{"id":1738,"date":"2010-12-03T12:18:05","date_gmt":"2010-12-03T12:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2018\/11\/28\/1010-revision-v1\/"},"modified":"2019-07-09T12:39:43","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T12:39:43","slug":"nobody-move-br-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2010\/12\/03\/nobody-move-br-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Nobody Move (BR)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Nobody Move<\/strong>\u00a0is a novel written by\u00a0Denis Johnson. Beginning in July 2008,\u00a0Nobody Move<\/em>\u00a0appeared as a four-part serialized novel in\u00a0Playboy<\/em>\u00a0before being published in book form in 2009. Incidentally, that veritable\u00a0literary<\/a>\u00a0journal does a fine job summarising the story:<\/p>\n

It maps a colliding and eliding of characters and agendas: a hapless gambler and sometimes barbershop singer trying to survive, a femme fatale with $2.3 million and her dignity to recover, a gangster lousy with vengeance fantasies, and a leggy nurse and Desert Storm vet looking for her own payday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Need more than that? It’s helpful to give a\u00a0summary<\/strong>\u00a0of the first\u00a0chapter: Jimmy Lutz owes money, gets taken for a ride, and somewhere between A and C shoots the man who took him. He rides off and into a beautiful\u00a0Indian<\/a>\u00a0woman, Anita Desilvera, whom drunkenly\u00a0sleeps<\/a>\u00a0with him.<\/p>\n

“Frankie Franklin, are you a loser?”
\n“Not When I’m lucky.”
\n“When was a guy like you ever lucky?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The word\u00a0noir\u00a0and comparisons with\u00a0Hammett<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Chandler<\/a>\u00a0have appeared a lot in reference to this book. That is\u00a0somewhat<\/em>\u00a0helpful for contextualising plot, but in my opinion, overstated.\u00a0Still<\/a>\u00a0inaccurate, I think you’d get a better feel for the plot\u00a0if I were to<\/a>\u00a0say that this is\u00a0Bonnie and Clyde\u00a0spending less time on a road trip and more time working out what the fuck they’re doing.<\/p>\n

Some\u00a0comments<\/strong>: First off I’m a big Johnson fan and to\u00a0date<\/a>\u00a0have<\/a>\u00a0read<\/a>\u00a0most<\/a>\u00a0of<\/a>\u00a0his<\/a>\u00a0other<\/a>\u00a0stuff<\/a>. Secondly, I am\u00a0aware<\/a>\u00a0of how the world works. Knowing that this novel first appeared in\u00a0Playboy<\/em>\u00a0does mean certain things. I don’t know what they are but I am sure of them.<\/p>\n

It feels easy and it lacks the complexity found in his other works. Particular themes and motifs dear to Johnson’s heart do come through – those who live on the fringes, and the losers and\u00a0fuck-ups\u00a0that trail around them – but with far less introspection or reflection. For this reason, many of the character moulds familiar to Johnson’s readers can be mistaken for members of a\u00a0more common<\/a>\u00a0cast<\/a>. Take a look above at\u00a0Playboy<\/em>‘s summary of the story – it’s a story you could imagine having seen a million times before. Perhaps you can even imagine the movie.<\/p>\n

If you’ll follow my meanderings a bit further I’ll soon get there. The summary I’ve quoted misses the point.\u00a0That’s\u00a0cool. The characters are doing their best – they were born into a\u00a0foreign world<\/a>,\u00a0made<\/a>\u00a0mistakes<\/a>, and witnessed their own flaws through imperfect eyes. And so there’s something beautiful about Johnson typing words between a double-page spread and innuendo peppered letters to the editor: if ever there was an author who would love you for your life’s failure to live up to the possibilities manifested by\u00a0Playboy<\/em>‘s\u00a0glossy<\/a>\u00a0pages, it’d be Denis Johnson.<\/p>\n

