Denis Johnson, in my opinion, was one hell of a writer. A writer who though, from the eight books I've read so far, did have a couple that disappointed me. Thankfully, this is top-notch Johnson. Seek; along with Jesus' Son, is the best I've read. I'd even go as far to say this collection of essays was just as good as, and deserves just as much attention, as my two other favourites by American writers - Consider the Lobster & Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Nope, I'm not crazy. I genuinely believe this to be a masterpiece of non-fiction. I bet hardly anyone has even heard of it, and I doubt many will seek it out, but I'm just so glad I did. From the civil war from hell in Liberia, Johnson's time with the hippie movement, mining for gold in Alaska, and Jesus worshiping bikers, to the deserts of Afghanistan & the American souhtwest, the serial bomber Eric Robert Rudolph, small town Montana, and reportage from Somalia, I was pretty much blown away.

Denis Johnson is one of the best writers in America. There. Anything else need be said? Oh, yeah, this is a bunch of mostly non-fiction essays that are mostly very interesting and contain of all Johnson's trademark humanity, philosophy, descriptive ability, and lack of ego. Johnson travels from a Rainbow Gathering to Somalia to settle in and get a feel of things without making judgments. No grand pronouncements, just observation.

Reading Johnson’s nonfiction is even more fractured and gritty than his fiction-as if his fiction is a distillation of a world even more broken than he can bear to report. Yet somehow he plows forward, gets where he intends to, and returns with mayhem left in his wake. Whether in Liberia avoiding random air strikes or moving among bikers at a revival, Johnson flirts with the line between reporting the story and being the story. Johnson’s crisp prose and ability to observe and reveal the mood, even when the language around him is unintelligible, make complex situations rendered with clarity and confusion simultaneously. Nobody else could have written these dispatches.

The author had harrowing experiences both in America and around the world. Rural Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Liberia tested his courage and resourcefulness, and he documents his adventures in 11 short chapters. His writing skills are everywhere on display. He taught creative writing at the University of Iowa and had a National Book Award for Fiction. It shows.

The pieces on Africa are the strongest.

great job!

I loved the tone of this book, and the snippets it provided from a variety of different people and places. I'm a fan of Denis Johnson anyway, but it was nice to see him writing here in a more journalistic style.

highly recommend.

one of my favorites. which is odd because it's just a collection of stuff published in different magazines at different times.

Denis Johnson is one of my favorite writers, but I don't think reportage is his milieu. I expected too much, probably: Kapuscinski with Johnson's voice? Johnson's insights come through fiction better, in my opinion. For travel and cultural observation, I would prefer Kapuscinski, Didion, Malcolm, or even Bowden (who can be pretty melodramatic, but wow). Part of the problem is a lack of context. Where exactly is the author when: "For two days, the former president and his brother dangle from their necks." Use of the present tense makes it sound like Johnson was there in Kabul and observed Najibullah dangling. This was true of piece on Liberia, too. We are not told how Johnson approaches the story, where he came from, etc. That bugged me. A different accountability is called for and I don't find it in this book so I'm disappointed.

A book of essays "from the edges of America and beyond" as the title says, so they are unusual stories that are at times funny and at times disturbing. Always interesting. Great writer.

Johnson is a great writer and I thought this sounded like it would be a great book also. But I was a bit disappointed with this book. What I read I just found to be okay. It seemed like Johnson was just "phoning it in" on this one. It didn't seem like he really tried that hard, just doing the basics to fulfill some contractual obligation he had.

There is no place that Denis Johnson won't go--physically, emotionally, and psychotropically. Somehow his searing takes on everything from Liberia to aging hippies in Northern California or camping with the Boy Scouts in the Philippines as an 11 year old feel simultaneously like an arsonist with a flamethrower who leaves nothing in his trail, and a kind-hearted fool who just can't help but leave a seed or two behind to take root in the tarpit of evil or hope that he's left behind. He takes the Seussian addage "Oh the places you'll go" to the dark side and back and I would follow him across the pages to the end of the universe.

A mixed bag, but overall a worthwhile read. I found Johnson's pieces on Liberia and Somalia compelling reading, whereas his domestic US journalism tended to be a little tedious. Not many people would go to war-torn Liberia, but Johnson did it twice. This is a testament to both his courage and perhaps also his bullheadedness.