Writer Series: Openings #2

I've mentioned before how great I think Denis Johnson's "Jesus' Son: Stories" is. The opening I am posting for this installment is from a short story called "Work." For writers in particular, I think just the opening paragraph shows how a talented writer can make prose both entertaining and potent. Johnson came to fiction from poetry and that lineage is evident throughout the collection. BTW, Jesus's Son is also a movie, starring Billy Crudup. The movie averages four star reviews at Amazon, but I wouldn't go that high. I felt the movie played too much to the humorous side -- and there is wonderful humor in the stories -- while marginalizing the darker side. But then, Johnson has a cameo in the movie and I assume he approved of the tone, so what do I know? Anyway, check it out:

I'd been staying at the Holiday Inn with my girlfriend, honestly the most beautiful woman I'd ever know, for three days, under a phony name, shooting heroin. We made love in the bed, ate steaks at the restaurant, shot up in the john, puked, cried, accused one another, begged of one another, forgave, promised, and carried one another to heaven.

Junot Diaz's Wao

I was very impressed with Junot Diaz's short story collection, "Drown." Eleven years later he presented "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" and the wait was worth it. I really can't relate Diaz's style to anyone. His voice is fresh, and his prose reminds us there are still original things to do with fiction. From reading the reviews of people who don't enjoy this book I can see that his riffing style, and his regular use of Spanish and Spanglish, historical references, and science/fantasy fiction references (and I get none of those) alienate some. For me it's like jazz--I don't understand everything at play, but it's too fun to ignore.

On a side note, I was reading the one star reviews of the book at Amazon and one of them compared Oscar to Ignatious Reilly in "A Confederacy of Dunces," by John Kennedy Toole, and so, while I'm making suggestions, do yourself a favor and check that out as well. The story of the author and how that book came to be published is both sad and inspiring. The novel is a masterpiece.

Next up on the bookshelf...Dennis Johnson's "Tree of Smoke." Johnson's shorty story collection, "Jesus' Son: Stories," had more impact on me than anything since Carver. I still return to it and curse him for setting the bar so high. :-)