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    Wolf in White Van: A Novel
    Wolf in White Van: A Novel
    Wolf in White Van: A Novel
    Audiobook5 hours

    Wolf in White Van: A Novel

    Written by John Darnielle

    Narrated by John Darnielle

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    About this audiobook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateSep 16, 2014
    ISBN9781427251886
    Author

    John Darnielle

    JOHN DARNIELLE’s first novel, Wolf in White Van, was a New York Times bestseller, a National Book Award nominee and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for first fiction, and was widely hailed as one of the best novels of the year. He is the writer, composer, guitarist and vocalist for the band the Mountain Goats. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, with his wife and sons.

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    Reviews for Wolf in White Van

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      While not destined for mass-market appeal, I enjoyed Wolf In White Van immensely, and am disappointed that I cannot think of more people to recommend it to! I fear this title may have a very specific fan base - more cult-following than anything else. That being said, I personally found Sean to be such a familiar character that this book leaves me feeling haunted. Beautifully crafted, I found the audio version to be fantastically read by the author, John Darnielle.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Unique, self-contained, truly brilliant, disturbed. Will be thinking about this one for a long time. Absolutely take a minute to look up images of a trace italienne (a star fort) - they are real and are amazing.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The book interestingly begins by describing the writer as “one of the greatest lyricists of his generation”. Having never listened to the Mountain Goats I giggled, but damn if this book wasn’t good. The plot was captivating, the writing was beautiful, and the descriptions and focus on memory really spoke to me. While much of it bounces back and forth between time, the discussions and reflections on memory provide interesting insight into all we do.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Finished the book last night and this morning found myself starting again from the beginning. Had to stop and let the book live in my mind. America, guns, mass murder - but friendship, life, death.
    • 3/5
      My low rating is not a reflection on the quality of this book, which is very creative. It is simply based on my enjoyment factor while I read it. I felt so disconnected to this whole story and I could not understand the thoughts or motives of any of the characters. I felt such relief when I got to the end of it.
    • 5/5
      I really liked reading this book and [Dhalgren] at the same time.
    • 4/5
      Not mine but excellent description: But what drives “Wolf in White Van” is Mr. Darnielle’s uncanny sense of what it’s like to feel marginalized, an outsider, a freak. He has an instinctive understanding of fetid teenage emotional states and the “timelines of meaningless afternoons that ended somewhere big and terrible.”
    • 4/5
      A beautifully written book but one I found somewhat disappointing. In the 1980s, my wife and I played a game similar to the one that is central to this novel, in which players mail their moves to a game master who responds in kind. Reading this took me back to the pleasures of that sort of game, and reminded me as well of the first computer games, text only of course. The main character is complex and engaging, and so I am still trying to decide why the book disappointed me--I think I felt some let down because the central plot mover was so clearly telegraphed to readers over the course of the book, but I might also have expected such a carefully crafted, enjoyable novel to end on a higher note.
    • 3/5
      A fever dream. A stare-into-the-fire kind of vision quest. It's that kind of book. And yet the story felt thin. Perhaps because of its slim size. Read more like a novella. Usually I would be excited about a book like this. It has a unique structure: an ending revealed upfront and the story going back in time; a re-telling through a text-based game world evocatively called "Trace Italian." The melancholy burns. It has scorched out all the oxygen in the air. Will wait a bit before writing a full review.
    • 5/5
      Extraordinary book. Creates a claustrophobic room cluttered with pop culture, cassette tapes, and Conan novels that is the head of its protagonist, then drags you inexorably to the horrific incident that made him that way.
    • 3/5
      This disturbing story is narrated by Sean Phillips, a young man who becomes isolated from the world when his face becomes disfigured. Sean spends his time during and after his recovery creating and managing a fantasy game called Trace Italian which he sells through the mail. A young Trace Italian player takes the game too literally and dies as a result. Through alternating chapters and a back and forth timeline, the cause of Sean's disfigurement and details about the death of the young player are revealed. Parallels can be drawn between the disfigurement and the death which both appear to be results of little forethought. The book was well written but very dark.
    • 3/5
      3.5. This is not a plot heavy book, instead a slow-reveal tour through the mind of an isolated, disfigured misfit who makes idiosyncratic text-based games for other people who struggle to fit in in the world. The narrator is a classic Darnielle character - like one of the kids from Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton who channels his angst into fantasy worlds rather than metal – and the writing is as good as you’d expect from one of pop music’s smartest lyricists. It’s pretty grim reading, with shafts of light peaking through occasionally – not really great summer reading.