\n<\/span>\n

References<\/strong>: Wikipedia,\u00a0LA Times blog<\/a>\u00a0(which have some interesting stuff), and of course the novel itself. Oh, and\u00a0Playboy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nobody Move\u00a0is a novel written by\u00a0Denis Johnson. Beginning in July 2008,\u00a0Nobody Move\u00a0appeared as a four-part serialized novel in\u00a0Playboy\u00a0before being published in book form in 2009. Incidentally, that veritable\u00a0literary\u00a0journal does a fine job summarising the story: It maps a colliding and eliding of characters and agendas: a hapless gambler and sometimes barbershop singer trying to survive, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[159,198,204],"tags":[],"metadata":[],"class_list":["post-1738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-book-review","category-everything2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1741,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2010\/12\/06\/fiskadoro-br-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1738,"position":0},"title":"Fiskadoro (BR)","author":"Pala","date":"December 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Fiskadoro\u00a0is\u00a0Denis Johnson's\u00a0second novel, published in\u00a01985. The novel is set\u00a0beyond\u00a0some\u00a0apocalypse. It is not a dying world, although it is set in the shadow of one.\u00a0Fiskadoro\u00a0describes a vibrant culture, be it one scarred by\u00a0radiation\u00a0and\u00a0bombs, employing\u00a0shibboleths\u00a0to ward off the present: \"the quarantine will be lifted\" (is there even one?), \"Bob Marley will come\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2557,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2013\/04\/22\/bibliomes-scribbles-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1738,"position":1},"title":"Bibliomes: Scribbles","author":"Pala","date":"April 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Editorial notes: For a broader elaboration on Shai's 'Bibliome project' see the Editorial notes to\u00a0'Philosophy Readings Through Time' (Open link in a new tab). Here I start to plan bibliomes - they being organic districts that are fertilized by interest and motivation, and whose seeds can be defined as specifically\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":383,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2011\/03\/06\/exiles-tng\/","url_meta":{"origin":1738,"position":2},"title":"Exiles (TNG)","author":"pastfarpoint","date":"March 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Another Howard Weinstein novel, and number fourteen The Next Generation novel. As with Weinstein's previous TNG novel, the story concerns a planet undergoing political turmoil resulting from environmental problems. In brief: Polluting-aliens need help from eco-aliens whom they exiled a couple of centuries back. Political mish-mash and hand waving is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Detail from Exiles cover","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/exiles_cover.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":64,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2010\/01\/03\/survivors-tng\/","url_meta":{"origin":1738,"position":3},"title":"Survivors (TNG)","author":"pastfarpoint","date":"January 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Survivors, by Jean Lorrah, is the fourth of the numbered TNG novels. The story involves Data and Tasha being sent down to a potential Federation candidate planet (Treva) which has asked for help in quelling an insurrection by local warlords. Things happen, eventually they are captured by these warlords, who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Detail from \"Survivors\" cover","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/survivors_cover_detail.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":640,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2016\/04\/27\/reflecting-on-a-study-of-buddhism\/","url_meta":{"origin":1738,"position":4},"title":"Reflecting on a study of Buddhism","author":"Pala","date":"April 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I have spent a few months engaging myself in a regular study and consideration\u00a0of Buddhism. My schedule now calls for me to move onto other studies, which makes this a good time to reflect on what I've learned, how I've learned it, the methods I used, and the advice I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1756,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2010\/12\/09\/the-stars-at-noon-br-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1738,"position":5},"title":"The Stars at Noon (BR)","author":"Pala","date":"December 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Stars at Noon\u00a0is the third novel by\u00a0American\u00a0author\u00a0Denis Johnson, published in\u00a01986. We follow a\u00a0nameless\u00a0woman in\u00a0Nicaragua. She's from the United States. It is possible that she was once a journalist; it's possible that she still is. That's all irrelevant except insofar as it informs the present: she earns money\u00a0prostituting, she's resigned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/padotI-s2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1738\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1738"},{"taxonomy":"metadata","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/metadata?post=1738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}