Books by author: Denis Johnson

It is impossible to read Fiskadoro without comparing it to Riddley Walker (or choose your own favorite post-apocalyptic novel). Denis Johnson is an excellent writer, and this novel is easier to read than Hoban's, but not ultimately as satisfying. In Riddley Walker there was a wonderful sense of putting pieces of a puzzle together and gaining a growing understanding of the story [Note: this would be completely ruined by reading the glossary provided in recent American editions!] . Fiskadoro is more clear from the start, and while there are surreal sections, there is less of a sense of underlying logic.

I've said before that I'm not a good reader of short stories, but since this book is more of a novel told in sketches than a true short story collection, I didn't have my normal problems. Indeed, I greatly enjoyed Johnson's collection, though I found it to be much too short, particularly for the price.

In Jesus' Son, Johnson presents a collection of short sketches told by the same narrator, a drug addict in his early twenties who travels through the western part of the United States taking jobs at hospitals (where he can steal drugs). The writing is surreal and poetic, while at the same time pretty harsh. I look forward to reading more by this acclaimed author/poet.

This is a dark tale about an insane man during the year or so after a failed suicide attempt. Johnson is an outstanding writer, though I remember liking Jesus' Son somewhat more.