American · b. 1949
Denis Johnson was an American writer celebrated for his lyrical, unflinching fiction, author of the cult story collection Jesus' Son and the National Book Award–winning Vietnam epic Tree of Smoke.
Denis Johnson wrote poetry, novels, and stories marked by a distinctive blend of grit, spiritual yearning, and lyrical beauty, often centered on the marginalized, the addicted, and the lost.
His story collection Jesus’ Son (1992) became a cult classic and an acclaimed film, while his sprawling Vietnam War novel Tree of Smoke won the National Book Award in 2007. His final work, the novella collection The Largesse of the Sea Maiden, was published shortly after his death in 2017.
Johnson is revered for the intensity and grace of his prose and his compassionate vision of damaged lives reaching toward redemption.
by Denis Johnson
Eleven linked short stories following a nameless, druggy narrator through the American Midwest — car crashes, hospitals, petty crime, heroin, grace and violence in equal measure. Johnson's collection is one of the most acclaimed works of short fiction in American literature.
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by Denis Johnson
Vietnam, 1963 to 1983. Skip Sands is a CIA officer working for his uncle, a legendary colonel running a psychological operations program called Tree of Smoke. Around him: two brothers from Arizona, a Canadian missionary, a double agent. Johnson's National Book Award winner is the major American novel about the Vietnam War.
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Where to start with Denis Johnson — whether to begin with Jesus' Son or Tree of Smoke. A complete reading guide to the National Book Award-winning American author.
guide
Denis Johnson's complete bibliography in order — from Jesus' Son and Tree of Smoke to Train Dreams. Best starting points for new readers of his fiction and poetry.
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