- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (7 Mar 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060930470
- ISBN-13: 978-0060930479
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.7 x 1.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,867,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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It' late September and and the Liberian civil war has been stalled, at its very climax, for nearly three weeks. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
It' late September and and the Liberian civil war has been stalled, at its very climax, for nearly three weeks. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This collection of essays (sort of) from Denis Johnson, may not be able to match his poetry or novels like Jesus Son, but through each twisting line and curiously detached narrative, he startles you with language. His writing has a presence like that of Yukio Mishima, you never know what he believes, he ends up in situations that seen to be just a little too dangerous, but obviously he didn't get killed by crazy dictators, cos he's still alive, right now! All in all, a book to read over time, on trains or planes when you're going somewhere you know little about, to meet people that may be unreliable, in keeping with the spirit of this restless lonely book.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Johnson is one of those authors whose novels I've picked up at bookstores and skimmed the jackets of countless times, but never reached the point of actually buying. However, this collection of eleven essays caught my attention and I figured I could dip into it for a brief taste of his writing. For some reason, the edition I have fail to indicate when they were originally written and/or published. This was incredibly irksome, especially in the travel pieces, in which the knowing the year would be very valuable context. In most cases it is easily deduced via the internet, but I can't fathom why the publishers didn't include this information. Beyond that distraction, the essays are almost uniformly well-written, and almost uniformly lacking in any striking insights. They can more or less be divided into three groups: journeys into the self, journeys into American subcultures, and journeys abroad.
The journeys into the self include an account of his honeymoon panning for gold in Alaska, an inauspicious childhood flirtation with the Boy Scouts, and a meandering exploration of his own libertarian streak. The first two are well-told stories which fail to leave any lasting impression, and the last crumbles under the weight of its own overblown language. One stylistic tic that really grates is Johnson's use of the third person in referring to himself within many of the essays. Several times, I was part way through a piece only to realize that the person Johnson was writing about was actually himself -- it really doesn't work.
The journeys into the American subculture are somewhat interesting, as pretty much any reasonably well-written account of a subculture will be. However, in them, Johnson seems to be surprised by things that seem like they should be rather obvious. For example, at a massive Christian biker rally, he seems surprised to find nice Christian bikers! And a huge hippie gathering proves to be eerily well-organized, wow, who'd a thunk those hippies could pull that off? Finally, in the North Carolina countryside where fugitive terrorist bomber Eric Rudolph was thought to hiding out, the locals prove to be rather sympathetic toward him. (The sublime epilogue to this essay is that two years after the book was published, Rudolph became the first FBI Top 10 fugitive arrested while dumpster diving.)
The journeys abroad all take place in the early to mid-1990s, to countries in the midst of civil war (Liberia, Somalia and Afghanistan). These are vividly written examples of the journalist as subject of cosmic/comic misadventure and bearer of witness to horrible things. Johnson writes engagingly about his experiences, but the experiences themselves are no different than those of any foreign correspondent in a war zone. And since some 15+ years have passed since his experiences, one is left thirsty for an update or epilogue for each of these. On the whole, like a lot of essay collections, this is really of primary interest to those who are already fans of Johnson's writing. Others may find interesting tidbits here and there, but it's a pretty standard essay collection.
The journeys into the self include an account of his honeymoon panning for gold in Alaska, an inauspicious childhood flirtation with the Boy Scouts, and a meandering exploration of his own libertarian streak. The first two are well-told stories which fail to leave any lasting impression, and the last crumbles under the weight of its own overblown language. One stylistic tic that really grates is Johnson's use of the third person in referring to himself within many of the essays. Several times, I was part way through a piece only to realize that the person Johnson was writing about was actually himself -- it really doesn't work.
The journeys into the American subculture are somewhat interesting, as pretty much any reasonably well-written account of a subculture will be. However, in them, Johnson seems to be surprised by things that seem like they should be rather obvious. For example, at a massive Christian biker rally, he seems surprised to find nice Christian bikers! And a huge hippie gathering proves to be eerily well-organized, wow, who'd a thunk those hippies could pull that off? Finally, in the North Carolina countryside where fugitive terrorist bomber Eric Rudolph was thought to hiding out, the locals prove to be rather sympathetic toward him. (The sublime epilogue to this essay is that two years after the book was published, Rudolph became the first FBI Top 10 fugitive arrested while dumpster diving.)
The journeys abroad all take place in the early to mid-1990s, to countries in the midst of civil war (Liberia, Somalia and Afghanistan). These are vividly written examples of the journalist as subject of cosmic/comic misadventure and bearer of witness to horrible things. Johnson writes engagingly about his experiences, but the experiences themselves are no different than those of any foreign correspondent in a war zone. And since some 15+ years have passed since his experiences, one is left thirsty for an update or epilogue for each of these. On the whole, like a lot of essay collections, this is really of primary interest to those who are already fans of Johnson's writing. Others may find interesting tidbits here and there, but it's a pretty standard essay collection.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Seeker's Progress
8 Aug 2001
Format:Hardcover
Denis Johnson is that rare and wonderful thing: a lyrical writer with a brain. This is a collection of non-fiction essays he has published over the last 20 years, and it should win him many new fans who aren't familiar with his acclaimed fiction and poetry. The title, "Seek", is well chosen. Johnson presents himself as a seeker after truth, both physical and metaphysical. He brings with him an open mind, an open heart and genuine humility. "The Civil War in Hell" shows his visit to the heart of darkness of the Liberian civil war, where he views along with other journalists a videotape of the torture of the nations former dictator. The funny "Down Hard Six Times", an account of his honeymoon/gold-prospecting trip to Alaska is both a cautionary tale and a celebration of wilderness. The amazing "Hippies" is an exorciating satire of a drug-addled gathering of aging flower-children over Independence Day. He writes an amazinglyly sympathetic account of a Kenneth Copeland "Bikers for Jesus" rally: Johnson, who defines himself as a Christian, finds genuine religiosity among the weirdness. "Three Deserts" has some of the best writing about the American west I have ever encountered (Johnson lives full-time in northern Idaho.) The high point of the book for me is the stunning "The Militia in Me." Here Johnson gets past the hysteria about "right-wing militias" and, without minimizing their anti-semitism and extremism, sees them as within the well-established tradition of American anti-government, pro-freedom orneriness. In many ways, the West really is a different country and Johnson is well-aware of this, more so than many a provincial Eastern writer. This is a terrific book. Buy it immediately.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
pure narrative gift
1 May 2001
Format:Hardcover
Who could resist writing that sounds like a combination of Hunter S. Thompson and Julian Barnes? These stories delight but also provoke. ... the writing is always snappy: there are no excess words.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Back in Form
21 May 2001
Format:Hardcover
After the slightness of THE NAME OF THE WORLD, and the somewhat scattered ALREADY DEAD, Johnson returns to the form that made JESUS' SON such a classic in this collection of articles. The standout is hands-down the last piece on his f**cked-up experiences in Liberia. Also good are the glimpses you get into Johnson's personal life, including his marriage and subsequent honeymoon in the wilds of Alaska, where they try to pan for the gold from which they plan to fashion their wedding rings; the highly disorganized hippie festival he goes to; the bikers for Jesus; his short piece on his brief stint as a Boy Scout. If you're already a Johnson fan, SEEK is cause for celebration.
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