The Largesse of the Sea Maiden: Stories

This is the book that made me fall back in love with reading, the short stories pull me in so easily and the “eloquence” of the writing is great. It may be rough—hard to digest topics of self trial and hardship but Denis has a way of putting it so direct but also light-hearted? Absolutely suggest reading!

I only discovered Johnson a few years ago. So glad I did because he became one of my favorites. I really can’t put my finger on it - what makes him stand apart for me. I think it’s because even when writing about mundane things, he sometimes really surprises me in ways most authors don’t. He’s good at showing some of the most tragic happenings can sadly be absolutely hilarious. I have not really reviewed this book but mostly written positive things about the author. I will say I highly recommend this book for anyone who is looking for something unique and fascinating.

After reading Jesus' Son years ago, I'd wondered if Denis Johnson would ever put out another collection of stories. I've read his novels, but nothing has brought me more joy than his work in the short form. Then this book came out. Then Mr. Johnson passed away. These were the last words he left us. A collection of five long stories. The Largesse of the Sea Maiden obliterated all of my doubts as to whether he still had it in him. This collection recalls the best of what made Jesus' Son so unputdownable. I was shocked and thrilled to see Dundun brought back to the page. But I had to put this down, because I realized I was blowing through it, and would never get the pleasure of reading it for the first time again! It's that kind of a book, folks. Amplified by the fact that there will never be another Johnson release. The writing stops the breath in your throat. A stunning accomplishment. Here's a sentence from The Starlight on Idaho written in the vernacular of a recovering drug addict: "My oldest brother is somebody who the state of Texas won't let him possess scissors." I don't know why that sentence blew me away like it did. A master writing like the illiterate you run into at a gas station. That's why he's so great. He's lived both of those lives. He can bring us characters from the potholes and culverts of humanity and makes them dazzle with sordid brilliance. This collection is a revelation. I'm so sad we won't have another.

Yes it's too bad his last book had to be one of his most uninspired. I have always enjoyed reading anything written by Denis Johnson, and have read just about all he has written. Most books I would definitely give five stars. However, I found this collection of short stories fairly rambling and lacking cohesiveness. There were a few bright spots....but just a few. It seemed as if someone just grabbed a few unpublished short stories that were sitting around and put them into a final tribute to an excellent writer. I had trouble finishing the book, but forced myself hoping it would get better. Too bad it did not.....

Mark Twain compared the right word to the almost right word as the difference between a lightening bug and lightening. Denis Johnson picks lightening every time.

Denis Johnson is one of my favorite short story writers of all time. Largesse of the Sea Maiden is the final book he worked on in his lifetime, and we are treated to five stories that are quite a bit longer than much of the prose we are used to. Each one explores existence and transcendence, moving from prison or the body to whatever comes next... which is likely nothing. Or finally, peace.Each piece is a self-aware capsule unlike much of his work that came before it. The pieces feel heavily grounded in fiction this time, even fantasy at times, and explore what freedom and relationships mean in their most elemental forms. With Johnson, there was a certain level of realism to his work. As he famously said when asked what the knife represented in ‘Emergency’ at a college book lecture, he replied, “when I was younger, I worked in an emergency room. One night, a man came in with a knife in his eye.” This collection is much different, however, and feels heavily grounded in a more metaphysical and reflective fiction rather than interpreted reality. Of course, the death of a narrator is directly self-referenced, providing a haunting final few paragraphs to one of the pieces. This collection felt like it shed the overarching drug-addled masculinity found in his other works to present a cohesive, reflective humanist reflection on the end of life and what comes next.I truly enjoyed these, and I was lucky enough to hear a preview of the works several months earlier at my MFA program as his editor read from the unreleased manuscript beside the campfire the weekend we learned of his death. It was a gorgeous night beneath the stars, something Johnson would have truly appreciated.

Denis Johnson sets his stories in the most mundane and familiar settings. You're at a gathering of old friends in the living room and suddenly there is a guy telling you matter-of-factly how he lost his leg and challenging a woman to kiss the mangled stump. The rest of the stories are a similar mix of the mundane and the horrifying or embarrassingly painful. Each story crashes on to its inevitable smashup. In particular, I think men will find Johnson's writing appealing; it's brutal, shocking and yet absolutely clean and simple. No ornamentation. Just words and blood on each page.

In a moment where we're rightfully trying to be more inclusive of underrepresented viewpoints, this collection offers none of that. The story of sad men squandering their talent and love had never not existed. But the writing is so beautiful it cuts through anyway.

Disappointed

I have been sincerely irritated by life interfering with my reading of this.What a fun, marvellous writer. Except for the second story, which is my least favourite, I am in awe of his mastery of the craft.The stories are engaging all on their own but then you have the presentation, how they are interconnected and the little descriptions and twists that keep you on the page.

If you liked him at all, you’ll like this. There were moments n Tree of Smoke, but nothing like the stories in Jesus. This rights that. Lovely book. RIP

This is the last collection of short stories Denis Johnson wrote. Johnson's work is marked by his humour and the breadth of his understanding of human relationships; it includes the frankly commercial (Nobody Move) to novels of breadth and classic ambition - Tree of Smoke. His short story called Emergency is, in my humble opinion, one of the best ever written. The Largesse of the Sea Maiden, similarly contains stories that are written sparely and with respect for the reader's intelligence; Strangler Bob is amongst the best things Johnson has produced.

Terrific opening story, and much of this collection is just as brilliant as Jesus' Son.