Denis Johnson Books in Order
20 books are credited to Denis Johnson, published between 1983 and 2020; 2 of them appeared after Denis Johnson's death in 2017. The first book is Angels (1983) and the newest is Car Crash While Hitchhiking and Emergency (2020). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 20
- Published
- 1983–2020
- Pages on record
- 3,661 in 17 of 20 books
- Reading time
- 61–92 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,661 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 17 of 20 titles with a page count on record.
Denis Johnson was an American novelist, short story writer and poet, with nine novels, one novella, two story collections, three books of poetry, two collections of plays and one book of reportage to his name. The short story collection Jesus' Son (1992) is the best known of them. Tree of Smoke (2007) took the National Book Award for Fiction, and Train Dreams was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. The catalogue holds 20 titles, opening with Angels in 1983, and The Largesse of the Sea Maiden appeared posthumously in 2018.
How many Denis Johnson books are there?
Denis Johnson has 20 books, released between 1983 and 2020. 2 of them were published after Denis Johnson's death in 2017.
Denis Johnson Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 20 Denis Johnson books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1Angels1983 · 209 pages · confirmed 1/419832091/4
- 2Fiskadoro1985 · 221 pages · confirmed 1/419852211/4
- 3The Stars at Noon1986 · 181 pages · confirmed 1/419861811/4
- 4The Veil1987 · 78 pages · confirmed 1/41987781/4
- 5Resuscitation of a Hanged Man1990 · 272 pages · confirmed 1/419902721/4
- 6Jesus' Son1992 · 144 pages · confirmed 1/419921441/4
- 7The Incognito Lounge1994 · 78 pages · confirmed 1/41994781/4
- 8The Throne Of The Third Heaven Of The Nations Millennium General Assembly1995 · 225 pages · confirmed 1/419952251/4
- 9Already Dead1997 · 448 pages · confirmed 1/419974481/4
- 10The Name of the World2000 · 144 pages · confirmed 1/420001441/4
- 11Seek2001 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/420012561/4
- 12Shoppers2002 · 211 pages · confirmed 1/420022111/4
- 13Train Dreams2002 · 116 pages · confirmed 1/420021161/4
- 14Tree of Smoke2004 · 702 pages · confirmed 1/420047021/4
- 15Nobody Move2009 · confirmed 1/42009–1/4
- 16Soul of a Whore and Purvis2012 · confirmed 1/42012–1/4
- 17The Laughing Monsters2014 · confirmed 1/42014–1/4
- 18The Man Among the SealsInner Weather2017 · 88 pages · confirmed 1/42017881/4
- 19The Largesse of the Sea Maiden2018 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/420182241/4
- 20Car Crash While Hitchhiking and Emergency2020 · 64 pages · confirmed 1/42020641/4
Denis Johnson books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Standalone books
20 books20 Denis Johnson titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Denis Johnson books in order?
No. No source lists any of the 20 Denis Johnson books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.
Where to start with Denis Johnson
Start with Angels (1983), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Denis Johnson book?
Car Crash While Hitchhiking and Emergency (2020) is the newest Denis Johnson book released so far.
Is there a new Denis Johnson book coming?
No next Denis Johnson book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Denis Johnson has won
Wikidata records 5 awards and 2 nominations for Denis Johnson. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction2017Won
- National Book Award for Fiction2007Wonfor Tree of Smoke
- O. Henry Award2003Won
- Whiting Awards1986Won
- Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction1984Won
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction2012Shortlistedfor Train Dreams
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction2008Shortlistedfor Tree of Smoke
Denis Johnson at a glance
- Died
- Denis Johnson died in 2017, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Denis Johnson are still being published after Denis Johnson's death in 2017; the newest appeared in 2020.
- Release pace
- Denis Johnson books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 3,661 pages across the 17 of 20 books with a recorded length, a median of 209 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Denis Johnson books, 6 of 20, were published in the 2000s.
What the Denis Johnson books are about
18 of the 20 Denis Johnson books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: poetry is tagged on 4 of 18. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Poetry 4 of 18 books
- Social life and customs 3 of 18 books
- FICTION / Literary 2 of 18 books
- Modern Poetry 2 of 18 books
- Short stories 2 of 18 books