Resuscitation of a Hanged Man

This book was quite enjoyable. It is impossible not to get submerged into the story, Johnson hooks you and never lets go. Denis Johnson is a master of the English language. It seems like every word is necessary for the story. Johnson has a focus on providing the reader a well-written novel that lacks useless page filling words. Resuscitation of a Hanged Man makes you question your own life. This book is truly a work of art... Read Full Review

A proper summary is not really possible here. You could say its about a lonely, bewildered character investigating some sort of paramilitary conspiracy in a seaside town full of transvestites. It's the voice that is really unique, though. The voice and the aching sense of bewilderment that hovers over everything are what sustain the interest, and create a superb eerie atmosphere. There are some belly-laughs too. This... Read Full Review

Denis Johnson is one of our most talented writers and poets today. He may be underrated, and younger writers like Rick Moody overrated. Johnson is able to get to the soul of matters, to the loneliness that inflicts his protagonists, to an almost Pynchonesque far-fetched series of events that bring novelty to this work--and all using readable prose, evocative images, and unfailing dailogue that strike me, at least, as authentic... Read Full Review

It seems unlikely that anyone affluent and successful, or, to use a borrowed phrase, comfortable and powerless, would go in search of anything. Therefore Denis Johnson depicts characters in need, whose only true choices lie in how to fail, and they search endlessly for things, things as disparate as their own souls, meaning in the world, the love of another human being, a sensible ordering of their own thoughts. Their quests... Read Full Review

This was a great book, I liked it much better than "Angels" which most people think is Johnson's great novel. This book is quirky and wonderful, the absurdities in the book help to illustrate the serious, underlying themes.