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Nothing Lost
From one of America’s most celebrated writers—an incandescent love story set in a small American town overtaken by the celebrity machine that comes to feast on a big-time criminal trial.
In the town of Regent, a lurid murder becomes a magnet for the media, the best and worst of the local courtroom powers, and a rich cast of hangers-on. There is Teresa Kean, the advocacy lawyer whose life is charged by a mysterious secret; J.J. McClure, the prosecutor who contemplates his own secrets under the radar screen of Poppy, his glamorous, funny, right-wing congresswoman wife. There is Max Cline, a tough gay former state’s attorney, once J.J.’s boss and now a marginalized defense counsel. There is the sociopathic seventeen-year-old Carlyle, half sister of the accused, a supermodel whose addiction is attention—no matter the cost. And—as if it were a character itself—there is the reckless passion that will fulfill a self-destructive destiny for one of the players.
Dunne’s fascination with “the population of the forgotten, the rejected, and the left behind” in the emptiness of the American heartland is the foundation of a story that takes us through the inner workings of the media, the prisons, the courts, and politics. Unsentimental, surprising—deeply sad and darkly funny— Nothing Lost is Dunne’s finest and last novel.
In the town of Regent, a lurid murder becomes a magnet for the media, the best and worst of the local courtroom powers, and a rich cast of hangers-on. There is Teresa Kean, the advocacy lawyer whose life is charged by a mysterious secret; J.J. McClure, the prosecutor who contemplates his own secrets under the radar screen of Poppy, his glamorous, funny, right-wing congresswoman wife. There is Max Cline, a tough gay former state’s attorney, once J.J.’s boss and now a marginalized defense counsel. There is the sociopathic seventeen-year-old Carlyle, half sister of the accused, a supermodel whose addiction is attention—no matter the cost. And—as if it were a character itself—there is the reckless passion that will fulfill a self-destructive destiny for one of the players.
Dunne’s fascination with “the population of the forgotten, the rejected, and the left behind” in the emptiness of the American heartland is the foundation of a story that takes us through the inner workings of the media, the prisons, the courts, and politics. Unsentimental, surprising—deeply sad and darkly funny— Nothing Lost is Dunne’s finest and last novel.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
5 people are currently reading
298 people want to read
About the author
John Gregory Dunne
20 books138 followersJohn Gregory Dunne was an American novelist, screenwriter and literary critic.
He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and was a younger brother of author Dominick Dunne. He suffered from a severe stutter and took up writing to express himself. Eventually he learned to speak normally by observing others. He graduated from Princeton University in 1954 and worked as a journalist for Time magazine. He married novelist Joan Didion on 30 January 1964, and they became collaborators on a series of screenplays, including Panic in Needle Park (1971), A Star Is Born (1976) and True Confessions (1981), an adaptation of his own novel. He is the author of two non-fiction books about Hollywood, The Studio and Monster.
As a literary critic and essayist, he was a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books. His essays were collected in two books, Quintana & Friends and Crooning.
He wrote several novels, among them True Confessions, based loosely on the Black Dahlia murder, and Dutch Shea, Jr.
He was the writer and narrator of the 1990 PBS documentary L.A. is It with John Gregory Dunne, in which he guided viewers through the cultural landscape of Los Angeles.
He died in Manhattan of a heart attack, in December 2003. His final novel, Nothing Lost, which was in galleys at the time of his death, was published in 2004.
He was father to Quintana Roo Dunne, who died in 2005 after a series of illnesses, and uncle to actors Griffin Dunne (who co-starred in An American Werewolf in London) and Dominique Dunne (who co-starred in Poltergeist).
His wife, Joan Didion, published The Year of Magical Thinking in October 2005 to great critical acclaim, a memoir of the year following his death, during which their daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne, was seriously ill. It won the National Book Award.
He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and was a younger brother of author Dominick Dunne. He suffered from a severe stutter and took up writing to express himself. Eventually he learned to speak normally by observing others. He graduated from Princeton University in 1954 and worked as a journalist for Time magazine. He married novelist Joan Didion on 30 January 1964, and they became collaborators on a series of screenplays, including Panic in Needle Park (1971), A Star Is Born (1976) and True Confessions (1981), an adaptation of his own novel. He is the author of two non-fiction books about Hollywood, The Studio and Monster.
