Corporate Imposter
Alex Harvey, 4 February 2021
Death was Denis Johnson’s subject: the already dead, the dying but not yet dead and the rush of life in its last seconds. In Angels (1983), his first novel, Johnson describes his protagonist’s final moments. Bill Houston, a petty criminal and heavy drinker, is facing the death penalty after killing a security guard:
He felt he could hold his breath for ever – no problem....