In The Not Quite Dark: Stories

"You don’t have to have lived in Los Angeles to appreciate how author Dana Johnson shadows in the sun-bleached settings of Southern California. The USC English professor works in the spare, efficient — and compassionate — short story traditions of Raymond Carver and Edward P. Jones. From a mother trying to navigate her young daughter’s interactions with LA’s overwhelming homeless population, to a former stripper (and astronomy buff) whose boyfriend is pushing a threesome, Johnson delineates surprising, troublesome days in the lives of everyday Angelenos, mostly African-American."