Waited 25 years for this book and it didn't disappoint. The title story is a masterpiece--sort of like "What if Walt Whitman came back as a modern-day ad copywriter?" For his culminating work, Johnson dips back into his dysfuctional "uncollected" days for a couple of stories but also glimpses of present-day Denis (he passed away last year). This is a collection which very much covers the arc of his life. The final story has twist and personal relevance that just knocked me for six.

All the stories are told using first-person, as was his general short story mode throughout his career. Complaints that the stories focus too much on "middle-aged white male failures" (so said one reviewer) are fucking idiotic. This is a magnificent book. Get it.