44 pages • 1 hour read
Denis JohnsonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Story Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
Content Warning: Jesus’ Son includes depictions of sexual assault, murder, substance use disorder, racist language, stalking, self-harm, and death by suicide.
Denis Hale Johnson was an acclaimed American novelist, short story author, and poet. Born in 1949 in Munich, Germany, Johnson published his first book of poetry at the age of 19 in 1969. He earned a BA in English from the University of Iowa, as well as an MFA in Creative Writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. While Johnson is best known for Jesus’ Son, which is widely regarded as one of the most important American short story collections of the 1990s, he also won a National Book Award for his novel Tree of Smoke, as well as two shortlists for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In total, Johnson published nine novels, one novella, two books of short stories, and three poetry collections before his death in 2017.
For most of the 1970s, Johnson had a substance use disorder, particularly with heroin. During this period, he did not write much. Johnson quit drinking alcohol in 1978 and quit recreational drugs in 1983; Johnson was then hired to teach at his alma mater, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, during which time he composed the stories that make up Jesus’ Son.
Plus, gain access to 8,650+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
By Denis Johnson
Addiction
View Collection
American Literature
View Collection
Books that Feature the Theme of...
View Collection
Community
View Collection
Fear
View Collection
Forgiveness
View Collection
Friendship
View Collection
Grief
View Collection
Guilt
View Collection
Hate & Anger
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
Pride & Shame
View Collection
Safety & Danger
View Collection
School Book List Titles
View Collection
The Future
View Collection
The Past
View Collection