by Adam Johnson
First published 2014
A moonshot gone wrong, a busload of female cancer victims determined to live life to the fullest, a lovesick Cajun girl – Adam Johnson's debut collection "Emporium" explores the desperate search for meaning in a media-saturated, self-help society. From a gay Canadian astrophysicist to a teenage LAPD sniper, each character grapples with the voids left by parents and lovers, their stories by turns satirical, clever, and heartbreaking. With imaginative grace and verbal acuity, Johnson shreds the veneer of our modern world to reveal the lonely isolation that binds us all.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: desperate-search, grappling-with-voids
Setting: LAPD, Canada
Period: Modern
288 pages · Paperback · Black Swan