Adam Johnson, "Hurricanes Anonymous"

A UPS driver in post-Katrina Louisiana is suddenly put in charge of his son.

(from Tin House, Summer Reading 2008)

Outside the campers are bright purple laundry bins, molded-plastic porch chairs, and the deep black of Weber grills, which is what happens when Wal-Mart is your first responder.

Nonc is an excellent character, complicated and mysterious and identifiable in all the right ways. I guess I’m saying he’s real, or buyable. I bought him. This story’s got soul, and might only work if you’ve got a soul too. You gotta believe in the ending, that the last few pages could happen, for this story to work. Maybe it’s just because I believe in Nonc, but yeah, I bought that too.

2 thoughts on “Adam Johnson, "Hurricanes Anonymous"

  1. Anonymous

    I just finished this story this morning. I loved it. Great story among several great stories in this issue of Tin House. I thought it was odd that they had no bio information on him in the back. I’d like to read more of his work.
    The Alan Gurganus story was good too.
    Cheers!

    Reply

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