Denis Johnson's in Playboy & Jacket Copy Takes a Peek

Denis Johnson, author of several books including Jesus' Son and the National Book Award-Winning Tree of Smoke, has the first of a four-part serial installment in Playboy's July issue.

Playboy is playing it oh-so-smart and isn't providing the highly-anticipated Nobody Move work of fiction online. What's a Johnson fan to do? You can pony up and buy Playboy, or you can head on over to Jacket Copy, the lit blog at the LA Times, to join in the discussion. For each of the four installments, Jacket Copy bloggers and LAT staff writers will offer up their perspective on the latest piece - from what they think of the story itself to the what it's like to read literary fiction wedged between silicone breasts.

The discussion is already under way for the first installment of Johnson's 40,000-word serialized novel and it includes thoughts from Richard Rayner, David L. Ulin and former LAist editor Carolyn Kellogg. Rumor has it there might also be a few high profile authors jumping into the fray. Go check it out. Or buy Playboy. Or both. It's all in the name of literature!