Denis Johnson

Denis Johnson (1949-2017) was born in Munich, former West Germany. He grew up in Tokyo, Manila, and Washington. He studied at the University of Iowa under the guidance of the notable writer and poet Raymond Carver. Like one of his predecessors, Norman Mailer, he engaged in various forms of writing: he was a novelist, playwright, journalist, and poet. In 1969, he published his first book, a poetry collection titled "The Man Among the Seals." The following year, he underwent his first treatment for alcohol detoxification and experienced several adventures with drugs and vagrancy. He became well-known with his book "Jesus' Son" (1992), a collection of short stories with strong autobiographical elements, written during his drug addiction in an atmosphere of anguish—having just gone through his second divorce, contracted malaria, faced financial difficulties, and lacked a permanent residence. "Jesus' Son," a title drawn from a line in Lou Reed's famous song "Heroin," achieved great success and encouraged readers to discover his earlier works, including the poetry collections "The Incognito Lounge" (1982) and "The Veil" (1987), and the novels "Angels" (1983), "Fiskadoro" (1985), "Stars at Noon" (1986), "Resuscitation of a Hanged Man" (1991), followed by "Already Dead: A California Gothic" (1998) and "The Name of the World" (2000). The novel "Tree of Smoke" (2007, Greek edition by Patakis, 2011) is an outstanding achievement that combined the creator's many talents, was honored with the National Book Award, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. This was followed by the novels "Nobody Move" (2009), "The Laughing Monsters" (2014), and the novella "Train Dreams" (2011), which was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist. In 2018, Penguin/Random House is expected to publish his final short story collection, "The Largesse of the Sea Maiden." He passed away after a battle with cancer at his home in California on May 24, 2017, at the age of 67.