Praise for
Elsewhere, California Avery's evolution – a black woman trying to claim her place – is as heartbreaking as it is humorous, powerful as it is poignant, because Johnson so assertively confronts those complexities. –Lynell George,
The Los Angeles Times Johnson's
Elsewhere, California is a clear-eyed jam on class, race, and love; sassy yet searing. –Oscar Hijuelos, author of
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love In this debut novel, Johnson brilliantly knits the dual narratives together, maintaining a dynamic balance between nimble language and rowdy, vulnerable characters. The real achievement is the honest, compassionate, and unflinching willingness to honor teenage struggles for identity, confidence, and love while listening to Led Zeppelin and rooting for the Dodgers.
–
Publishers Weekly, starred review
Reading
Elsewhere, California, Dana Johnson's luminous, intelligent, linguistically dexterous first novel about growing up in Southern California, made me understand exponentially more about my own state, my own growing up, and the private lives of families in the homes all around me. An impressive, inspiring debut!
–Michelle Huneven, author of
Blame Beautifully wrought. A contemporary Bildungsroman with a wise and winning heroine at its heart. –T.C. Boyle
I am in love with a woman named Avery and I have only heard her voice. She exists in these pages, radiates from them. Dana Johnson weaves the complex strings of modern identity into a tapestry that is both familiar yet refreshingly new. –Mat Johnson, author of
Pym Dana Johnson's extraordinary novel offers an arresting vision of black female identity that transcends color and class even as it reveals its continuing power in our lives. The main character, Avery, is everything at once: struggling and middle-class, black and not-quite-black-enough, sexually invisible and sexually exoticized. Avery is about as complex and compelling a heroine as I've read recently, and Elsewhere, California is a luminous, funny, and poignant tale that speaks directly to a whole generation raised in a state of cultural confusion.
–Danzy Senna, author of
You Are Free and
Caucasia I love listening to Avery talk about anything and everything, from the Dodgers to the art world to neighborhood negotiations to certain brands of shorts. Here is a character with an intensely engaging voice, surrounded by an equally riveting cast, all created by a writer who knows how to make words– and people– sparkle on the page.
–Aimee Bender, author of
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake Praise for
Break Any Woman Down: Dana Johnson's collection of stories contains so many wonderful women. Living, breathing, making a million mistakes, but you understand every one of them. Sometimes you think your heart will burst, but the pain is illustrated with depth, clarity, and beauty.
-Victor LaValle, author of Big Machine and The Ecstatic
This is an exciting and gorgeous literary debut.
-Jonathan Ames, author of The Extra Man
You can hear Johnson's voices ringing long after you put the stories down...No character could stay a stranger long in this writer's hands.
-Los Angeles Times
[A] sometimes comical read...Johnson's stories are ultimately bound by the human desire to find a place...to fit in.
-USA Today
Deftly achieves both art and amusement...Johnson's ability to coax the heart as much as the mind...marks the author as a storyteller at her most potent.
-Seattle Weekly
Whether its an awkward sixth grader with a crush, a pair of brazen Iranian sisters, or a male porno star who bakes a mean ziti, Dana Johnson's characters breath authenticity. Johnson has got range and she's got depth. A remarkable new voice has emerged.
-Dalton Conley, author of Honky
Rich, unhurried layering showcases [Johnson's] larger themes...Both hip and elegant, these assured stories...simmer and resonate.
-Publishers Weekly
Johnson renders with authenticity a range of ages, nationalities, and perspectives with a verve that leaves the reader wanting more.
-Janet McDonald, author of Project Girl
These stories are full of the small details and disappointments of life, the missed opportunities and the inopportune moments that change one's trajectory.
-Library Journal
Johnson's narrators are sympathetic and engaging...A subtle and sometimes compelling vision of Los Angelino life.
-Kirkus Reviews