tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54842802011-06-19T22:14:22.858-04:00Adam Johnson's BlogAdam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1121544473746390632005-07-16T16:05:00.000-04:002005-07-16T16:07:53.753-04:00

Ed Schwarzschild's debut novel is one I loved so much I read it twice. Through clear and precise prose, Schwarzschild manages to examine moral struggle on many levels. On the first read, I was swept away by the challenge of a character to make a new start after a dark past. To see a person in such a trap--driven by honorable intentions, yet haunted by a life of dishonor--was truly heartbreaking.

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1121546177956823442005-07-04T16:35:00.000-04:002005-07-16T16:36:42.070-04:00

I read this wonderful book when it was first released, but something--summmer weather, I thought--made me pick it up again. Quickly I realized the book had been with me the whole time, and within a few pages, Pierce's voice had lulled me again into a state of high suggestibility where landscape, history and dream comingle. At first the novel seems fragmented, but soon you realize that Pierce's

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1120081480798775232005-06-29T17:41:00.000-04:002005-06-29T17:46:05.873-04:00

Here are new editions of my books in France, Japan, Serbia & Spain

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1062050979026902622005-06-28T02:09:00.000-04:002005-06-29T17:01:19.390-04:00

I got an advance copy of Ryan Harty’s forthcoming collection Bring Me Your Saddest Arizona and was blown away by the stories. The pieces in this collection hail from the other side of the emotional train tracks, a place where chaparral and saguaros fill the lots where homes and families should be. With subtlety and control, Harty makes arroyos run with missed opportunity and sunsets burn red with

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1120078166958748782005-06-27T16:46:00.000-04:002005-06-29T17:46:27.083-04:00

Here's an essay I have in Kevin Smokler's anthology Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times. You may be a follower of Kevin's blog "Where There's Smoke."A Call for Collaboration You know the myth of the young writer: hands in jeans pockets, he (invariably it’s a he) wanders the quais of the Seine before dawn, absorbing the hollow desperation of the city. His collar is up, his cigarette dim, and

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1119407350427944242005-06-21T22:28:00.000-04:002005-06-29T17:03:07.780-04:00

I've been watching a lot of great documentaries lately; here are a few of them: American Movie, Hands on the Hardbody, Speedo, Faster, My Flesh and Blood, Capturing the Friedmans, Kon Tiki, Grey Gardens, Sherman’s March, Devil’s Playground, Lost in La Mancha, OT: Our Town, Bus 174, Super Size Me, Buena Vista Social Club, Crumb, Last Days, The Fog of War, Dark Days, Into The Arms of Strangers, Mr.

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1120264609752740882005-06-17T20:35:00.000-04:002005-07-01T20:36:49.760-04:00

I’ve always loved endings. I’m fascinated by the way a story becomes itself, gathers force, and then, just as critical mass is reached, powers down. My favorite stories crimp like that, right as their full trajectories become visible; like being in a car that’s just screeched to a halt, a good story leaves you rocking in your seat, armhairs on end from unrealized intertia. So, by mathematics

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1120265237198528652005-06-16T20:43:00.000-04:002005-07-01T20:47:17.200-04:00

http://www.stephenelliott.com/ 24 SeptemberBill Thurber,Deputy SecretaryFlorida State Dept. of Corrections2601 Blairstone Rd.Tallahassee, FL 32399-2500Mr. Thurber,I am writing to you as a concerned citizen, but one with an action plan. As you know, our prison system is in a wanton state and in dire need of remediation. It will require a long and wincing state of strict discipline on all

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1063863854690500322005-05-18T01:44:00.000-04:002005-06-29T19:00:06.263-04:00

The foreign sales rights to my novel and short story collection recently sold in a couple European markets, and I was pretty dang happy about that. Getting paid twice for one book, it seems to me, is a great idea, and the thought of people in foreign lands checking out my work is big-time flattering. But that got me thinking—maybe having my work published by an advanced European nation, where the

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1061540221643132742003-08-22T04:17:00.000-04:002003-08-22T04:17:01.696-04:00

This week brought three top-deck readings—Sedge Thompson’s incomparable radio salon West Coast Live, Pacifica radio’s Cover to Cover with Denny Smithson, and the crown jewel of San Francisco bookstores, the Booksmith. But nothing could prepare me for the reading I gave tonight at Barnes & Noble’s flagship Oakland store in Jack London Square. Sure, I had a few butterflies in my stomach. It was an

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1061535206336291332003-08-22T02:53:00.000-04:002003-08-22T02:53:26.206-04:00

Our son, James Geronimo turns one next week, and naturally this is an important party. My wife said we needed to find a theme that matched his personality, and it didn’t go over so big when I suggested all the kids could come dressed as their favorite dictators. Circus animals, she said, and puppy dogs, were good themes. Before I could open my mouth, she said: No Pomeranians. I couldn’t help it.

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1059885535775475802003-08-03T00:38:00.000-04:002003-08-03T00:56:21.516-04:00

A few years ago, I wrote a letter to Saddam Hussein, asking him to send me a photograph with the inscription “Dear Adam, I’ve got your back as we make a break for the light.” I got Saddam’s address off an Iraqi website devoted to Saddam’s birthday party, though now I’m sure it was run by our government for the sole purpose of finding out which Americans would sign Saddam’s birthday wishes book. I

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5484280.post-1059692738875159502003-07-31T19:05:00.000-04:002003-07-31T19:05:38.886-04:00

For those of you who've seen it, yet can't believe your eyes--its true: Johnson has a new conversion van, the Vandura 2500. This homie's rollin' slow, the whole posse in one rig. First picture your typical conversion van. You've got the raised roof, bay windows, captain's chairs and a chrome ladder on back. Now envision the Vandura 2500. Let's start with the plethora of cup holders--eighteen of

Adam Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13716985228144372565noreply@blogger.com0