{"product_id":"shoppers-two-plays-by-denis-johnson-9780060934408","title":"Shoppers: Two Plays by Denis Johnson","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Perfection is not the basis of what I'm talking about,\" says a member of the Cassandra family, which forms the center of Denis Johnson's plays, \u003cem\u003eHellhound on My Trail and Shoppers Carried by Escalators Into the Flames\u003c\/em\u003e. The character could be speaking for his creator, because human imperfection is one of Denis Johnson's specialties -- in his critically acclaimed novels, short stories, and nonfiction, and, now, in two brilliant new plays.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese two works present a dramatized field guide to some of the more dysfunctional and dysphoric inhabitants of the American West: a sexual-misconduct investigator who misconducts herself sexually; a renegade Jehovah's Witness who supports his splinter Jehovean group by dealing drugs; the Cassandra Brothers and their father and their grandmother, thrown together at a family reunion\/wedding\/melee at their shabby homestead in Ukiah, California.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen \u003cem\u003eShoppers Carried by Escalators Into the Flames \u003c\/em\u003ewas performed in San Francisco in 2001, the \u003cem\u003eChronicle \u003c\/em\u003esaid, \"There's an enormous appeal in Johnson's bleak-comic vision of a semi-mythic American West.\" That appeal derives from the author's perfect vision of imperfection, embodied with such energy and courage in these marvelous pieces of theatre.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Harper Perennial\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/28\/2002\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780060934408\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.37lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.38w x 0.55d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eVanity Fair\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2002 pg. 68\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2002 pg. 80\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/15\/2002\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Denis Johnson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42924775833781,"sku":"9780060934408","price":12.74,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_3a675847-16ce-4273-b27f-cfeee2fe2ad6.jpg?v=1687838064","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/shoppers-two-plays-by-denis-johnson-9780060934408","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}