Denis Johnson is the author of "The Name of the World", shortlisted for the 2001 Irish Times International Novel Prize. He has received a Lanning Fellowship and the Whiting Writer's Award and was a 2001 Pen/Faulkner Award finalist.

A collection of linked stories narrated by a recovering alcoholic and heroin addict, "Jesus' Son" is a disturbing portrayal of loneliness and hope. He travels through an American underworld of burnt-out sports stars, hospital waiting rooms, doomed relationships and senseless violence.