Johnson, Denis
The traveling salesmen fed me pills that made the lining of my veins feel scraped out, my jaw ached… I knew every raindrop by its name, I sensed everything before it happened. Like I knew a certain oldsmobile would stop even before it slowed, and by the sweet voices of the family inside, I knew we’d have an accident in the rain. I didn’t care. They said they’d take me all the way.
– Denis Johnson, “Jesus’ Son”
Listen to Denis Johnson’s reading at the Poetry Center of Chicago:
Read this interview with Denis Johnson in the Yale Literary Magazine:
Denis Johnson Interview
At 19, Denis Johnson published his first book of poetry, Man Among Seals. A couple of years after that, he got a BA from University of Iowa and MFA from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, where he studied under Raymond Carver. Johnson is prolific.
Watch the trailer for the movie version of Denis Johnson’s book Jesus’ Son:
