The Largesse of the Sea Maiden: Stories, Johnson Denis

The Largesse of the Sea Maiden is the long-awaited new story collection from Denis Johnson. It follows the groundbreaking, highly acclaimed Jesus Son. Written in the same luminous prose, this collection finds Johnson in new territory, contemplating old age, mortality, the ghosts of the past, and the elusive and unexpected ways the mysteries of the universe assert themselves. Finished shortly before Johnsons death in May 2017, this collection is the last word from a writer whose work will live on for many years to come.

Advance praise for The Largesse of the Sea Maiden

American literature suffered a serious loss with Denis] Johnsons death. These final stories underscore what well miss. . . . Johnson is best known for his writing about hard-luck cases--alcoholics, thieves, world-weary soldiers. But this final collection ranges up and down the class ladder; for Johnson, a sense of mortality and a struggle to make sense of our lives knew no demographic boundaries.--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

An instant classic . . . A masterpiece of deep humanity and astonishing prose . . . Its filled with Johnsons unparalleled ability to inject humor, profundity, and beauty--often all three--into the dark and the mundane alike. These characters have been pushed toward the edge; through their searches for meaning or clawing just to hold onto life, Johnson is able to articulate what it means to be alive, and to have hope.--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Praise for Denis Johnson

Denis Johnson was the best American writer of the past twenty-five years.--New Republic

He was the kind of writer who comes along once in a generation, if that often: a true original, in the same league as Melville and Whitman.--n+1

A true American artist . . . a revelator for this still new century.--The New York Times

The God I want to believe in has a voice and a sense of humor like Denis Johnsons.--Jonathan Franzen

Nobody wrote with more brutality and mercy, more hilarity and grace. What a genius he was.--Elizabeth McCracken

Our most poetic American short-story writer since Hemingway.--George Saunders

Prose of amazing power and stylishness.--Philip Roth

When Denis Johnson is justly praised for his voice, I always think, just the one? He has an eerie symphony at his command.--Karen Russell

His prose tiptoes a tightrope between peace and calamity.--Anthony Doerr

His lonely spaces and stunned lives have a hair-trigger fascination that is American to the core.--Don DeLillo