Books
We Burn Daylight
Based on the true events that unfolded thirty years ago during the siege of the Branch Davidian compound, Bret Anthony Johnston’s We Burn Daylight is an unforgettable love story, a heart-pounding literary page turner, and a profound exploration of faith, family, and what it means to truly be saved.
“Symphonic and suspenseful, We Burn Dayilght, reimagines events at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. In an epic act of empathy, Bret Anthony Johnston inhabits every point-of-view from doomed devotees to perplexed law enforcement, and even manages to infuse the tragedy with moments of poignant, very human humor.”
– Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March and Horse
Remember Me Like This
Incisive, haunting, and beautifully written, Bret Anthony Johnston’s debut novel lays bare a family’s hope and heartbreak in the aftermath of a devastating crime. Remember Me Like This explores the nature of love and forgiveness when a kidnapped son is returned home.
“It is as a writer that I admire the architecture of Remember Me Like This, the novel’s flawless storytelling. It is as the father of three sons that I vouch for the psychological authenticity of this depiction of any parent’s worst fears. Emotionally, I am with this family as they try to move ahead—embracing ‘the half-known and desperate history’ that they share. I love this novel.”
– John Irving
Corpus Christi: Stories
From acclaimed and award-winning writer Bret Anthony Johnston comes an assured and intensely moving debut collection set in the eye of life’s storms. In Corpus Christi, Texas - a town often hit by hurricanes - parents, children, and lovers come together and fall apart, bonded and battered by memories of loss that they feel as acutely as physical pain.
“An auspicious debut. Johnston’s exquisitely drawn men and women are riders on the storm, coping with an iffy emotional landscape that mirrors Corpus Christi’s own, where the past is too easily washed away and the ocean has no memory. Stunning and complex.”
– Los Angeles Times Book Review
Naming the World: And Other Exercises for the Creative Writer
For fans of Natalie Goldberg and Anne Lamott, an irresistible, interactive writing book from the Director of Creative Writing at Harvard, with 65 contributions from acclaimed authors and teachers.