As a literary critic and essayist, he was a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books. His essays were collected in two books, Quintana & Friends and Crooning.
He wrote several novels, among them True Confessions, based loosely on the Black Dahlia murder, and Dutch Shea, Jr.
He was the writer and narrator of the 1990 PBS documentary L.A. is It with John Gregory Dunne, in which he guided viewers through the cultural landscape of Los Angeles.
He died in Manhattan of a heart attack, in December 2003. His final novel, Nothing Lost, which was in galleys at the time of his death, was published in 2004.
He was father to Quintana Roo Dunne, who died in 2005 after a series of illnesses, and uncle to actors Griffin Dunne (who co-starred in An American Werewolf in London) and Dominique Dunne (who co-starred in Poltergeist).
His wife, Joan Didion, published The Year of Magical Thinking in October 2005 to great critical acclaim, a memoir of the year following his death, during which their daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne, was seriously ill. It won the National Book Award.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 9, 2011
I recently read Joan Didion's A Year of Magical Thinking and she often referred to this book, as it was her husband's last novel (that he wrote before he died). I really enjoyed Didion's book and had become curious about both her works as well as her husband's. So at the library I came across this one and decided to try it.
If you like crime novels, this one should be added to your list of "to reads". It's fast paced, intelligent, and has a few twists and turns. Dunne is well known for his screenwriting, and this story often reads like an action movie (and I mean that in a good way).
My only "issue" with this story is that it's set in the "heartland" of America, a fictional state called "Midland" somewhere by Missouri/Kansas. I grew up in the Midwest (well, we considered ourselves "Midwest" although not part of the Heartland). And while the descriptions and even a lot of the dialogue were "accurate", the feel of the story was decidedly NOT Midwestern. It had the frantic pacing of NYC (where Dunne lived) and a too slick movie feel for the Midwest. It was an Easterner portraying his version of the Midwest. And while the portrayal didn't bother me, the inauthentic tone just nibbled at the back of my brain. And for that reason alone, I couldn't give it 3.5 stars like I wanted to.
Didion wrote that upon reflection, Dunne was obsessed with death and that this book seemed to reflect it. Not having read any of his other works, nor knowing him personally, I cannot really say one way or the other. There was definitely a depressing feel to it, but in this particular genre, that is part of the package.
If you like Greg Iles or John Grisham, I'd say you'd probably enjoy this story too. I am very interested though in reading Dunne's non-fiction work, like Monster, as I did enjoy his writing style.
If you like crime novels, this one should be added to your list of "to reads". It's fast paced, intelligent, and has a few twists and turns. Dunne is well known for his screenwriting, and this story often reads like an action movie (and I mean that in a good way).
My only "issue" with this story is that it's set in the "heartland" of America, a fictional state called "Midland" somewhere by Missouri/Kansas. I grew up in the Midwest (well, we considered ourselves "Midwest" although not part of the Heartland). And while the descriptions and even a lot of the dialogue were "accurate", the feel of the story was decidedly NOT Midwestern. It had the frantic pacing of NYC (where Dunne lived) and a too slick movie feel for the Midwest. It was an Easterner portraying his version of the Midwest. And while the portrayal didn't bother me, the inauthentic tone just nibbled at the back of my brain. And for that reason alone, I couldn't give it 3.5 stars like I wanted to.
Didion wrote that upon reflection, Dunne was obsessed with death and that this book seemed to reflect it. Not having read any of his other works, nor knowing him personally, I cannot really say one way or the other. There was definitely a depressing feel to it, but in this particular genre, that is part of the package.
If you like Greg Iles or John Grisham, I'd say you'd probably enjoy this story too. I am very interested though in reading Dunne's non-fiction work, like Monster, as I did enjoy his writing style.
April 19, 2018
A sequel (of sorts) to Playland (1994), Dunne's wickedly caustic Hollywood lampoon. This time Dunne aims for a target just as easy as Tinsel Town: the American judicial circus. A funny, bitter, and sad look at those who profit and suffer from participating in an O.J.-like 'trial-of-the-century'.
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July 23, 2007I learned that candles can be used in uncomfortable ways.
