Welcome

Allan G. Johnson’s long-awaited novel, The First Thing and the Last, a story of redemption and healing in the aftermath of domestic violence, has been published.

To listen to Allan Johnson’s recent interview about the novel on National Public Radio’s Here and Now, click here.

Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine named The First Thing and the Last one of its “Great Reads” for April 2010.

Publishers Weekly showcased the novel in its semi-annual issue featuring notable debut works of fiction, and in their follow-up review praised its “lyrical prose, sympathetic characters and an unwavering sense of hope and compassion that make for a moving, engaging read.”

Other reviewers describe it as “beautiful, brave, and liberating, a triumph of the spirit,” “miraculous,” “a stunning achievement,” “complex and masterful,” “moving, insightful, and deeply human.”  “His ability and willingness to see so deeply, to portray a woman and her story so profoundly, takes our breath away,” writes Deena Metzger, poet, novelist, and author of Writing for Your Life.

To learn more about The First Thing and the Last, including the reviews from which the quotes above are taken and links to purchase the novel online (recommended for fastest delivery), click here. For a schedule of upcoming readings and presentations, click here.

The First Thing and the Last is now a Facebook Group that you can join as a way to help increase awareness of the novel and the reality of domestic violence that it portrays.

Allan Johnson’s nonfiction work focuses on what we can do to understand and change our shared legacy of life organized around oppressive systems privilege, power, and difference.  Unraveling the knot of privilege begins with getting clear about what privilege really is, about what it’s got to do with each of us, and about how everyone can see themselves as part of the process of change toward something better. Based on more than thirty years of work, he tries to chart a course organized around three questions:

• What are we participating in and how are we choosing to participate in it?
• How do typical ways of thinking about privilege blind us to what’s going on?
• What can we do to make a difference?

His books, The Gender Knot and Privilege, Power, and Difference are written from a deeply held belief that privilege and oppression are not inevitable features of human life and that the choices each of us make matter more than we can ever know.  His work offers a practical, compassionate, and readable guide to understanding what we’re stuck in and how to search for a way out.

To learn more about Allan Johnson’s work and writing, click on the book covers on the sidebar or use the menu bar above.

The tree image in the banner is a useful metaphor for understanding systems of privilege.  To learn more about it, click here.

Photo by Mark Bennington