Sign in

Emporium

by Adam Johnson

  • 2002
  • ~290 pages
  • 3.8 ★
The "remarkable" (The New Yorker) debut story collection by the author of The Orphan Master's Son (winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize) and the story collection Fortune Smiles (winner of the 2015 National Book Award) An ATF raid, a moonshot gone wrong, a busload of female cancer victims determined to live life to the fullest—these are the compelling terrains Adam Johnson explores in his electrifying debut collection. A lovesick teenage Cajun girl, a gay Canadian astrophysicist, a teenage sniper on the LAPD payroll, a post-apocalyptic bulletproof-vest salesman—each seeks connection and meaning in landscapes made uncertain by the voids that parents and lovers should fill. With imaginative grace and verbal acuity, Johnson is satirical without being cold, clever without being cloying, and heartbreaking without being sentimental. He shreds the veneer of our media-saturated, self-help society, revealing the lonely isolation that binds us all together.

Meetups

No meetups scheduled for this book right now. Consider hosting one!

More by Adam Johnson

  1. Following: The Orphan Master's SonAdam Johnson
  2. Following: The WayfinderAdam Johnson
  3. Following: Parasites Like UsAdam Johnson