Denis Johnson

American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

Denis Hale Johnsonwas an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his debut short story collection, Jesus’ Son (1992).

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About the Denis Johnson

Denis Hale Johnsonwas an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his debut short story collection, Jesus’ Son (1992). His most successful novel, Tree of Smoke (2007), won the National Book Award for Fiction. Johnson was twice shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Altogether, Johnson was the author of nine novels, one novella, two books of short stories, three collections of poetry, two collections of plays, and one book of reportage. His final work, a book of short stories titled The Largesse of the Sea Maiden, was published posthumously in 2018.

12 Quotes by Denis Johnson

  1. 1.

    In the plays – that’s where I go crazy. But my prose has a much lighter touch; it’s not trying to thrill with language, just to be more truthful. I’m not concerned with the accuracy of anything. We don’t get to the truth of anything with facts.

    Denis Johnson

    American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

  2. 2.

    I really enjoy writing novels. It’s like the ocean. You can just build a boat and take off.

    Denis Johnson

    American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

  3. 3.

    When I’m writing for Esquire, my conscious thought is, I’m not writing for American Scholar.

    Denis Johnson

    American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

  4. 4.

    I was probably 35 when I wrote the first story. The voice is kind of a mix in that it has a young voice, but it’s also someone who’s looking back. I like that kind of double vision.

    Denis Johnson

    American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

  5. 5.

    I’d met a woman and I got married, but the money ran out right away. I hadn’t had a job for seven months, and it just came over me that I was never going to work again. It hit me.

    Denis Johnson

    American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

  6. 6.

    If you write fiction, you’re by yourself. There are certain advantages to that in that you don’t have to explain anything to anybody. But when you get in with others who share the loneliness of the whole enterprise, you’re not lonely anymore.

    Denis Johnson

    American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

  7. 7.

    I didn’t finish the stories until we went to the Philippines and I got malaria. I couldn’t work and I didn’t have any money, but I had seven stories. So I wrote three or four more.

    Denis Johnson

    American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

  8. 8.

    I think it’s silly for anyone to think you could write under the influence, but if they’d like to think that, I’d like to keep the legend alive. Maybe I was under the influence when I wrote Jesus’ Son and I just didn’t know it.

    Denis Johnson

    American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

  9. 9.

    What’s funny about Jesus’ Son is that I never even wrote that book, I just wrote it down. I would tell these stories and people would say, You should write these things down.

    Denis Johnson

    American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

  10. 10.

    If you take a lie and allow your desire for the truth, you’ll end up with some truth – not fact, but something that gets you closer to the truth. That’s what we want. When we go to a play, we need to be assured that the experience we’re having.

    Denis Johnson

    American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

  11. 11.

    You’re under pressure when you produce facts. You’re working with facts in journalism, but you’re under all kinds of formal constraints; there are expectations.

    Denis Johnson

    American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)

  12. 12.

    All the modern verse plays, they’re terrible; they’re mostly about the poetry. It’s more important that the play is first.

    Denis Johnson

    American writer (novel, drama, poetry, essay) (1949-2017)