The Name of the World (Paperback)

Michael Reed is searching for a new direction. After years of working as a senatorial aide in Washington and more recently as a history lecturer, he is looking to move on before he is pushed at the end of his university tenure. In the four years since his wife and young daughter perished in a car accident, Reed has been emotionally paralyzed, lacking the energy and desire to angle his life onto a new trajectory. His faculty colleagues are no real help, beset as they are with their own problems from divorce to cancer via possible insanity. A series of chance encounters with Flower Cannon, a lively, offbeat woman much younger than himself, seems to spark something in Reed. At first it is curiosity and lust, but by the end they will share their deepest secrets and Reed just may be shaken from his torpor. Denis Johnson has already produced six previous novels (one of which, Jesus' Son, has been made into a film), as well as poetry and essays. This latest book, only 129 pages long, is a work of pared-down beauty. The character of Michael Reed could easily have been pathetic and self-pitying but Johnson gives him dignity. He is clearly having difficulty putting the trauma of his family tragedy behind him, but accepts that he must do so in order to reclaim his life. His feelings for the mysterious Flower are refreshingly complex, and when they finally find themselves alone together the scene does not follow a predictable path, and the reader is led into some very dark territory. Reed is an articulate narrator allowing Johnson to introduce some wonderful insight and scene-setting that brings people and places to vivid life. This is a thoughtful, at times claustrophobic, piece that would reward a second reading. (Kirkus UK)

Michael Reed is a man going through the motions, numbed by the death of his wife and child. But when events force him to act as if he cares, he begins to find people who - against all expectation - help him through his private labyrinth. Poignant and beautiful, The Name of the World is a tour de force by one of the most astonishing writers at work today.

General

Imprint:	Methuen Publishing Ltd
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	October 2001
Authors:	Denis Johnson
Dimensions:	198 x 129 x 16mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	144
ISBN-13:	978-0-413-77160-5
Categories:	Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > Modern fiction
LSN:	0-413-77160-1
Barcode:	9780413771605

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