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"A daring novel. . .Denis Johnson is one of our most inventive, unpredictable novelists."New York Times Book Review"A powerful tale. . . Johnson reminds us that political deals have little to do with the shifting alliances and rhetoric by which we define our allies and enemies."San Francisco Chronicle"Ambitious and haunting. . . It is as if one is reading a Graham Greene novel through a surreal haze. . . . Johnson's prose conjures up a world that is as tangible as it is magical. He is an utterly brilliant and original talent--a novelist who reminds us just how wonderful fiction can be when a writer with enormous gifts and intelligence takes large risks."Philadelphia Inquirer"Denis Johnson is uncommonly adept at capturing the anguished futility of people struggling to escape from their own worst enemy--themselves. His prose can only serve to bolster his reputation as a first-rate stylist."Baltimore Sun
Product Description
Set in Nicaragua in 1984, "The Stars at Noon" is a story of passion, fear, and betrayal told in the voice of an American woman whose mission in Central America is as shadowy as her surroundings. Is she a reporter for an American magazine as she sometimes claims, or a contact person for Eyes of Peace? And who is the rough English businessman with whom she becomes involved? As the two foreigners become entangled in increasingly sinister plots, Denis Johnson masterfully dramatizes a powerful vision of spiritual bereavement and corruption.
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First Sentence
THE AIR was getting thick-if you like calling a garotte of diesel and greasy dirt "air"-and so before the burning rain began I stepped into the McDonald's. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
THE AIR was getting thick-if you like calling a garotte of diesel and greasy dirt "air"-and so before the burning rain began I stepped into the McDonald's. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
a departure from johnson's weightless gift for pitch perfect realism...revolution torn, humid nicaragua, 1984, a prostitute (or is she a journalist?) with a drink problem drifts thru corrupt sandanista versus contras climate, finding herself strangely protective of a hapless Englishman who pays for her body and then plays for her heart....the same gorgeous writing style floats throughout...amazing..more evidence of Johnson's unmissable genius -Nick Johnstone
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Set in Nicaragua, this book dumps you naked into the life of a small-time journalist who makes dollars by whoring herself... The thing is that it's just wonderful. The first time you read it, it's so densely written and strange that you may miss loads of the great writing effects - the second time, it's like drinking a really refreshing drink. A really great book about what happens when you are a stranger in someone else's country. Really did make me think of Conrad - for the tightly written style, the dark sense of foreboding, and the exotic setting, telling you something about all human nature. Really highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
...the damned don't arrive carrying the memories of their fat, black sins in their heads...
14 Jan 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If it had a coherent plot it might well have made the literary-thriller best-seller lists, but if it had a coherent plot this wouldn't be a Denis Johnson novel with all the inherent delights and wonders his marvellous writing displays.
From the scary and hellish beginning we are straight into the mind of the narrator, a woman adrift in the maelstrom of political chaos in Nicaragua, 1984. The Contras and the Sandinista are at war. Our narrator is variously a reporter for an American magazine and an observer for the Eyes of Peace organisation, but she has plenty of money - albeit not in the right currency - and is being hounded by the sub-tenente, a military bully, who solicits sexual favours and confiscates her press card, leaving her vulnerable to arrest. But our (unnamed throughout) narrator is also not above posing as a prostitute when she comes across an Englishman and falls for him for no other reason than that he seems even more vulnerable than herself.
The Englishman has got himself into some kind of espionage trap and our narrator tries to help him escape, only to be dragged even further into the hotbed of Nicaraguan political unrest. Then the story is complicated by the entry of an obvious CIA agent into the mixture. The relentless heat, the poverty and degradation of the native Nicaraguans, the seedy hotels and bars, the cold-eyed military oppressors, this might be Greene-land, told by Raymond Chandler.
With its sharp, sassy, dialogue and witty, hard-boiled internal narrative reflection, who needs a coherent plot? This short novel of just 180 pages, is relentlessly entertaining and edgy - and another tour de force from this brilliant American writer.
From the scary and hellish beginning we are straight into the mind of the narrator, a woman adrift in the maelstrom of political chaos in Nicaragua, 1984. The Contras and the Sandinista are at war. Our narrator is variously a reporter for an American magazine and an observer for the Eyes of Peace organisation, but she has plenty of money - albeit not in the right currency - and is being hounded by the sub-tenente, a military bully, who solicits sexual favours and confiscates her press card, leaving her vulnerable to arrest. But our (unnamed throughout) narrator is also not above posing as a prostitute when she comes across an Englishman and falls for him for no other reason than that he seems even more vulnerable than herself.
The Englishman has got himself into some kind of espionage trap and our narrator tries to help him escape, only to be dragged even further into the hotbed of Nicaraguan political unrest. Then the story is complicated by the entry of an obvious CIA agent into the mixture. The relentless heat, the poverty and degradation of the native Nicaraguans, the seedy hotels and bars, the cold-eyed military oppressors, this might be Greene-land, told by Raymond Chandler.
With its sharp, sassy, dialogue and witty, hard-boiled internal narrative reflection, who needs a coherent plot? This short novel of just 180 pages, is relentlessly entertaining and edgy - and another tour de force from this brilliant American writer.
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