A short posthumous collection of short stories, Johnson's first in 25 years, since his outstanding "Jesus' Son". Thanks to RH and NetGalley for an ebook ARC of this. The first 3 stories are peopled by his often used young, life-long screw up substance abusers. They were OK - but it is the last 2, longish stories that make this worth reading. Both from the First Person POV of a writer. "Triumph Over the Grave", which seems to have been written as Johnson knew he was dying, is just stunning! It is about love and growing old and becoming ill - and friendship. The ending - wow! The last story, "Doppelganger, Poltergeist" towards the end briefly brings up the connection between mania and genius - and the whole story is an excellent example of exactly that! A story that will be studied for years on how to develop a concept in a unique way (how does he slip 9/11 in for a few pages, and then moves on?). BTW, none of the writers mentioned in either of these stories actually exist. But the stories are also interesting in the way they present how the "academic careers" of authors are often lived.
It has been so long ago that I can not remember when I read my first Denis Johnson book - back in the '80's when he was first getting started, I believe. And I have never read a bad book by him in all that time - this collection is another example of brilliance by one of the very best writers of his generation. Read it.