Fortune Smiles

Stories

By: Adam Johnson

Narrated by: W. Morgan Sheppard, Johnathan McClain, Cassandra Campbell, Dominic Hoffman, Will Damron, Greg Chun

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his acclaimed novel about North Korea, The Orphan Master’s Son, Adam Johnson is one of America’s most provocative and powerful authors. Critics have compared him to Kurt Vonnegut, David Mitchell, and George Saunders, but Johnson’s new book will only further his reputation as one of our most original writers. Subtly surreal, darkly comic, both hilarious and heartbreaking, Fortune Smiles is a major collection of stories that gives voice to the perspectives we don’t often hear, while offering something rare in fiction: a new way of looking at the world.

In six masterly stories, Johnson delves deep into love and loss, natural disasters, the influence of technology, and how the political shapes the personal. “Nirvana,” which won the prestigious Sunday Times short story prize, portrays a programmer whose wife has a rare disease finding solace in a digital simulacrum of the president of the United States. In “Hurricanes Anonymous”—first included in the Best American Short Stories anthology—a young man searches for the mother of his son in a Louisiana devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. “George Orwell Was a Friend of Mine” follows a former warden of a Stasi prison in East Germany who vehemently denies his past, even as pieces of it are delivered in packages to his door. And in the unforgettable title story, Johnson returns to his signature subject, North Korea, depicting two defectors from Pyongyang who are trying to adapt to their new lives in Seoul, while one cannot forget the woman he left behind.

Unnerving, riveting, and written with a timeless quality, these stories confirm Johnson as one of America’s greatest writers and an indispensable guide to our new century.

Readers:
“Nirvana” read by Johnathan McClain
“Hurricanes Anonymous” read by Dominic Hoffman
“Interesting Facts” read by Cassandra Campbell
“George Orwell Was a Friend of Mine” read by W. Morgan Sheppard
“Dark Meadow” read by Will Damron
“Fortune Smiles” read by Greg Chun

©2015 Adam Johnson (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Masterful . . . Each [story] is a miniature demonstration of why his remarkable novel The Orphan Master’s Son won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.”—The Washington Post

“[Adam Johnson] is always perceptive and brave; his lines always sing and strut and sizzle and hush and wash and blaze over the reader.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Superb . . . explosive.”—The Wall Street Journal

Well written

All the stories are well written an well performed and very original. A few of them resonated with me more than others.

AN ECLECTIC MIX OF STORIES

This is an eclectic mix of stories told in disparate voices but convergent themes. Adam Johnson’s world is not a nice place and some times his heroes aren’t very heroic; but each voice rings clearly and truthfully and compels you to continue.

Both great and terrible

The Orphan Master’s Son is one of my favorite books, so I was excited to read these stories. However, the opening story is so depressing without being compelling or even making much sense that I almost gave up on the book. To me only 1 of the stories, “George Orwell...” is truly great, and it alone is worth the price of the book.

I know Nirvana won awards but I found it oppressive and simply boring. “Hurricanes...” held my interest but portions seemed absurdly unrealistic and I HATED the ending. Fortune Smiles was ok, but felt contrived. I had expected much more from the author’s return to Korean subject matter. “Orwell” on the other hand is a work of art. Similar to Orphan Master, it provides insight into the mind of someone who is living in a reality they have developed to keep from facing the world around them. I hung on every word and wanted more. It was brilliant.

Stories take u away

I enjoyed this book for the most part, however it was very upsetting when the child porn story was being narrated.

The accents were good. The stories were well written. You could tell that there was a lot of care put into the production of this audiobook. It is really appreciated.

Half Full or Half Empty

How can you explain why something resonated in you and bounced off someone else? Just look at the two reviews that appear here for this book right now, 5:30 p.m. MST 10/28/15 "Darwin" and "Unhappy Sirius Camper". A 5* and a1*; it couldn't be more disparate. I am aligned completely with Darwin's opinion of this book (and have to thank him for a glowing review that compelled me to get this) . It MUST be a case of how you see the glass. For the Unhappy guy/gal this is a half empty, for me it is absolutely overflowing. Author Adam Johnson captures the fragility of *us*, and shows that we are, as Whitman wrote, "Multitudes."