John Gregory Dunne's last novel is a literary murder mystery that casts a broad satirical net over American media culture, politics, and the justice system.
Dunne may be most famous as the subject of "The Year of Magical Thinking" by his wife Joan Didion, but "Nothing Lost" is an excellent example of his attention to craft and his skill at creating intricate and meaningful stories that are simultaneously high and low literature.
The characters here are ones you can care about and the world they live in seems (dishearteningly) like our own. There's Poppy McClure, the rising star Republican, and her husband J.J., the prosecutor in the case to try and convict the murders of Edgar Parlance, or "Gar" as the town affectionately calls him now that he is dead. There's Max, who was demoted from the D.A.'s office for being gay, and Allie, the D.A.'s researcher who plays all the angles. Carlyle is a super model who becomes interested in the case when she discovers her long-lost half-brother Duane is one of the accused and discovers that she can also stand in some of the media glare. Jocko is the football star gone wild who is doing community service for violent misconduct by acting as a Sheriff's deputy. And then there is Teresa Kean, a woman who takes on the defense of Duane Lajoie at a moment when her own life is in crisis.
"Nothing Lost" is a 21st Century "All the King's Men". It succeeds over the original by avoiding its sentimental excesses and Dunne's narrative is tighter and more purposeful. However, Dunne's satire sometimes slips into cartoony moments, especially when Carlyle and Jocko leap into the narrative, and the book lacks the gravitas of "King's" in all but a couple of moments.
John Gregory Dunne's last novel is a literary murder mystery that casts a broad satirical net over American media culture, politics, and the justice system.
Dunne may be most famous as the subject of "The Year of Magical Thinking" by his wife Joan Didion, but "Nothing Lost" is an excellent example of his attention to craft and his skill at creating intricate and meaningful stories that are simultaneously high and low literature.
The characters here are ones you can care about and the world they live in seems (dishearteningly) like our own. There's Poppy McClure, the rising star Republican, and her husband J.J., the prosecutor in the case to try and convict the murders of Edgar Parlance, or "Gar" as the town affectionately calls him now that he is dead. There's Max, who was demoted from the D.A.'s office for being gay, and Allie, the D.A.'s researcher who plays all the angles. Carlyle is a super model who becomes interested in the case when she discovers her long-lost half-brother Duane is one of the accused and discovers that she can also stand in some of the media glare. Jocko is the football star gone wild who is doing community service for violent misconduct by acting as a Sheriff's deputy. And then there is Teresa Kean, a woman who takes on the defense of Duane Lajoie at a moment when her own life is in crisis.
"Nothing Lost" is a 21st Century "All the King's Men". It succeeds over the original by avoiding its sentimental excesses and Dunne's narrative is tighter and more purposeful. However, Dunne's satire sometimes slips into cartoony moments, especially when Carlyle and Jocko leap into the narrative, and the book lacks the gravitas of "King's" in all but a couple of moments.
October 14, 2012
Nothing gained by reading this. In fact I quit reading once the author used the word cunt to describe a female character and decided that I didn't want to slog through his misogynistic shit.
June 9, 2015
This was probably more of a 3.5 star book. But, since it was published posthumously, I'm giving it the bump--it felt like a great book that just needed a little bit more work to hang together fully.
November 22, 2025
So this is Dunne's last book. First one I've read. He is overshadowed by his famous wife, Joan Didion.
This is a very inventive book, many characters, overlays in time and place. It's very good. Reminds me of Martin Amis because the characters are cool, smart, fast talking and out for fun and maybe blood. There's a lot of preliminary action leading up to a trial, which doesn't start until page 250! Yet it's very very entertaining all the way along.
Highlights...
- It was the way the rich seam of chance winds it's inevitable labyrinthine way under the rough terrain of the everyday. (Perhaps a bit over done here, eh?)
- Proof again that our lives are funded by the coinage of coincidence. (How true!)
I think Dunne wrote 6 books. I'll read more, he's very good.
This is a very inventive book, many characters, overlays in time and place. It's very good. Reminds me of Martin Amis because the characters are cool, smart, fast talking and out for fun and maybe blood. There's a lot of preliminary action leading up to a trial, which doesn't start until page 250! Yet it's very very entertaining all the way along.
