Denis Johnson, award-winning author of Jesus' Son, Tree of Smoke, dies at 67
Award-winning author and poet Denis Johnson died Thursday at the age of 67, The Washington Post reports. "Denis was one of the great writers of his generation," Farrar, Straus & Giroux president and publisher Jonathan Galassi said in a statement. "He wrote prose with the imaginative concentration and empathy of the poet he was."
Johnson is best known for his hazy, freewheeling collection of linked stories, Jesus' Son, and he won the 2007 National Book Award and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his Vietnam War novel, Tree of Smoke. His most recent novel, The Laughing Monsters, was published in 2014.
"No American novelist since William Burroughs has so flagrantly risked 'insensitivity' in an effort to depict the pathology of addiction," The New York Times wrote of Johnson in 1992.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"My ear for the diction and rhythms of poetry was trained by — in chronological order — Dr. Seuss, Dylan Thomas, Walt Whitman, the guitar solos of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, and T.S. Eliot," Johnson once said. "Other influences come and go, but those I admire the most and those I admired the earliest (I still admire them) have something to say in every line I write."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
New Year's Honours: why the controversy?
Today's Big Question London Mayor Sadiq Khan and England men's football manager Gareth Southgate have both received a knighthood despite debatable records
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Schloss Roxburghe: a quiet country retreat in the Scottish Borders
The Week Recommends Hyatt has added a collection of self-catering cottages to its destination hotel
By Jonathan Samuels Published
-
The biggest sporting events of 2025
The Explainer Women's Rugby World Cup and African Cup of Nations are among sporting highlights this coming year
By The Week UK Published
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talks
Speed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tour
Speed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamation
Speed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box office
Speed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appeal
Speed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91
Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Kris Kristofferson, singer-songwriter, is dead at 88
Speed Read The musician wrote hit songs for Janis Joplin and Johnny Cash before starring in Hollywood movies
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Shannen Doherty, star of '90210,' dies at 53
Speed Read The 'Charmed' actress was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published