Seek
Reports from the Edges of America and Beyond
Denis Johnson
"His work leaves the doors of perception gaping ajar, like the wooden gates to some lost and empty downtown bar" - Guardian
As a novelist, Denis Johnson is renowned for his portraits of the dispossessed lurking at the fringes of American life: the drifters, the jobless, the junkies and midnight DJ's. In this collection of articles and essays written over 20 years, he explores what happens when groups like these band together to form new and often threatening identities.
From travelling through war-ravaged Liberia in murderously unpredictable company Johnson joins a Bikers for Jesus rally in Texas and hangs out with local militia groups who hate Jews, blacks and taxes. He visits conventions of hippies old and young, tries mining for gold in the Alaskan wilderness, swaps stories with the Taliban in Afghanistan and finds himself the last American left in Somalia. At every crossroad he finds true believers - in God, government, guns or all three - whose conviction is tested in places where beauty and horror exist in such proximity that they might be interchangeable, and violence, poverty and moral transgression go unchecked, even unnoticed.
With the haunting lyricism, candour and humour for which his work is renowned, Johnson records his own need for transcendence - or even just moral certainty - in situations where all bets are off, and anything seems possible. The result, an intoxicating mixture of political disquisition, travel journal and self-exploration, is a work of astonishing literary energy and honesty that takes us where we've never been and shows us our face in its mirror. "Is Denis Johnson braver, more reckless, or just more foolish than most of those who pretend to the title 'journalist'? It doesn't matter, in the end - he is willing to place his lonesome ass in the way of seriously bad and scary stuff, and then bring back the tale told better than it's ever been told before -" Esquire
"There isn't an American voice I love listening to more than Denis Johnson's" - Michael Herr
"One of the best and most compelling novelists and story writers in the nation" - Elle
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About Denis Johnson Denis Johnson has been a political journalist and has taught writing courses at Iowa university. His other books include: The Name of the World, Already Dead, Jesus' Son, Resuscitation of a Hanged Man, Fiskadoro, The Stars at Noon, and Angels. His poetry has been collected in The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millenium General Assembly.
Other titles by Denis Johnson
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