His first foray to a war zone came in the early ‘80s. Already seen as a promising, up-and-coming poet and novelist, Johnson could have ridden his reputation into a comfortable teaching gig Stateside. Instead he bounced down to Nicaragua to cover the fighting between the Sandinistas and the Contras, an experience he would later parlay into his excellent third novel The Stars at Noon.
Source: Here’s Why Denis Johnson Was the Last Truly Great Gonzo War Correspondent