From National Book Award winner Charles Johnson, "the celebrated
novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and essayist...comes a small
treasure, one to be read and considered and reread" (The New York
Times Book Review), showcasing his incredible range and resonant
voice.
Charles Johnson's Night Hawks presents an eclectic, masterful
collection of stories tied together by Buddhist themes and displaying
all the grace, heart, and insight for which he has long been known.
Spanning genres from science fiction to realism, "Johnson's writing,
filled with the sort of long, layered sentences you can get happily lost
in, conveys a kindness; a sense that all of us...have our own stories"
(The Seattle Times).
In "The Weave," Ieesha and her boyfriend carry out a heist at the salon
from which she has just been fired--coming away with thousands of
dollars of merchandise in the form of hair extensions. "Night Hawks,"
the titular story, draws on Johnson's friendship with the late
playwright August Wilson to construct a narrative about two writers who
meet at night to talk. In "Kamadhatu," a lonely Japanese abbot has his
quiet world upended by a visit from a black American Buddhist whose
presence pushes him toward the awakening he has long found elusive.
"Occupying Arthur Whitfield," about a cab driver who decides to rob the
home of a wealthy passenger, reminds readers to be grateful for what
they have. And "The Night Belongs to Phoenix Jones" combines the
real-life story of a "superhero" in the city of Seattle with an invented
narrative about an aging English professor who decides to join him.
With precise, elegant, and moving language, Johnson creates an
"arresting" array of "indelible moments that show Johnson to be a master
of the short form" (Library Journal, starred review). Night Hawks is
"a masterpiece...[that] ultimately offers a message of empowerment and
hope" (Oprah.com).
