Transferred from our blog archive at ArtsJournal Nov 17, 2005 Re: Gift by Annie Wagner I know you didn't mean "splinters" literally, Bret, but I'd say Johnson's bits of narrative are more like uncrackable nuts. They seem modeled on koans or parables without referent--they're not so much partial as they are hard and self-contained. The square of light and boxing ring-style blocking (feint, circle, feint) mirror his circular narrative style. If this is truth, it's the kind that doesn't easily give up its meaning.