Johnson, Adam 1967–

PERSONAL: Born July 12, 1967, in SD; married Stephanie Harrell, 2000; children: James Geronimo, Jupiter. Education: Arizona State University, B.A., 1992; McNeese State University, M.A., M.F.A., 1996; Florida State University, Ph.D., 2001.

ADDRESSES: Home—San Francisco, CA. Office—English Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Educator and author. Stanford University, Stanford, CA, Jones Lecturer in creative writing and fiction, 2001–.

AWARDS, HONORS: Wallace Stegner Fellowship, Stanford University, 2001; California Book Award, 2003, for Parasites Like Us.

WRITINGS:

Emporium (short stories), Viking (New York, NY), 2002.

Parasites Like Us (novel), Viking (New York, NY), 2003.

Also contributor of short stories to numerous publications, including Paris Review, Esquire, and Harper's.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A novel set in contemporary Los Angeles.

SIDELIGHTS: In an interview for Barnes & Noble. com, author Adam Johnson admitted that he began writing creatively "by mistake." While attempting to sign up for a poetry course during college, he accidentally enrolled in a fiction class. "Immediately I knew writing was for me—suddenly my penchant for daydreaming, exaggerating, and lying all became useful and constructive, and I never looked back." Since then, Johnson has earned his Ph.D. from Florida State University, landed a lectureship in creative writing and fiction at Stanford University, and has begun publishing his fiction.

Among the stories in Johnson's first effort, Emporium, are "Trauma Plate," featuring the owners of a mom-and-pop bullet-proof vest rental shop; "Your Own Backyard," a story about a police officer turned zoo security guard who begins to notice his son's disturbing obsession with guns and desensitization to violence; and "Teen Sniper," which focuses on a fifteen-year-old sniper whose job is to shoot and kill disgruntled corporate employees. A reviewer for the New Yorker noted that the stories in Emporium capture "the loneliness of youth, the failure of parents, and the yearning for connection." A Publishers Weekly contributor commented, "Each of these unusual, skillful stories exhibits a fierce talent, showcasing Johnson's quirky humor and slicing insight." Booklist reviewer James O'Laughlin determined that "Johnson's is a distinctive new fictional sensibility," and a Kirkus Reviews critic observed that "Johnson's unique premises, hybrids of realism and allegory, blends of pedestrian, pop, and the bizarre, create unnerving moods."

Johnson followed Emporium with his first novel, Parasites Like Us, in which, according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer, "an archeological find sets off an apocalyptic epidemic." The book features archeology professor Hank Hannah and his two graduate students, Trudy and Eggers, who discover an ancient burial site of the prehistoric Clovis people and unwittingly release a deadly plague on the world. Writing for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Elizabeth Hand termed Johnson's work "the novelistic equivalent of a long drunken whacked-out binge with your closest, smartest, craziest friend." Michele Leber, writing in Booklist, depicted Parasites Like Us as a "weird but masterfully written debut novel" full of "inventiveness, black humor, and penetrating insight."

In his interview with Barnes & Noble.com, Johnson offered this advice to aspiring writers: "Find a mentor…. They have a lot to teach and share if you're willing to seek them out. Be humble, think of writing as a lifelong process of learning, and your audience will come."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Book, May-June, 2002, Kevin Greenberg, review of Emporium, p. 84; September-October, 2003, Kevin Greenberg, review of Parasites Like Us, p. 91.

Booklist, March 15, 2002, James O'Laughlin, review of Emporium, p. 1212; August, 2003, Michele Leber, review of Parasites Like Us, p. 1953.

Esquire, September, 2003, "Two More Books for Your Shelf," review of Parasites Like Us, p. 66.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2002, review of Emporium, p. 127; June 15, 2003, review of Parasites Like Us, p. 826.

Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March, 2004, Elizabeth Hand, review of Parasites Like Us, p. 34.

New Yorker, April 22, 2002, "Briefly Noted," review of Emporium, p. 201.

Publishers Weekly, February 11, 2002, review of Emporium, p. 158; June 23, 2003, review of Parasites Like Us, p. 44.

ONLINE

Barnes & Noble.com, http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (January 10, 2006), "Meet the Writers: Adam Johnson."

KQED Web site, http://www.kqed.org/ (January 10, 2006), "The Writers' Block: Adam Johnson."

Stanford Daily/Intermission, http://daily.stanford.edu/ (November 14, 2003), Anthony Ha, "Intermission Interviews Adam Johnson: Johnson Discusses His First Novel Parasites Like Us."

Stanford University Web site, http://www.stanford.edu/ (January 10, 2006), "English Department Faculty."