Denis Johnson

"Perfection is not the basis of what I'm talking about," says a member of the Cassandra family, which forms the center of Denis Johnson's plays, Hellhound on My Trail and Shoppers Carried by Escalators Into the Flames. The character could be speaking for his creator, because human imperfection is one of Denis Johnson's specialties -- in his critically acclaimed novels, short stories, and nonfiction, and, now, in two brilliant new plays. These two works present a dramatized field guide to some of the more dysfunctional and dysphoric inhabitants of the American West: a sexual-misconduct investigator who misconducts herself sexually; a renegade Jehovah's Witness who supports his splinter Jehovean group by dealing drugs; the Cassandra Brothers and their father and their grandmother, thrown together at a family reunion/wedding/melee at their shabby homestead in Ukiah, California. When Shoppers Carried by Escalators Into the Flames was performed in San Francisco in 2001, the Chronicle said, "There's an enormous appeal in Johnson's bleak-comic vision of a semi-mythic American West." That appeal derives from the author's perfect vision of imperfection, embodied with such energy and courage in these marvelous pieces of theatre.

A contemporary noir, Already Dead is the tangled story of Nelson Fairchild Jr., disenfranchised scion to a northern California land fortune. A relentless failure, Nelson has botched nearly every scheme he's attempted to pull off. Now his future lies in a potentially profitable marijuana patch hidden in the lush old-growth redwoods on the family land. Nelson has some serious problems. His marriage has fallen apart, and he may lose his land, cash and crop in the divorce. What's more, in need of some quick cash, he had foolishly agreed to smuggle $90,000 worth of cocaine through customs for Harry Lally, a major player in a drug syndicate. Chickening out just before bringing the drugs through, he flushed the powder. Now Lally wants him dead, and two goons are hot on his trail. Desperate, terrified and alone, for Nelson, there may be only one way out. This is Denis Johnson's biggest and most complex book to date, and it perfectly showcases his signature themes of fate, redemption and the unraveling of the fabric of today's society. Already Dead, with its masterful narrative of overlapping and entwined stories, will further fuel the acclaim that surrounds one of today's most fascinating writers.

A young, unnamed man, reeling from his addiction to heroin and alcohol, spirals through these interlinked stories of grief and transcendence, of rock bottom and redemption, of getting lost and found and lost again. In the course of his adventures, he meets an assortment of people, who seem as alienated and confused as he; sinners, misfits, the lost, the damned, the desperate and the forgotten. Out of their bleak, seemingly random lives, Denis Johnson creates modern-day parables of a harsh and devastating beauty.

Tågdrömmar (först publicerad 2002) är trots sitt korta format en närmast episk berättelse. Den beskriver den amerikanska västerns historia och landskap, de kärva skogsarbetarna och brobyggarna, och fångar även hur denna livsstil försvinner. I centrum står Robert Granier, en dag­lönare i början av 1900-talet. Det är i allt väsentligt en vanlig man som lever i ovanliga tider. Granier förlorar sin familj och försöker både minnas det som varit och förstå den nya värld som växer fram runtom honom. Genom hans liv skildras inte bara en människas personliga förluster utan också det sätt som USA omvandlas i stort. Tågdrömmar är ett litterärt mästerverk, en världsskildring i koncentrerad form. Denis Johnson (1949-2017) var en amerikansk författare. Han debuterade nitton år gammal som poet och kom under sitt författarliv att skriva romaner, noveller och poesi. Därtill vann en rad priser. Översättning av Enrique de Gregorio.

'A masterpiece... one of the best prose writers in our time' Michael Ondaatje An epic miniature of one man's life journey through the American West at the turn of the twentieth century. Robert Grainier is a day labourer in the American West, felling the trees that feed the railways. It is the start of the twentieth century, and the world is changing at a rapid pace. Life is fragile in the wilds of the frontier; disease and forest fires are rife. Buffeted by the loss of his family, Grainier journeys, struggling to make sense of the bewildering changes transforming the nation. Rich and muscular, sweeping and incantatory, Train Dreams is an epic in miniature: an elegy to the ravaged beauty of a lost landscape, and a haunting indictment of the cost of our modern way of life. 'A work of extraordinary power and consummate skill... A masterpiece' Observer 'I don't think there is a sentence in the book that isn't perfectly made' Ann Patchett, New York Times

