Denis Johnson quotes

Denis Johnson was a gifted American author known for his poignant and distinctive literary voice. With a career spanning over four decades, Johnson wrote novels, poetry, and plays that touched the hearts of readers worldwide. His acclaimed works, including "Jesus' Son" and "Tree of Smoke," explored themes of addiction, redemption, and the human condition with remarkable insight and depth. Johnson's immaculate storytelling and poetic prose earned him numerous accolades, including the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Discover the genius of Denis Johnson's writings and immerse yourself in the emotional landscapes he masterfully crafted.

If you take a lie and allow your desire for the truth, you'll end up with some truth - not fact, but something that gets you closer to the truth. That's what we want. When we go to a play, we need to be assured that the experience we're having.

- Denis Johnson

If you write fiction, you're by yourself. There are certain advantages to that in that you don't have to explain anything to anybody. But when you get in with others who share the loneliness of the whole enterprise, you're not lonely anymore.

- Denis Johnson

In the plays - that's where I go crazy. But my prose has a much lighter touch; it's not trying to thrill with language, just to be more truthful. I'm not concerned with the accuracy of anything. We don't get to the truth of anything with facts.

- Denis Johnson

When I'm writing for Esquire, my conscious thought is, I'm not writing for American Scholar.

- Denis Johnson

I really enjoy writing novels. It's like the ocean. You can just build a boat and take off.

- Denis Johnson

I didn't finish the stories until we went to the Philippines and I got malaria. I couldn't work and I didn't have any money, but I had seven stories. So I wrote three or four more.

- Denis Johnson