Denis Johnson Summary

Described by an anonymous reviewer for Esquire (December 1985) as "a writer who slips smoothly from poetry to the novel and back again," Denis Johnson has produced a significant body of work since he ... Read more

In the following positive review, Eder praises Fiskadoro, calling the work “a leap of imagination, with no loss of precision and perceptiveness.” Science fiction at its best can do, i... Read more

In the following excerpt, Martelle evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of Already Dead. We are, often without our awareness, creatures of the land we inhabit, defined by the terrain on which we ... Read more

In the following review of Already Dead, Hitchings commends Johnson's prose style, but finds shortcomings in the novel's philosophizing and unsympathetic characters. Denis Johnson�... Read more

In the following review, Ulin examines the essays in Seek, praising the “rawness” of Johnson's prose style. Let's begin with a Denis Johnson moment. One Saturday, in Los... Read more

In the following positive review, Eder evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of Resuscitation of a Hanged Man, commenting that Johnson has a “dramatist's gift for dialogue.” L... Read more

In the following negative review of Resuscitation of a Hanged Man, Kaveney finds shortcomings in what he perceives as the novel's jaded perspective and hopelessness. Denis Johnson writes abo... Read more

In the following essay, Johnson reflects on the role of observing and reporting in his life. I'm remembering a time in Chicago. Down around Jefferson Street, some ways below the Loop. I coul... Read more

In the following positive review of The Name of the World, the anonymous commentator contends that “Johnson's eloquent examination of one man's persistent inability to extricate h... Read more

In the following positive assessment, Stone explores the narrative line of The Name of the World. The jacket of Denis Johnson's new novel displays what might be a road or a set of railroad t... Read more

In the following review, the anonymous critic lauds the tone and pace of The Name of the World. It isn't easy to recommend spending ＄23 on 120 widely spaced pages, but there's ... Read more

In the following review, Malin discusses the role of spirituality in The Name of the World. Denis Johnson is haunted by the ghostly remains of the Catholicism he once accepted. He writes about lost... Read more