Dana Johnson: Moments before our Interview after being circumvented. Union Station, Fall 2016. Photo by Lynell George
I SPEAK to Dana Johnson about her evocative new book, In the Not Quite Dark for USC Dornsife. IIt’s a tough look at changing Los Angeles.
If you are moving through these changing corridors, you’ll find yourself somewhere on her pages.
From my piece:
Poetic and, at turns, unflinchingly raw, the 11 stories explore a wide-ranging Los Angeles experience: People pulled from elsewhere seeking transformation; natives sprung up from L.A.’s soil carving out life around the noise. It considers that projected dream — the West as a site of transformation — but its inverse, too: What happens when you chase a dream that dissolves each time you reach out to capture it.
The L.A. that many of Johnson’s stories pull into focus is not the telegenic region of rolling lawns, beaches and opulence. Rather, it’s a series of backdrops and situations that most Angelenos move through daily — city dwellers overwhelmed by traffic, keeping one step ahead of gentrification, at turns bewildered and humbled by homelessness.
As I consider in the piece, “one story overtakes another; some have more weight” All we can do is write our stories, our presents and pasts.
You can read the entire profile here.
