I'd give this 3.5 stars if I could. It's a weird, fascinating little novel set in academe. At its best the book lovingly portrays a university lecturer so haunted by the accidental deaths of his wife and daughter (four years before the story begins) that he goes about completely detached from reality. His narration is frequently hilarious, often profound. Memorable characters and conversations proliferate. The rising action is pretty much driven by the narrator's interactions with a redheaded art student, but nothing in this novel turns out the way you'd expect.

I particularly loved the way the title of the book pops up in the story, and there are many lovely moments of the world made beautiful and full of meaning. But I wanted a little more: short books are great but this is barely more than long short story. A magnificent paragraph closes the story on completely new images and settings, and I wish there was a sequel.

Of his books that I've read, this is probably his most focused. I've only read 3 though. Anyway, he may be my favorite writer these days based on this novel and Tree of Smoke which I am currently reading. Warning to women and anti-academics, the plot may offend or just plain bore you. If you are a little creeped out by middle-aged professors and fantasies about their free-spirited students, you may not enjoy this. However that is only a small fraction of what is really going in here, thematically. The prose is fantastic. Concise and clear of thought. For that alone it's worth reading. And I just found it kind of heartbreaking by the end. Maybe I'm just a sap. Sometimes you read something that you know shouldn't affect you, the politics just don't align with your own ethics, but it does anyway. This was one of them. My wife thinks I'm cynical, and I am to a fault, but this book just punched a hole right through that cynical heart of mine.

Second read was a must. 3 stars to 5. Goddamn Denis Johnson was a genius.