Introduction

Twenty-five years after Jesus’ Son, a haunting new collection of short stories on mortality and transcendence, from National Book Award winner and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Denis Johnson

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Dwight Garner, The New York Times • Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air • Chicago Tribune • Newsday • New York • Vulture • AV Club • Publishers Weekly

“Ranks with the best fiction published by any American writer during this short century.”—New York

“A posthumous masterpiece.”—Entertainment Weekly

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • The Washington Post • NPR • The Boston Globe • New York Public Library • Kirkus Reviews • Bloomberg

The Largesse of the Sea Maiden is the long-awaited new story collection from Denis Johnson. Written in the luminous prose that made him one of the most beloved and important writers of his generation, this collection finds Johnson in new territory, contemplating the ghosts of the past and the elusive and unexpected ways the mysteries of the universe assert themselves.

Finished shortly before Johnson’s death, this collection is the last word from a writer whose work will live on for many years to come.

Praise for The Largesse of the Sea Maiden

“An instant classic.”—Newsday

“Exceptional luminosity . . . hits a powerful vein.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Grace and oblivion are inextricably yoked in these transcendent stories. . . . [Johnson’s] gift is to extract the beauty in all that brokenness.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Nobody ever wrote like Denis Johnson. Nobody ever came close. . . . We’re just left with this miraculous book, these perfect stories, the last words from one of the world’s greatest writers.”—NPR

Editorial Review

An Amazon Best Book of January 2018: In this posthumous collection, Denis Johnson’s narrators are often confined to one place as they relate their stories—a couch, the kitchen table, or even prison. Yet images tumble forward, and humor bubbles, and his characters speak out about their hopes and limitations, and some kind of alchemy takes place that can only be achieved by the best writers. You feel like they’ve taken you on a journey, even if you never left their minimum space. Johnson’s characters all have faults, about which they are at least semi-aware. Some of them are criminals, and even more are addicts. But all of them are deeply human, and you will probably recognize a little of yourself in these stories, even if no one else would make that connection. There are lines you’ll want to underline. Memories and emotions will be stirred. This is a great collection for Johnson to go out on. --Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review

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