Nobody Move: A Novel

Trust Denis Johnson. If you need someone to lay down a straight flush pulp masterpiece, one of the best writers in the business is a safe bet. Not that I usually expect to find Johnson writing in this genre. But if anyone understands the movement of plot and character through dialogue, it’s him.

Jimmy Luntz is a bit down on his luck. He’s in debt to some unsavoury people. The kind who come round to collect. And that gun you see in the first act will go off. In the first act. It’s that kind of novel. When Jimmy crosses paths with Anita Desilvera, he might think his luck has changed. She’s clearly out of his league. But she’s got troubles of her own, a taste for vodka, a bad karaoke habit, and a few million in missing funds that show more she’s taking the fall for having pilfered. She’s also got a bit of a mean streak. But she and Jimmy hit it off, sort of. And their two narrative paths are certain to comingle. With consequences.

Mostly this is just fun writing and fun reading. There isn’t really much more to it than that. Johnson’s dialogue is endlessly refreshing. And he knows how to mingle fates both subtly and with lead. You might as well just sit back and enjoy. Gently recommended. show less

Certainly a breezy read, perfect for transport reading. But it never quite delivers on its promise to be in the league with Elmore Leonard or Carl Hiassen. Starting with low-life gambler and sad sack Luntz getting nabbed by a gangster he owes money just as he leaves his barbershop chorus concert, you think that's where it's going.

But despite plenty of nastiness, there isn't enough quirkiness, color or memorable dialogue. Also, the Amy character's arc wasn't convincing. She got awfully cruel and violent near the end; where did that come from? No foreshadowing. Greedy, sure but not capable of this. Also, it's as though Johnson has never done online banking. Lacking four digits as part of a code might be a problem but getting into a bank show more account, even one's on onshore account, you'll need more than that.

Still, in the right hands, this could make a Tarantino-esque movie and Anita's surprise viciousness would work fine. show less

I continue to be very impressed with Johnson's writing. He is, without a doubt, one of the most talented American authors writing today.

In Nobody Move, Johnson gives us a short action-packed crime novel, complete with alcoholics, sex, morphine, shotguns, dead bodies being buried in the woods, testicle eating, and karaoke singing. Who could ask for more?

But it is more than that. It is interspersed with beautiful writing. For example "The crescent moon lay directly overhead, and on such a night the river's swollen surface resembled the unquiet belly of a living thing you could step onto and walk across." Every one of Johnson's books contain many such beautiful passages and Nobody Move is no exception. I loved it.

Johnson takes what appears at first to be a typical crime story and imbues it with both spark and depth. Jimmy Luntz, a likeable. impractical gambler with a "sissy body" gets in trouble with a bad crowd over - what else? - gambling debts. There's a bad woman, a good woman, and many bad men. The writing is crisp and the dialogue pin-point, punctuated by moments of poetry: "Her hearing came up: the hiss of the river in this wide slow spot, and the breeze in the branches, the tick of the willow leaves." A deceitful judge is "the father of lies."
Johnson doles out facts and plot tidbits artfully, but not necessarily where you would expect them. Nearly every word and scene is written as if it could be no other way.

Early on in Denis Johnson’s “Nobody Move,” hero Jimmy Luntz hears the tiny snatch of a reggae song: “Nobody move/Nobody gets hurt.” Unfortunately the desperate and outcast denizens of this novella move around plenty.

Denis Johnson, National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist for the august and delicious “Tree of Smoke,” turns his acknowledged talents to the crime caper here. Well, it’s not a crime caper so much as an adventure story about a gambler who hooks up with a beautiful woman, desperate herself, and tries without much success to stay ahead of the criminals who want to kill him.

The chief delight here is the dialog. It’s frank, laconic, and honest – there isn’t a wasted syllable anywhere. Picking show more out one conversation that one hopes is indicative of a whole story’s is quite risky, but I’m going to risk it anyway. Jimmy tells his temporary-but-beautiful partner Anita that a new outfit she’s trying on in J.C. Penney’s looks fine on her:

“It fits.”
“You’re sweet,” she said, and she sort of meant it. But not as a compliment. “You’re homeless, right?”
“I have a home. I’m just not going back there, is all.”
“So right there in that shopping bag is everything you own?”
“Everything I need.”
“And your white canvas bag – what’s in that one?”
“Everything else I need.”
“I know what’s in it. A sawed-off shotgun.”
He seemed completely unsurprised. “It’s not a sawed-off, it’s a pistol-grip. And it isn’t mine.”
“I peeked in the bag while you were in the shower.”
“You zipped it up real nice,” he said. “Good for you.”

Events take place in the blond blankness of minor Northern California valley towns, and feature its open fields and forested riversides: folks creep around on the lam and plot escape, revenge, or betrayal. Folks get caught, turn the tables, get shot, and angle for the big payday. Through it all, gambler Jimmy Luntz keeps trying to force his luck, and succeeds for a time. Go down gambling, his actions speak loud and clear, and you may not have to go at all.

I’m cheered and smiling at this mantissa of a story. Even with my challenging schedule, I read it in two sittings, nearly unheard-of for me. Yes, it’s slim, but it’s one of those things you don’t want to stop doing until it’s done, and then you just want to start all over again, like a looping out-of-control water slide. It’s wonderful, it shows Johnson’s force and skill to terrific effect, and well worth your while.

http://bassoprofundo1.blogspot.com/2011/12/nobody-move-by-denis-johnson.html show less

This is my fourth Denis Johnson (after Train Dreams, Fiskadoro and The Name of the World) and was read in tribute to his life after his recent passing. It's also my J on an alphabetical list by author surname I've got going on!

I continue to be beguiled with how well Johnson writes in all manner of genres and 'Nobody Move' furthered this impressive versatility with its distinctly noir feel. Although only scoring it a 3 out of 5, it is a very good 3 and an accomplished story which is incredibly readable. Consequently, it's a quick read but an engaging one and as others have commented, it could've handled being longer.

Nobody Moves centres on the coming together of 4 principle characters and how their lives temporarily ricochet off each show more other's in gritty Bakersfield, California. Similar to the sitcom 'Will and Grace', none of the protagonists are particularly good people, yet, how much damage they do to each other and themselves makes for an intriguing tale. They are well rounded and believable, each growing with the story and their experiences, each holding out under their respective burdens be they framed embezzlement, being hunted by a notorious criminal, loneliness or a bullet wound to the leg.

The strength of this novel is particularly the dialogue, in which Johnson is a master: the exchanges between the four characters are rich and real and it is very much as if you are there with them, living their emotions and thoughts. A good mark for me of a book's success is if I 'miss' (finding out about) the characters after the story is finished. And I did. I wanted to know more, I wanted to follow them a little longer. A very good 3 out of 5! show less

I've never read anything by Johnson that wasn't good, and this is no exception. The story starts simply enough with an in-debt gambler shooting his about-to-be assailant in the leg, then it spirals through a group of mostly desperate characters--including a beautiful woman framed for theft--and a series of violent incidents, though the worst violence takes place off stage. What shines through is Johnson's characterization. Each member of the cast is made multi-dimensional. Even the worst of them have some elements of humanity we can identify with. And the relationships between the characters are well handled. The plotting is solid, but it is Johnson's writing that makes it all work. Recommended.

The audiobook version is well narrated.