thoughtful writing, otherworldly worlds, fantastical realism... kudos given where deserved.

"triumph over the grave" was the standout story for me.

Denis Johnson devoted a sizable chunk of his literary career to examination of deeply flawed people considering their mortality. This book, written, or at least honed, when he was living with a terminal liver cancer diagnosis continued his earlier work,, built on it, and sharpened it. That is saying a lot because Johnson's writing is always sharp as a scalpel. The man can convey more in 7 words than most writers do in 7 books and does it with a spare beauty that dazzles. For those of us who love the writing craft, the prose in these 5 longish short stories is painfully perfect. For those who love Johnson's writing and mourn his passing the content of these stories is both an acid burn and a balm.

I listened to the audiobook because the choice of readers was so interesting, and I am glad I chose to listen. The titular story may be Johnson's best work ever, and I say that as someone who counts Jesus' Son in my top 5 short story collections. I hope this gets anthologized all over the place. The story is read by Nick Offerman who could not be more perfect. I will say that in each of the 5 readers you can hear their love of the material. I am not imagining it. It is pretty darn touching. Anyway, for me one of the cool things about the first story is that it covers events in the life of a man who has enjoyed success in his work and his marriage. I have not read all of Johnson's work -- the man is mightily prolific -- but in my experience he has never written about a person who has not been brought low by life. Turns out Johnson can write those people with breathtaking insight and love, just like the junkies and criminals who usually take center stage in his work. He finds the nobility in everyone while never end-running their failures. I have never read another writer who does that. It is so generous and human. Johnson also uses this last chance to tell us a thing or two about the writer's life, or at least his writer's life, in Triumph over the Grave. It is really freaking great. (This one is read by Will Patton, who was fine, but the least compelling of the 5 readers for me.)

There are no bad stories here, though some are better than others. Lest you think that Johnson lost his macabre sense of humor as he faced down metastatic cancer, I assure you he did not. Strangler Bob (brilliantly read by Dermot Mulroney) was probably the funniest of the stories, but Starlight on Idaho (read by Michael Shannon) which is a series of letters written by our narrator while in detox was close. There is black humor in every one of these stories, even the most tragic.

I may revisit this, but for now I will just say that Denis Johnson closed his literary career with a collection that serves as a worthy bookend to Jesus Son, and which left me understanding things I had not understood before.

In this collection of stories, a former advertiser returns to NY, a recovering addict writes letter he’ll never send, a jailed man describes his mates, a creative writing teacher checks in on an artist in residence, and a poet researches his conspiracy theories about Elvis.

It's not "Jesus's Son," but it's what we've got and all we will, probably. Unsurprisingly, excellent.

The beautiful cover (of pencil scrapings) made me pick this one from the public library. A perfect introduction into the world of Denis Johnson, about whom frankly I hadn't heard about till that moment. The story of the man obsessed with Elvis Presley was the high point for me in this one. After this, I ended up listening to two more old stories of his from the New Yorker podcast (from the collection Jesus's son)

I feel I've discovered Denis Johnson much too late in life, that said now that I have I can't get enough... Johnson's writing style is so effortlessly poetic, improvised and almost experimental at times, yet perfectly orchestrated and genuine. Jazzy beats are always playing in the back of my mind as I read his words. The Largess of the Sea Maiden is Johnson at his best, mature and polished... Five memorable stories, each brilliantly narrated and put together. As a whole this collection is quite simply magical, a lovely farewell by a groundbreaking author.

I confess that I have never read Jesus' Son or anything else Denis Johnson has written, but I know he has a cult of devoted --- obsessive, even --- fans. I get that and were I at a different place in my life, or, were the world in better shape than it is, the relentless hopelessness and sorrow that serve as foundation to all these stories might not have made them almost unbearable for me.

That said; I wish I could achieve one iota of the beautiful artistry conveyed in every of Denis Johnson's words, choices, silences, and ideas. His use of language is breathtaking in its ability to convey worlds in so few words, and lives in so few pages, and I would go on, but there are far more skilled reviewers of books and writers who have gone at some length concerning the glory of Denis Johnson's writing, and this slim and posthumous volume in particular, and so I leave you to them and their wisdom.

For me, the sad, bleak, hopelessness of these dark worlds was too much, too heavy to make worth it the admittedly brilliant writing. That's personal, so to speak further to it is unfair to Denis Johnson and anyone considering reading this volume --- which could serve as master class in the art of short story writing.

No doubt there’s some excellent writing here, but on the whole it didn't hold together for me.