Johnson gives us a collection of 6 stories, the final "Fortune Smiles," a return to his 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Orphan Master's Son. In these few stories (far too few IMO) Johnson reaches deep into the situations and lives of People, pushes illness, death, jealousy, mourning, hope, even pornography and pedophilia, into the background and lets these wretched aching souls speak beyond words and judgements. I imagine each person will read them subjective to their own lives, but Johnson has a talent for slipping you into the story just barely ahead of your own biases or experience. The unrolling facts of each story, written so fluidly concise, take turns with you on an emotional and intellectual level -- a battle of the mind and the heart. Though not for every reader, others may find themselves in new frontiers of humanity -- seeing the child that was, in the monster; the other side of the coin; walking a mile in someone else's shoes; understanding how love and hatred can occupy simultaneously one feeling.

I remember for just a second feeling a thought skitter across my mind, formed somewhere beneath my consciousness (I can't even recall which story it was I was listening to). It whispered, this must be how God sees us. It may be hard to read, the human condition seems so raw, but it is at the same time reaffirming. Collectively we struggle, we fail, we carry on. There is a beauty in our ability to do so. I loved this read and hope it is read and loved by others. If I knew the sound your heart makes when it is pierced and wrung out, I would type those letters here, or if there was only an emoji -- it would be so much easier, because sometimes words just aren't enough. So I'll say it with 5 little stars.

The mixed narration is done beautifully, turning the stories into soliloquys unaware of an audience. How many times do we get to listen to a voice that conveys such emotion? Even in the gruff voice of the narrator on "George Orwell is a Friend of Mine" you hear the struggle of conscience overtake pride and position.

To those that think they will (or those that did) hear Betrayal, Danger, Denial, Selfishness, and Smashed Hopes, I heard my own conventionalities shatter their confines and expand. For me, the stories spoke gently that the glass, no matter how much it contains, has capacity. We are "Multitudes," and for a few brief stories, Adam Johnson was "the poet of the soul."

Blown away by every single page and every story

These stories BREAK me. Johnson pulls each story's string to the point of breaking and then plays them beautifully with precision and dexterity. 'Interesting Facts' about crushed me -- so good. Blown away by every single page and every story. Seriously, I might just have to put back on my white shirt and name badge from my 19 yo missionary days and go door-to-door evangelizing about Adam Johnson's book. "Have you read Adam Johnson?" "I know Adam Johnson is True." "A man get nearer to God by reading Adam Johnson's short-stories than any other fiction writer, save perhaps McCarthy". Oh, fine. That is probably an exaggeration, but still, GOD, these stories were amazing. Scary even. Like being transported to a foreign land and buried alive. He captures the language of the other and once you get on his train there is no getting off. OK. Perhaps again I am exaggerating. Perhaps, I am caught up in a convert's euphoria. But I'm not new to Adam Johnson. I've read The Orphan Master's Son and loved that too.

The narrations were perfect too. Each one balanced the art of reading with the dance of drama. They never crowded the stories with their voices, but supported the stories and made them each unique.

beautiful

I love Adam Johnson's work. these stories are so rich in emotion and insight. the final, titular tale may be the best, especially in this audio version, as the reader's accent and cadence really bring the story into vivid color. I think the narrators were quite well cast. I definitely recommend/well worth the credit!

Captivating!

Adam Johnson transports the reader through profound, unexpected life experiences stimulating deep reflection and sometimes laughter. Each unique narrator reveals thought-provoking perspectives on, and reactions to potentially disconcerting circumstances. Captivating!

Spectacular Story Telling

Haunting and beautiful! Left me wanting more. What come next in each story. Impressed

Magnificent!

Adam Johnson’s “Fortune Smiles” is a magnificent collection of stories. These are among the best written recently. They are dark and sparkling, featuring anti-heroes that enthralled and repelled me, but kept me reading more to see how the stories end. My favorite one is “Dark Meadows” about a male survivor of sexual abuse trying to be a hero to the abused. These stories captivated me. I look forward to more.