Randomhero’s Comments (group member since Jul 17, 2008)

Randomhero’s comments from the Denis Johnson group.

Really? I like that a lot. I had heard that Nobody Move would be published by winter 2009, but I think that is an awesome idea. I really look forward to that now.

You're right though his stories are very unpredictable, and generally have the cliff hanger quality where he mentions something incredibly shocking then shifts perspectives to a different character. This novel is perfect for that technique, rather than shifting perspectives he can shock the reader and let it sink in for an entire month, gestating until the ultimate climax and ending. He's definitely got a friend at Playboy or at least a huge fan, which makes me curious if we will see more of this in the future, moving to more syndicated noir, and even after this how his novels will be effected. However, though Playboy does have a penchant for publishing fiction including Tom Clancy, Kurt Vonnegut, and Margaret Atwood, I just never thought Denis Johnson. It makes sense though and works incredibly well.

I'm a ways through Already Dead and I feel like it is a bit different in that he had the liberty of doing much more with his prose. When writing something for a periodical he has limited space and limited time yielding a much different story than his previous work. I'm very interested to see how it turns out. It seems like the perfect mix for Johnson melding the style of fiction with the deadlines of frontier journalism and we can see where Nobody Move gets its roots. I can't wait to see it played out, he really is making us wait with this one, we won't know the end until October!

For those of you who didn't know Johnson is currently writing a novel, entitled Nobody Move, that is to be syndicated in Playboy over the next four months (starting in July). There will be four installments of 10,000 words each, and focuses on a gambling addict who gets into a sticky situation with his debtors. I've read the first installment and seems quite good, different from most of his novels because it is obviously less wordy and lacks a lot of the descriptive power that he usually brings to the table. Definitely pick it up if you're interested. Here are a couple of links, one to the article, and another to a review of the first segment:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/art...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacke...

Post your favorites, mine in order:

1. Train Dreams, easily number 1
2. Jesus' Son
3. The Name of the World
4. Angels
5. Tree of Smoke
6. Fiskadoro

I've got a whole bunch coming to me now, his plays and poems, and I'm currently reading Already Dead. So we'll see if this changes for me, what does everyone else think?