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Denis Johnson NPR coverage of Denis Johnson: News, author interviews, critics' picks and more.

Denis Johnson

Books

Denis Johnson

Books by Denis Johnson

Nobody Move

Tree of Smoke

Jesus' Son

The Laughing Monsters

Train Dreams

The Largesse of the Sea Maiden

Jesus' Son

Denis Johnson has written books about:

NPR stories about Denis Johnson

NPR's Book Concierge: Our Guide To 2018's Great Reads

NPR

Books

NPR's Book Concierge: Our Guide To 2018's Great Reads

November 27, 2018 • The Book Concierge is back! Explore more than 300 standout titles picked by NPR staff and critics.

The Largesse of the Sea Maiden

Review

Book Reviews

Denis Johnson Leaves Us With His Best In 'Largesse Of The Sea Maiden'

January 20, 2018 • Denis Johnson finished his first story collection in 25 years just before he died. The pieces in it are stunning, dark, sometimes as bleak as anything he's ever written — but miraculous to read.

The Largesse of the Sea Maiden

Review

Book Reviews

Posthumously Published 'Sea Maiden' Affirms Denis Johnson's Eternal Voice

Fresh Air

January 9, 2018 • A new collection features five stand-alone stories by Johnson, who died in 2017. Critic Maureen Corrigan says The Largesse of the Sea Maiden is "the kind of work every writer would like to go out on."

Posthumously Published 'Sea Maiden' Affirms Denis Johnson's Eternal Voice

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Remembering 'Jesus' Son,' From Denis Johnson

Writer Denis Johnson. Cindy Johnson/Courtesy of Farrar, Straus & Giroux hide caption

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Cindy Johnson/Courtesy of Farrar, Straus & Giroux

The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books

Remembering 'Jesus' Son,' From Denis Johnson

May 26, 2017 • On the occasion of the death of writer Denis Johnson, we share a 2007 reflection on Johnson's book Jesus' Son, from novelist Nathan Englander.

Train Dreams

New In Paperback

Innovation: 'Machu Picchu', Homesteading And 'Johnny Appleseed'

May 23, 2012 • This week, there's fresh fiction from Pulitzer finalist Denis Johnson, novelist Tom Perrotta and newspaperman Pete Hamill; plus, travel editor Mark Adams explores Machu Picchu; Melissa Coleman reminisces about growing up off the grid; and Howard Means looks at the life of Johnny Appleseed.

Swamplandia!

Review

Best Books Of 2011

Year-End Fiction Wrap-Up: The 10 Best Novels Of 2011

Fresh Air

December 14, 2011 • 2011 was a terrific year for fiction — both from first-time novelists and much-decorated veterans. Maureen Corrigan's recommendations range from Karen Russell's dazzling debut, to David Foster Wallace's posthumously published novel, to what may be the Sept. 11 novel.

Year-End Wrap-Up: The 10 Best Novels Of 2011

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Train Dreams

Review

The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books

'Train Dreams' Evokes Frontier Life, Fate And Death

August 25, 2011 • Denis Johnson writes with controlled and beautiful prose about the "steadying loneliness" of life in the northwestern mountains in his striking new short novel.

Review

The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books

Hard-Edged Noir Jewel From Denis Johnson

April 27, 2009 • The criminals in Denis Johnson's hard-edged Nobody Move aren't cool. But with a Mamet-like ear, Johnson — who won the National Book Award for Tree Of Smoke — wrings poetry from his hapless heroes' deadly exploits.

Hear the National Book Award Winners

November 20, 2007 • Tree of Smoke, Denis Johnson's Vietnam epic, and Legacy of Ashes, Tim Weiner's critical history of the CIA, were among the winners at the 58th annual National Book Awards, held earlier this month in New York.

Winners for Fiction, Nonfiction, Youth and Poetry

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Review

Book Reviews

Johnson Covers Vietnam, CIA in 'Tree of Smoke'

September 4, 2007 • Denis Johnson's new novel, Tree of Smoke, is one of the late summer's big books in a number of ways. It covers the Vietnam War and the U.S. intervention in Southeast Asia — and the life of a CIA agent whose career grows with the war. Also, it's more than 600 pages long.

Johnson Covers Vietnam, CIA in 'Tree of Smoke'

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Review

You Must Read This

Writer Finds a Fated Friend in 'Jesus' Son'

July 5, 2007 • If you're only going to read one book this year about getting stabbed in the eye and crushing tiny, helpless bunnies, then run right out and get Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son.

Writer Finds a Fated Friend in 'Jesus' Son'

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Summer Books 2007: Excerpts

Excerpt: 'Jesus' Son'

July 4, 2007 • If you're only going to read one book this year about getting stabbed in the eye and crushing tiny, helpless bunnies, then run right out and get Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son.