Highlights...
- It was the way the rich seam of chance winds it's inevitable labyrinthine way under the rough terrain of the everyday. (Perhaps a bit over done here, eh?)
- Proof again that our lives are funded by the coinage of coincidence. (How true!)
I think Dunne wrote 6 books. I'll read more, he's very good.
September 15, 2017
I've never been one for murder-mysteries, but this book kept me avidly reading. Great language and writing style, lots of sex and violence and liberal use of the "F" word. Right up my alley. I will look for more from John Gregory Dunne.
December 25, 2009
What do Jews do on Christmas Eve? Finish good books they are reading.
I've always been more a fan of Joan Didion than her husband; don't think I've finished anything of Dunne's before and the beginning of this one was (excuse the pun to be) a trial. But by the end it bore a not-so-distant modern cousin resemblance to the book that formed its epitaph--All the King's Men.
It seems to be about a trial of two young white men for a hate crime against a black man who might've been homosexual. It turns out to be about the characters who populate this small midwestern state--mostly the people involved in the case as attorneys and investigators, but also the criminals.
It has a lot to say about now what has become all-too-well understood media circuses but more about the broody despair of our injustice system, and maybe just the loneliness of lives that don't turn out as we would like.
Damn good stuff. Surprising that it hasn't been made into a movie, though it may be just slightly too complex.
I've always been more a fan of Joan Didion than her husband; don't think I've finished anything of Dunne's before and the beginning of this one was (excuse the pun to be) a trial. But by the end it bore a not-so-distant modern cousin resemblance to the book that formed its epitaph--All the King's Men.
It seems to be about a trial of two young white men for a hate crime against a black man who might've been homosexual. It turns out to be about the characters who populate this small midwestern state--mostly the people involved in the case as attorneys and investigators, but also the criminals.
It has a lot to say about now what has become all-too-well understood media circuses but more about the broody despair of our injustice system, and maybe just the loneliness of lives that don't turn out as we would like.
Damn good stuff. Surprising that it hasn't been made into a movie, though it may be just slightly too complex.
June 28, 2007
This is Dunne’s last book as he died in December 2003, an account from his wife, Joan Didion has been written called: The Year of Magical Thinking. This story seems to have a similar type of style as Didion. It’s political, there are many characters. The story works as all the fragments in the beginning come together at the end making for an entertaining, if disturbing read, which makes it a successful story.
October 15, 2007
Too many characters, in the beginning it was hard to figure out who was talking. Lots of graphic violence and sex, which was fine by me, but others might not like. Suspense builds toward the last 100 pages, but before that I had to force myself to continue reading it because it was for a book club. The end is wrapped up nicely and I couldnt put it down at the end.
April 11, 2010
I had only known of John Dunne because he was married to Joan Didion. I like his writing style - really like it. Recommended to those who like mysteries and suspense novels. It's not quite either, this book, but it's the closest I can come to a classification. I'm looking forward to picking up more of his books.
April 11, 2025
Ending was extremely fire but everything up to that point was very slow and tedious. The prose was beautiful but too complicated for what it is. Can you not do half stars on Goodreads? 3.5. I want to read the book All the King’s Men that this book is inspired by/based off of seemingly. I think Dunne’s other books are supposed to be better so maybe I will try those.
February 2, 2008
I thought this was great. I really liked the pace, organization, and mysterious foreshadowing. The characters are interesting and authentically flawed. The one disappointment for me is that I felt the trial conclusion was a bit of a cop-out, though the aftermath was satisfying.
January 8, 2008
Cynical but smart.
September 4, 2008
pretty funny send-up of celebrity culture, politics, race relations.
January 22, 2009
Not my usual genre; more of what my Dad would read--very Law & Order. If you spend 114 pages just introducing the characters, the book better lead somewhere fantastic--it didn't.
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February 5, 2009Nothing Lost is Dunne's last novel
April 23, 2010
Political mystery, wonderful writing.
January 2, 2011
While the author created character after character with strong personalities and strong voices, the structure of the book was confusing. It was not clear who was speaking.
January 19, 2015
I'm sorry it's taken me this long to discover the late great John Gregory Dunne. Now that I have, I can't wait to burrow into his canon.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews