SOURCE: Review of The Name of the World, by Denis Johnson. Publishers Weekly 247, no. 20 (15 May 2000): 86.

In the following positive review of The Name of the World, the anonymous commentator contends that “Johnson's eloquent examination of one man's persistent inability to extricate himself from the tenacity of grief manages to be both lyrical and raw.”

Spare, introspective and arresting, Johnson's (Jesus' Son; Already Dead) new novel [The Name of the World] explores a middle-aged college professor's attempts to come to terms with the gruesome twist of fate that has robbed him of his family. After losing his wife, Anne, and daughter, Elsie, in a tragic automobile accident, ex-political speechwriter Mike Reed seeks refuge in the insular world of academia. Cloistered deep in the bosom of an unnamed Midwestern university, he teaches history, halfheartedly tries to obtain a research grant and reflects morosely on his losses. In episodic vignettes, Mike...