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Wolf in White Van

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Wolf in White Van

By: John Darnielle
Narrated by: John Darnielle
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About this listen

Long-listed for the 2014 National Book Award in fiction

Winner of the 2015 Alex Award for adult books with special appeal for young adults

Beautifully written and unexpectedly moving, John Darnielle's audacious and gripping debut novel Wolf in White Van is a marvel of storytelling brio and genuine literary delicacy.

Welcome to Trace Italian, a game of strategy and survival! You may now make your first move.

Isolated by a disfiguring injury since the age of seventeen, Sean Phillips crafts imaginary worlds for strangers to play in. From his small apartment in southern California, he orchestrates fantastic adventures where possibilities, both dark and bright, open in the boundaries between the real and the imagined. As the creator of Trace Italian—a text-based, role-playing game played through the mail—Sean guides players from around the world through his intricately imagined terrain, which they navigate and explore, turn by turn, seeking sanctuary in a ravaged, savage future America.

Lance and Carrie are high school students from Florida, explorers of the Trace. But when they take their play into the real world, disaster strikes, and Sean is called to account for it. In the process, he is pulled back through time, tunneling toward the moment of his own self-inflicted departure from the world in which most people live.

Brilliantly constructed, Wolf in White Van unfolds in reverse until we arrive at both the beginning and the climax: the event that has shaped so much of Sean's life.

©2014 John Darnielle (P)2014 Macmillan Audio Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense

Critic Reviews

“John Darnielle's amazing novel digs into an artist's unspoken fears . . . Like Darnielle's songwriting, the prose is often cryptic and then stunningly clear, microscopically specific and then audaciously grand. The words soothe for sentences at a time, then strike with blunt force.” —Carl Wilson, Slate

“A stunning meditation on the power of escape, and on the cat-and-mouse contest the self plays to deflect its own guilt.” —Ethan Gilsdorf, The New York Times Book Review

“John Darnielle is a great songwriter, tipping light toward every kind of human suffering, and his powers are on full display in Wolf in White Van. The prose lives like Sean's imagination: a breathing, glowing thing. In Darnielle's novel, as in his songs, the monstrously true and unbelievably beautiful press up against one another. Together, they begin to dance.” —Carmen Maria Machado, NPR.org
All stars
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this book rules. incredibly sad, hopeful and intriguing book. well read too. John is awesome

incrediblely sad, hopeful and intriguing book

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I was underwhelmed by this audiobook. It was a good listen. However, it did not grab me as I had hoped. It is well written with interesting narrative and well recorded. It will appeal to some.

A dark tale

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From the opening John Darnielle's voice is unexpectedly plain and yet authentic. Even as a fan of the Mountain Goats I had no idea what to expect. The story is thick with tangents and overflowing with similes, yet rich in the character of the narrator to such an extent that I was reminded of Holden Caulfield. The reverse unfolding of the story combined with the character of the prose makes one feel always at the edge of comprehension, like missing one word might render the story senseless. Yet it is this tension with comprehension and madness that gives the story so much of its allure. Darnielle treads this line so perfectly, never letting the story be fully in your grasp, but never frustrating you. He doles out the narrative in such rich yet measured form I couldn't stop listening.

Inescapable and unique.

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a compelling story really well told.
loved the game play aspect and the story moved guard and back in time really well, without confusion.
dissapointed that I didn't understand the ending.

very well read but the author

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I've long been a fan of the Mountain Goats but only just discovered that John writes fiction too.

The story swallowed me whole, simultaneously into Sean's world and that of the Trace Italian. Each could have been a story on its own, but the intersection was incredible.

Also, it's a real pleasure to hear authors read their own books. The intonation and pauses could not have been expressed as faithfully by anyone else.

Totally Entranced

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