush his teeth with a toothbrush. His father, Robert, was a carpenter who moved to Utah in the 1960s. The family made their way to the US by train, but he couldn’t afford to buy a covered wagon so they walked 1,000 miles to Salt Lake City.