Title:: [[The Largesse of the Sea Maiden - Stories]] Authors:: [[Denis Johnson]] Tags:: #fiction #shortstories Read:: [[2026-01-03]] Instagram :: https://www.instagram.com/p/DTDPFeKjq2p/ ## Editions - Edition:: [[Random House]], 2018 - Original Copyright:: 2018 - Pages:: 224 ## Purchase * Bookshop.org:: https://bookshop.org/a/94437/9780812988659 ## Annotations Denis Johnson, like Steinbeck, makes everything seem easy. I think his talents go even further than Steinbeck’s (hot take). Both write with poignancy and empathy for their subjects, but Johnson layers in a deadpan humor that captures the world’s inherent off-kilter quality.  These stories, published posthumously in 2018, bring all of this together. Mortality clearly is on his mind, but it’s presented in a way entirely consistent with his worldview.  My favorites in this collection were the titular Largesse of the Sea Maiden and Triumph Over the Grave.