Tim Herrick
2007-08-30 17:00:08 UTC
HOLY SHIT
Denis Johnson, finally, has a new NOVEL out. It’s called Tree Of Smoke (I
haven’t read it but will very soon)
A rave review appears in the new york times, i hope this link works
_http://select.nytimes.com/preview/2007/09/02/books/1154687663499.html?8tpw&em
c=tpw_
(http://select.nytimes.com/preview/2007/09/02/books/1154687663499.html?8tpw&emc=tpw)
TREE OF SMOKE is from a the dylan lyric, and I have this post I ressurrected
from ten years ago on RMD, where I met Denis Johnson and we dicussed Dylan
(by the way, the reviewer is so lame he doesn't realize Tree of Smoke is a
Dylan lyric)
THIS IS THE POST FROM THE PAST
Well, this evening I had the pleasure of seeing Denis Johnson read in new
york tonight. It was the first time in many yearst that this great writer has
given a public reading in new york.
For those who don’t know, Denis Johson is seriously, one of the greatest
writers of our time. His fiction includes Angels, Fiskarado, Stars At Noon,
Rescucitation of a Hanged Man, Jesus’s Son and Already Dead. His poetry includes
Icognito Lounge and a new collected poems edition. He’s simply a great writer
and if you haven’t read him, you simply must. I especially recommend Angels
and Jesus’s Son, the latter is the most important collection of short stories
published since Raymond Carver died.
Anyway, he’s a funny smart guy, and after reading a nice selection from his
new novel, Alread Dead, which takes place in Nothern California, and the
Short Story The Two Men from Jesus’s Son, he read from the novel, titled Tree of
Smoke, which he is currently writing.
“I got the tile from this Bob dylan song, Angelina,” Johnson says. “Anybody
writing should rip off everything they can from Bob Dylan. If I could make
my living writing everything Bob Dylan sings and crediting him, I could.”
It was quite funny. He was joking around of course.
So, after the reading, when I brought the books of his to him that I hadn’t
had signed a few years ago when I first saw him read, and after I gave my
usual gushing about how much his books have meant to me, I complimented him
on picking an obscure Bob Dylan song, and it turns out, as I mentioned to him,
that the thing he was reading is actually a sequel to his First novel, a
prequel apparently, to Angels, which includes a credited quote of LARS in this
great scene.
Johnson then went on to say how much he loves the imagery of Angelina, and
is trying to remember the
lyrics, and he doesn’t get them right until he does a Dylan imitation, “up
them spiral stair cases, pass the tree of smoke, pass the angel with four
faces,” and then I do my Dylan impression, “begging god for mercy and weeping
in unholy places.”
So, there I was, harmonizing in nasal dylanese with one of the greatest
writers of THIS CENTURY.
Hey, my night was made.
************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
Denis Johnson, finally, has a new NOVEL out. It’s called Tree Of Smoke (I
haven’t read it but will very soon)
A rave review appears in the new york times, i hope this link works
_http://select.nytimes.com/preview/2007/09/02/books/1154687663499.html?8tpw&em
c=tpw_
(http://select.nytimes.com/preview/2007/09/02/books/1154687663499.html?8tpw&emc=tpw)
TREE OF SMOKE is from a the dylan lyric, and I have this post I ressurrected
from ten years ago on RMD, where I met Denis Johnson and we dicussed Dylan
(by the way, the reviewer is so lame he doesn't realize Tree of Smoke is a
Dylan lyric)
THIS IS THE POST FROM THE PAST
Well, this evening I had the pleasure of seeing Denis Johnson read in new
york tonight. It was the first time in many yearst that this great writer has
given a public reading in new york.
For those who don’t know, Denis Johson is seriously, one of the greatest
writers of our time. His fiction includes Angels, Fiskarado, Stars At Noon,
Rescucitation of a Hanged Man, Jesus’s Son and Already Dead. His poetry includes
Icognito Lounge and a new collected poems edition. He’s simply a great writer
and if you haven’t read him, you simply must. I especially recommend Angels
and Jesus’s Son, the latter is the most important collection of short stories
published since Raymond Carver died.
Anyway, he’s a funny smart guy, and after reading a nice selection from his
new novel, Alread Dead, which takes place in Nothern California, and the
Short Story The Two Men from Jesus’s Son, he read from the novel, titled Tree of
Smoke, which he is currently writing.
“I got the tile from this Bob dylan song, Angelina,” Johnson says. “Anybody
writing should rip off everything they can from Bob Dylan. If I could make
my living writing everything Bob Dylan sings and crediting him, I could.”
It was quite funny. He was joking around of course.
So, after the reading, when I brought the books of his to him that I hadn’t
had signed a few years ago when I first saw him read, and after I gave my
usual gushing about how much his books have meant to me, I complimented him
on picking an obscure Bob Dylan song, and it turns out, as I mentioned to him,
that the thing he was reading is actually a sequel to his First novel, a
prequel apparently, to Angels, which includes a credited quote of LARS in this
great scene.
Johnson then went on to say how much he loves the imagery of Angelina, and
is trying to remember the
lyrics, and he doesn’t get them right until he does a Dylan imitation, “up
them spiral stair cases, pass the tree of smoke, pass the angel with four
faces,” and then I do my Dylan impression, “begging god for mercy and weeping
in unholy places.”
So, there I was, harmonizing in nasal dylanese with one of the greatest
writers of THIS CENTURY.
Hey, my night was made.
************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour