Denis Johnson (Cindy Johnson )

On this episode of The Lonely Voice, Peter Orner and Yvette Benavides discuss “Steady Hands at Seattle General” by Denis Johnson.

When you read a story like this one, it's easy to see why there are still legions of fans who love the work of the late Denis Johnson.

There is an ineffable quality in his stories that’s hard to pin down.

Another thing about “Steady Hands at Seattle General,” is all the ways that it defies convention and containment.

We listen in on a conversation between two people who are in rehab together. It’s a conversation, something like an interview. But this isn’t surface-level, small-talk stuff.

There’s a lot to glean from the exchange that shows Johnson’s sleight of hand and the way he can offer something so profound in a deceptively simple story.

Is this story just about two guys conversing in private or is the reader really the whole point—the reader and all that we are given and can begin to understand about two people in a context we might not otherwise consider?

Denis Johnson is the author of “Steady Hands at Seattle General.” It can be found in the collection Jesus’ Son.