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In 1971 Norman Mailer described Jill Johnston as the "master of free associational  prose." With At Sea On Land, Johnston's "mastery" in this style has matured to the point where imaginative leaps between thoughts or ideas are scrupulously controlled by narratives of traditional strength and coherency.   A book in which a travel motif is interwoven with political commentary, Johnston's protest againts governmental policies since 9/11 is offset by the tremendous pleasure she obviously takes in writing. At heart, she is a writer's writer. As she says in her Foreword, "By playing writing off against the nuttiness of government as many of us see the present state of the union, I intend to show the latter up, and/or throw my craft into relief." For Johnston, "The exercise of craft in the face of threats to our survival is our strength and purpose."   At Sea On Land spans the period 2000-2004, and situates itself squarely in the causes of humanism and world peace.   From page 144-145 in  At Sea On Land: So is there a hero, or should I say a great leader, anywhere in our picture? I like to think so. And his name is Obama . . . You have only to read Barack Obama's book "Dreams from my Father," to see how different he is from our class of politicians generally. He writes beautifully, places his personal story without any embarrassment in the center of his ambitions, and he cares about people. But will he die in the Senate the way most Senators do? Like Bill Clinton he was a fatherless, mother-loved boy. But he has more promising outsider credentials. Or else I'm too caught up in the exoticism of his black African/white Kansan origins. But how great would it be to have an "Obama" succeed GW . . .