In the Not Quite Dark - Stories

Zusatztext Praise for In the Not Quite Dark “Unquestionably excellent stories... In the Not Quite Dark has a variety of voices and stylistic tones yet holds together tightly as a collection." —Los Angeles Times In her new collection, In the Not Quite Dark , [Johnson] offers 11 electrifying stories filled with tension and truth about present–day Los Angeles. "My mother died telling me what to do," her narrator begins in "No Blaming the Harvard Boys," a story about a young black student at a midwestern writers' workshop navigating the caste system at a tumultuous party at her professor's house. "She Deserves Everything She Gets" builds around the tension between the lessons parents teach young women about protecting themselves against rape and the dangers they don't foresee. Johnson's vision is razor sharp, her voice unmistakable. — LitHub "Johnson's ( Elsewhere, California ) superb short story collection features well–drawn characters, vivid descriptions of Los Angeles, and nuanced reflections on money, race, and family. The stories stand alone, but they share preoccupations, and sometimes settings? This is essential reading for Angelenos, Californians, and anyone interested in masterly, morally engaged storytelling."—Starred Publishers Weekly "Set against backdrops of gritty neighborhoods, Johnson's arresting story collection explores the boundaries of identity, relationships, and race. In "The Liberace Museum," Charlotte and her boyfriend, Hank, are traveling cross–country with plans for a pit stop in Vegas to tour the aforementioned attraction. Though Charlotte first suggests the visit as a joke, it reveals some uneasy complications in the young couple's relationship. In other tales, Johnson's characters find themselves haunted or perplexed by those around them. "Because That's Just Easier" portrays a mother struggling with her young daughter's newfound terror of the outdoors after a move to downtown Los Angeles, a situation that's further complicated by her aloof husband. "Rogues" follows a broke college student who visits his brother to ask for money but quickly becomes caught up in a mission to identify the assailants carrying out neighborhood break–ins. A flight to Paris in "Two Crazy Whores" connects a woman to a moment from her past. Emotions sneak up in many of Johnson's 11 stories, and her characters have no choice but to deal with what hits them." — Booklist "With deep insight into character, intimate relationships, and the modern search for personal freedom, In the Not Quite Dark is powerful new work that feels both urgent and timeless." — Chicago Review of Books "This prizewinning author's gorgeous, empathetic collection is composed of stories (mostly) in and about L.A. (the perfect place for musings about gentrification, discrimination, and love) that juxtapose the haves and the have–nots." — Marie Claire "An insightful collection of stories that paint diverse portraits of present–day Los Angeles. Johnson exposes the deep ruptures between her characters' relationships to one another, their surroundings, and their pasts. ? The city doesn't figure prominently in every story in the collection, but the themes of race, perspective, and history carry through. Eleven poignant stories that look to the past to portray the present." — Kirkus Reviews "There is an exquisite tension in each of the stories in Dana Johnson's remarkable collection —couples who look past each other instead of into each other, women who try to negotiate upward mobility, wanting what you can't have and having what you don't want. Johnson has, truly, written an unforgettable collection. She is both a storyteller and an exacting observer of the beautiful ugly truths of Los Angeles, class, race, being alive." —Roxane Gay, author of An Untamed State and Bad Feminist "In her brilliant collection, Dana Jo...

Product details

• Authors: Dana Johnson, Johnson Dana
• Publisher: Counterpoint
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.08.2016
• EAN: 9781619027329
• ISBN: 978-1-61902-732-9
• No. of pages: 224
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 228 mm x 15 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; FICTION / Short Stories (single author), Short Stories