Two plays hilarious and searing in equal measure by one of our most essential and original authors
In his poetry, short stories, novels, and plays, the National Book Award-winning author Denis Johnson has explored the story of America especially of the West, land of self-made men and self-perpetuating myths with searing honesty and genuine sympathy. These two plays, written in verse at once hypnotic and clear, confirm his position as one of our great verbal stylists and a literary conscience for our times.
In Soul of a Whore, a lively cast of characters faith healers, pimps, strippers, actual demons converge, with unexpected hilarity, as Bess Cassandra awaits execution for the murder of her infant daughter. Purvis s seven reverse-chronological scenes catalog the fall and rise of Melvin Purvis, the G-man who brought down John Dillinger and Charles Arthur Pretty Boy Floyd. Johnson takes us from Washington s back rooms to a Midwestern cornfield, dramatizing the seductive allure of power and our own human capacity for both pettiness and grace.
In these furiously entertaining, occasionally terrifying works, Johnson chronicles and questions America s myths, heroes, and everyday realities with verve and elegance, revealing himself once again to be at the height of his linguistic and insightful powers.