I'm going to come back to this. Great read. Great writer. Just have to put it away for a while.

****1/2

Denis Johnson out-Gonzos HST in this set of essays on the Rainbow Gathering to an ill-fated trip through Liberia.

It's all pretty much in the last ten pages. Who else writes this honestly?

Why can’t every journalist be like Johnson? One of my favorite contemporary writers who has always liked his fiction pieces, I was skeptical to branch out into this at first. But wow! Johnson really puts himself into the scariest, most dangerous pockets of humanity so that we can catch a glimpse of what life is like for people who aren’t like us. The Small Boy’s Unit is my favorite piece of non-fiction ever. This is a must read. You don’t know journalism until you’ve read this collection.

I haven't fully committed to reading everything DJ has ever written but I'm closer than I was yesterday. Fantastic.

Personal essays both amusing and hair-raising.

Brilliant researcher and participant of his nonfiction.

Johnson's essays read like his fiction. You really can't go wrong with that. I'm just disappointed that I waited so long to read this.

As with any compilation of essays, some are better than others. But the writing is so consistently excellent, the topics so interesting, and the content so diverse that this books wins a five-star rating. Highly recommended.

Absolutely magnificent. As usual, Johnson does not disappoint. The final essay of the collection, 'The Small Boys' Unit' blew me away. Kafka in Africa.

Hilarious and touching essays about the human condition.