On Denis Johnson's Seek

"No one, I think, captures better certain kinds of ecstasy, a spastic transcendence, better than Johnson, and no one better describes the worlds we'd rather not be living in."

Matthew Specktor writing on Denis Johnson, who continues to be one of my favorite writers. It's an insightful essay on a pretty strange book, which is essentially a collection of travel articles. Except that the subjects of his stories are places like war-torn Liberia and rural Idaho -- "worlds we'd rather not be living in" -- rather than commercial paradises.

I agree with Specktor, by the way, that Angels is Johnson's best book, with Jesus' Son coming in close behind. Resuscitation for a Hanged Man, Nobody Move, and the more recent Train Dreams are all worth your time, as well.