Soedinjaja v sebe, podobno drevnemu psalmu, pechal i svet, kniga priznannogo klassika sovremennoj amerikanskoj literatury Denisa Dzhonsona (1949-2017) rasskazyvaet istoriju Roberta Grejnera, otshelnika ponevole, zhizn kotorogo, okhvativ pochti dve treti KHKh veka, proshla sredi kholmov, rek i zheleznodorozhnykh putej Severnogo Ajdakho. Eto povest o mire, v kotoryj, nesmotrja na perepolnjajuschie ego stradanija, to i delo proryvaetsja nadmirnaja krasota: postich, zapechatlet, vyrazit ee slovami ne pod silu glavnomu geroju - ee mozhet svidetelstvovat lish kto-to, svobodnyj ot pomyslov i vospominanij, ot trevog i nadezhd, ot rechi, ot samogo jazyka. Takim mog by byt son, prividevshijsja poezdu, - esli by poezda mogli videt sny. V 2012 godu kniga "Sny poezdov" stala finalistom Pulittserovskoj premii po literature. Denis Dzhonson (1949 - 2017) - amerikanskij pisatel, poet i stsenarist. Avtor vosmi romanov, povesti, sbornika rasskazov, trekh sbornikov stikhov, dvukh sbornikov pes, knigi reportazhej. Obladatel mnogikh literaturnykh premij, vkljuchaja Natsionalnuju knizhnuju premiju (2007). Dvukratnyj finalist Pulittserovskoj premii. Perevodchik: Kumysh Sergej Vladislavovich

'A masterpiece... one of the best prose writers in our time' Michael Ondaatje An epic miniature of one man's life journey through the American West at the turn of the twentieth century. Robert Grainier is a day labourer in the American West, felling the trees that feed the railways. It is the start of the twentieth century, and the world is changing at a rapid pace. Life is fragile in the wilds of the frontier; disease and forest fires are rife. Buffeted by the loss of his family, Grainier journeys, struggling to make sense of the bewildering changes transforming the nation. Rich and muscular, sweeping and incantatory, Train Dreams is an epic in miniature: an elegy to the ravaged beauty of a lost landscape, and a haunting indictment of the cost of our modern way of life. 'A work of extraordinary power and consummate skill... A masterpiece' Observer 'I don't think there is a sentence in the book that isn't perfectly made' Ann Patchett, New York Times

Mellem rus og religion. Jesus’ søn er en visionær krønike om drømmere, misbrugere og fortabte sjæle. Det er historier, som fortæller om fortvivlende sorg og transcendens, om fortabelse og forløsning. Fortælleren af disse indbyrdes forbundne fortællinger er en ung, unavngivet mand, der er omtåget af sin afhængighed af heroin og alkohol, mens hans sind på én gang er mudret og gjort strålende klart af disse stoffer. I løbet af sine eventyr møder han mennesker, der virker lige så fremmedgjorte og forvirrede som han selv: syndere, afvigere, de fortabte, de forbandede, de desperate og de glemte. Af deres dystre, tilsyneladende tilfældige liv skaber Denis Johnson fortællinger med en hård og brutal skønhed. Jesus’ søn er et sandt mesterværk. Denis Johnson (1949-2017) er en af vor tids betydeligste amerikanske forfattere. Han skrev romaner, noveller, digte, skuespil og journalistik. Han vandt utallige priser, heriblandt den prestigefyldte National Book Award for romanen Træet af røg. Jesus’ søn blev første gang udgivet i 1992 og er hans mest berømte værk. Ved 25-års jubilæet for udgivelsen blev den af The New York Times kåret til det vigtigste værk i de 25 år. I dag står Jesus’ søn som en moderne klassiker.” Denis Johnson skriver så svimlende smukt; snart famlende, snart sprudlende uden nogensinde at miste det menneskelige drama af syne." - Ragnar Strömberg, Aftonbladet "Sproget er kendetegnet ved en knivskarp realisme, så intens, at den undertiden sprænges og eksploderer til en hallucinerende, poetisk rus." - Eva Johansson, Svenska Dagbladet "En prosa med fantastisk kraft og skønhed ... Vi genkender og finder en ny stemme her." - Philip Roth

**A NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS' TOP BOOK OF 2018**The Largesse of the Sea Maiden is the long-awaited new story collection from Denis Johnson, author of the groundbreaking, highly acclaimed Jesus’ Son. Written in the same luminous prose, this collection finds Johnson in new territory, contemplating mortality, the ghosts of the past, and the elusive and unexpected ways the mysteries of the universe assert themselves. Finished shortly before Johnson’s death, this collection is the last word from a writer whose work will live on for many years to come.

