The most critically acclaimed, and first, of Denis Johnson's novels, Angels puts Jamie Mays -- a runaway wife toting along two kids -- and Bill Houston -- ex-Navy man, ex-husband, ex-con -- on a Greyhound Bus for a dark, wild ride cross country.Driven by restless souls, bad booze, and desperate needs, Jamie and Bill bounce from bus stations to cheap hotels as they ply the strange, fascinating, and dangerous fringe of American life.Their tickets may say Phoenix, but their inescapable destination is a last stop marked by stunning violence and mind-shattering surprise.Denis Johnson, known for his portraits of America's dispossessed, sets off literary pyrotechnics on this highway odyssey, lighting the trek with wit and a personal metaphysics that defiantly takes on the world.
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'A small masterpiece...prose of amazing power and stylishness' Philip Roth
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
From the Back Cover
"Denis Johnson is one of our most inventive, unpredictable novelists."
-- The New York Times Book Review
This novel, which suggests a brilliant mixture of William Blake and James M. Cain, established Denis Johnson as a major talent in American fiction, a promise confirmed in his later books Fiskadoro and The Stars at Noon. Jamie Mays and Bill Houston meet on a Greyhound bus. She is fleeing an unfaithful husband and lugging two travel-stained children. He is on the rebound from stints in jail and the navy and looking for "high old times." Together, they make an aimless tour of bus stations and cheap hotels from Pittsburgh to Phoenix, their momentum fueled by booze, rage, and corrosive need, their journey a trajectory that leads inexorably to a moment of shattering violence.
"A small masterpiece... prose of amazing power and stylishness."
-- Philip Roth
"A debut to be celebrated."
-- Washington Post Book World --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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In the Oakland Greyhound all the people were dwarfs, and they pushed and shoved to get on the bus, even cutting in ahead of the two nuns, who were there first. Read the first page
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In the Oakland Greyhound all the people were dwarfs, and they pushed and shoved to get on the bus, even cutting in ahead of the two nuns, who were there first. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Format:Paperback
Bleak and beautiful written, Angels is a fantastic novel. The plot is sort of meh, but the characters and style more than make up for it. Johnson is an unbelievable writer, and though I've yet to read all of Jesus' Son, it seems he's even better there.
A very good book. The only problem is that it seemed sort of hollow. At the end he riffs a number of philosophical issues (won't go into detail due to spoilers), but it just seemed forced.
A very good book. The only problem is that it seemed sort of hollow. At the end he riffs a number of philosophical issues (won't go into detail due to spoilers), but it just seemed forced.
By Henry Platte
Format:Paperback
Johnson is one of our greatest and most underappreciated living authors (yes, underappreciated, even though he has been lavishly praised by critics). He isn't just capable of writing a good book or two, he's a classic talent, and it's obvious from his very first novel. Angels reads like an epic poem - every sentence is carefully weighed and effective, and a sense of character emerges even out of shattered impressions. The flawed characters are still somehow endearing, and the sense of dark and cryptic religion, from occultism to by-the-book Christianity, underpinned by Bob Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone,' is powerful. This book should be read and enjoyed; eventually, also, reprinted and remembered.
Format:Paperback
This is the first Denis johnson book I have read and probably will not be the last. The man can paint pictures with words, phrases and sentences. We experience the torrid nights in Arizona, the lonely bus rides across the country and feel the evil of men having they way with cast-away women. The sadness is most vividly revealed through the few children that dot the story.
I enjoy stories of people on the edge, desperate and without a clue of how to act beyond the first reaction and simplest action.
I did find parts of the story confusing as characters seemed to come and go without notice or explanation.
The ending is an excellent polemic on the death penalty.
I enjoy stories of people on the edge, desperate and without a clue of how to act beyond the first reaction and simplest action.
I did find parts of the story confusing as characters seemed to come and go without notice or explanation.
The ending is an excellent polemic on the death penalty.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A BOOK THAT REWARDS MULTIPLE READINGS
The tragedy and doom that follows the characters of Johnson's first novel, as well as Johnson's gorgeous prose, make for one of the most compelling of all contemporary novels. Read more
Published on Dec 22 2002 by adam david
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great descriptions, no character development.
This is the first and only Denis Johnson book I've read, and it wasn't a good one. I'd heard such great things about the author that I was very very excited to start reading this... Read more
Published on Sep 3 2002 by Matt coppens
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Quite Enough
Denis Johnson is definitely worth reading, especially if you're looking to learn about writing. That said, my main concern with this book is that it sets things up and doesn't... Read more
Published on July 26 2002 by Kharmic Tide Pool
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful literature of the forlorn
Beaten down and living for the moment, Denis Johnson's characters scrape out a wretched life of drugs and alcohol, pipe-dreams, and daydreams. Read more
Published on Feb 5 2001 by Quickhappy
3.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written, but not a masterpiece
Johnson really is a great writer, and he does have a wonderful imagination, but there is one thing that - in the books of his that I've read - he consistently fails to do: he can... Read more
Published on Nov 4 2000 by Dave Shickle
5.0 out of 5 stars
An extraordinary debut by a gifted writer
Frankly, I am hard pressed to think of a better debut novel than "Angels." This ranks in quality of form and substance with, for instance, Graham Greene's "The... Read more
Published on Sep 7 1999
4.0 out of 5 stars
To suffer and die for one's "sins"
The executed Bill Houston,jr. is Christ and Jamie the Mary Magdelene figure in this pseudo redemptory novel of disturbed love and disconnectedness. Read more
Published on May 10 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
A novel that rewards multiple readings
The tragedy and doom that follows the characters of Johnson's first novel, as well as Johnson's gorgeous prose, make for one of the most compelling of all contemporary novels. Read more
Published on April 13 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hallucinagenic Reality
Johnson's compact masterpiece takes us into the land of America's dispossessed bastard children and the power of poetic beauty which comprises the small and great moments of their... Read more
Published on Dec 31 1998
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hallucinagenic Reality
Johnson's compact masterpiece takes us into the land of America's dispossessed bastard children and the power of poetic beauty which comprises the small and great moments of their... Read more
Published on Dec 31 1998 by cortright_mcmeel@cargill.com
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