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aidanlewis77's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
outtiegw's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
officialmichaelcera's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
hard and piercing, I think about the drive sequence in Work and wonder how it must feel to have created that with your one body on this one earth
megaultratron's review against another edition
4.0
For a book i picked up due to a joke on a podcast this was very well written. Interesting whenever a book (at least partially) takes place in a city you have lived in and interesting bit of writing about a dirtbag and the people he crosses path with. I dont know that it was ground breaking or changed my world but i did enjoy the writing and would defo read another Denis Johnson book.
food2's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
heydukelives's review against another edition
5.0
Perfect. I should be carrying this in my back pocket for those quiet moments in the day.
cmp162's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I have read this book more times than I can remember. I have bought this book four separate times and I’ve given away three copies to friends and exes. There is one word I always come back to in order to describe this book: haunting. There is no plot. The characters are unlikable at best and heartbreaking at worst. This book is an experience that I hope more people will discover.
couuboy's review against another edition
4.0
At times I felt the influence of Carver and other times of Gass, but also throughout all of these stories was its own distinct, singular tone. Denis Johnson paints a world that you want to believe is 2-dimensional but which always ends up taking the bleak shape you felt it would all along. There is an architectonic linking all the stories in this collection which can basically be distilled to the narrators 'chewed up and spat out' ontology, which is what maintains the bleakness but also what maintains the poetics.
I first came across Johnson in an anthology of experimental fiction with the story "Car Crash While Hitchhiking" (which is the first story in this collection) and knew that if any of his other works were even half as impressive they would be worth reading. I stand by this claim although I must say that Car Crash probably remains the clear standout (this is not to say that other stories didn't come close - Dirty Wedding and Emergency often coming very close).
I won't say any more of my own words and will instead drop a few quotes that I believe particularly demonstrate the genius that lurks.
"I could understand how a drowning man might suddenly feel a deep thirst being quenched."
"No more pretending for him! He was completely and openly a mess. Meanwhile the rest of us go on trying to fool each other."
"All these weirdos, and me getting a little better every day right in the midst of them. I had never known, never even imagined for a heartbeat, that there might be a place for people like us."
"The three of us had formed a group based on something erroneous, some basic misunderstanding that hadn't yet come to light, and so we kept on in one another's company, going to bars and having conversations."
"I know there are people who believe that wherever you look, all you see is yourself. Episodes like this make me wonder if they aren't right."
I first came across Johnson in an anthology of experimental fiction with the story "Car Crash While Hitchhiking" (which is the first story in this collection) and knew that if any of his other works were even half as impressive they would be worth reading. I stand by this claim although I must say that Car Crash probably remains the clear standout (this is not to say that other stories didn't come close - Dirty Wedding and Emergency often coming very close).
I won't say any more of my own words and will instead drop a few quotes that I believe particularly demonstrate the genius that lurks.
"I could understand how a drowning man might suddenly feel a deep thirst being quenched."
"No more pretending for him! He was completely and openly a mess. Meanwhile the rest of us go on trying to fool each other."
"All these weirdos, and me getting a little better every day right in the midst of them. I had never known, never even imagined for a heartbeat, that there might be a place for people like us."
"The three of us had formed a group based on something erroneous, some basic misunderstanding that hadn't yet come to light, and so we kept on in one another's company, going to bars and having conversations."
"I know there are people who believe that wherever you look, all you see is yourself. Episodes like this make me wonder if they aren't right."