Twenty-five years after Jesus' Son, a haunting new collection of short stories on mortality and transcendence, from National Book Award winner and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Denis Johnson NATIONAL BESTSELLER - NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Dwight Garner, The New York Times - Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air - Chicago Tribune - Newsday - New York - AV Club - Publishers Weekly "Ranks with the best fiction published by any American writer during this short century."--New York "A posthumous masterpiece."--Entertainment Weekly NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review - The Washington Post - NPR - The Boston Globe - New York Public Library - Kirkus Reviews - Bloomberg The Largesse of the Sea Maiden is the long-awaited new story collection from Denis Johnson. Written in the luminous prose that made him one of the most beloved and important writers of his generation, this collection finds Johnson in new territory, contemplating the ghosts of the past and the elusive and unexpected ways the mysteries of the universe assert themselves. Finished shortly before Johnson's death, this collection is the last word from a writer whose work will live on for many years to come. Praise for The Largesse of the Sea Maiden "An instant classic."--Newsday "Exceptional luminosity . . . hits a powerful vein."--The New York Times Book Review "Grace and oblivion are inextricably yoked in these transcendent stories. . . . Johnson's] gift is to extract the beauty in all that brokenness."--The Wall Street Journal "Nobody ever wrote like Denis Johnson. Nobody ever came close. . . . We're just left with this miraculous book, these perfect stories, the last words from one of the world's greatest writers."--NPR

American master Denis Johnson's nationally bestselling collection of blistering and indelible tales about America's outcasts and wanderers. Denis Johnson's now classic story collection Jesus' Son chronicles a wild netherworld of addicts and lost souls, a violent and disordered landscape that encompasses every extreme of American culture. These are stories of transcendence and spiraling grief, of hallucinations and glories, of getting lost and found and lost again. The insights and careening energy in Jesus' Son have earned the book a place of its own among the classics of twentieth-century American literature. It was adapted into a critically-praised film in 1999.

Twenty-five years after Jesus' Son, a haunting new collection of short stories on mortality and transcendence, from National Book Award winner and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Denis Johnson NATIONAL BESTSELLER - NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Dwight Garner, The New York Times - Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air - Chicago Tribune - Newsday - New York - AV Club - Publishers Weekly "Ranks with the best fiction published by any American writer during this short century."--New York "A posthumous masterpiece."--Entertainment Weekly NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review - The Washington Post - NPR - The Boston Globe - New York Public Library - Kirkus Reviews - Bloomberg The Largesse of the Sea Maiden is the long-awaited new story collection from Denis Johnson. Written in the luminous prose that made him one of the most beloved and important writers of his generation, this collection finds Johnson in new territory, contemplating the ghosts of the past and the elusive and unexpected ways the mysteries of the universe assert themselves. Finished shortly before Johnson's death, this collection is the last word from a writer whose work will live on for many years to come. Praise for The Largesse of the Sea Maiden "An instant classic."--Newsday "Exceptional luminosity . . . hits a powerful vein."--The New York Times Book Review "Grace and oblivion are inextricably yoked in these transcendent stories. . . . Johnson's] gift is to extract the beauty in all that brokenness."--The Wall Street Journal "Nobody ever wrote like Denis Johnson. Nobody ever came close. . . . We're just left with this miraculous book, these perfect stories, the last words from one of the world's greatest writers."--NPR

Johnson's work transforms the stuff of everyday life into something vibrant, wonderful, and strange. These are poems of grief and regret, of nightmare and acceptance, of redemption and the possibility of grace. They present a vision of the American landscape at once unique and startling, terrifying and true.

Togdrømmer er en roman om Amerika, det episke, mytiske og store Amerika sett gjennom en vanlig manns tragiske og likevel ordinære liv og skjebne. Robert Grainier jobber som skogs- og jernbanearbeider opp mot den Canadiske grensen på begynnelsen av 1900-tallet. Han skaffer land, får bygget seg en skogshytte, stifter familie, men brutalt skal alt bli revet bort fra ham. Resten av livet, som sammenfaller med moderniseringen av Amerika, skal han forsøke å fylle tomrommet etter de som forsvant. Togdrømmer er en eksepsjonell vakker, rørende og innsiktsfull fortelling, skrevet av en av den amerikanske litteraturens største nålevende forfattere. Denne korte romanen handler om den amerikanske drømmen, om vitaliteten, kraften og naturskjønnheten. Og den handler om det amerikanske marerittet, som er prisen som ble betalt og fortsatt blir betalt for å leve i sivilisasjonen. Togdrømmer spenner nesten over et hundreår, den begynner i nybyggernes Amerika og ender med Elvis Presleys USA. Ingen har fanget denne epoken litterært mer konsentrert og vakrere enn Denis Johnson. Denis Johnsen (f. 1949) er en av USAs mest markante og bejublede romanforfattere de siste tiårene, men han har også markert seg sterkt som poet og novellist. Han vant National Book Award for romanen Tree of Smoke (2007), som også resulterte i hans første Pulitzerpris-nominasjon. Sin andre Pulitzer-nominasjon fikk han for kortromanen Togdrømmer (Train Dreams, 2012).

But on this new level â?? espionage, state secrets, treason â?? their loyalties will be tested to the limit. This is a brutal journey through a land abandoned by the future â?? a journey that will lead them to meet themselves not in a new light, but in a new darkness.