    • 3/5
      This book fell into my hands somehow, and intrigued me by the jacket blurb, though the cover made my eyes spin. Two threads of the same story, told from opposite directions. Excellent writing, intricate story lines, compelling character detail, enough so that by the end (which is the beginning of the story), I really did not like the central character. But I suppose the author knew that would be a reaction. It then made me wonder about the quality of forgiveness-- how much can one forgive about another's past to be actually able to like, trust, believe, or even love them in the present?at-least-the-writing-was-good, awardwinner, currently-reading, made-me-sad, mixed-feelings, not-to-my-taste, thought-provoking
    • 3/5
      I applaud the author for the original concept of this book as well as the outstanding prose. After a disfiguring injury Sean, who know must live in his mind creates a game by mail called Trace Italian. He is able to make a modest living from this game, which is endangered by the unfortunate fate of two of the players. Despite physical and mental despair, with this he finds something to live for, something in which he is engaged. A place he escape to when his stress level is high.I wish I could have connected more with this story and with Sean as well. There is much about music, old movies and other cultural references which, maybe because I am not a gamer, I could not relate.The book is structured so that the ending is basically told first and the present told last. There are many references along the way so that the ending, which is really the beginning, is not a shock.
    • 4/5
      Thank you to the publisher for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not alter my review in any way.Wow. This book has just – surprised me. I just – wow. I’ve been reading so many good books and giving out such favourable reviews lately you guys are going to think I’m getting soft. But this one, it is really good.It is also very different. It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, instead it was something much better, something intriguing, suspenseful and unlike anything else I have ever read. And it just left me wondering, trying to turn over such an unfathomable thing in my mind.At the age of seventeen, Sean suffers a lifechanging and disfiguring injury that isolates him from the rest of the world. In hospital he began to write and create a whole new imaginary world, a text based game where players subscribe and receive their turns by mail. The world exists only in his – and their – minds. The game takes place in a futuristic America that has been ravaged by radioactive poisoning where players are seeking a safe location called Trace Italian. When two high school students take the game out into the real world a tragedy occurs and Sean is called to account for it. Through the novel the readers are taken backwards in time, through the progression and creation of the game, through Sean’s time in hospital, back to that moment that ultimately decided Sean’s future. I read this in a day and a half. It’s not long, but it was difficult to get into at first until I became accustomed to Darnielle’s writing style. There is no clear beginning and end to this story; we are dropped into a memory, knowing that something terrible has happened to Sean but not really sure what just yet. That is revealed over time. The slow reveal can be excruciating to a demanding reader like myself, but I remained patient. I wandered through Sean’s memories, his stories, his game. I tried to understand him, and my first reaction was to sympathise with him, but my feelings changed along the course of the novel, while still trying to understand. I can imagine how his parents were so frustrated, because like me they lacked understanding, they wanted answers to a question they probably weren’t going to get, but I still couldn’t believe some of the things they said. The construction of this novel is irregular and unconventional but it all still makes sense and it suits the story. We work backwards, but its not always linear. There was every opportunity to be confused but somehow it all made sense.The two high school students, Lance and Carrie, who take their play of Sean’s game out of the imaginative realm and into the real world are interesting catalysts for Sean’s backward train of thought, but this was never about them. It is where the lines between fantasy and reality blur for Sean, but the game was never the problem. The game seems to have been his salvation. And it’s not what has happened that’s surprising or shocking, because we know from the start it was something bad, it’s more the intricate details of it all, the things we don’t often think about. It’s also very hard to talk about without spoilers. The nature of this book and its heavy content means it won’t be for everyone, however there is a lot to be found here. There were times when I would reread paragraphs or whole pages, even once I’d finished, trying to wrap my head around the situation. Trying – and failing – to imagine what life was, and is, like for Sean. It’s difficult to process. It’s not easy to stump me. This novel has done exactly that. I’m still sitting here wondering. I got sucked into it and then it spat me out at the end and I am still wondering. It is nothing short of brilliant, I just wish there was more to the answer. But maybe I am looking for something that does not exist. 
    • 3/5
      Lyrical and interesting, as I'd expect from JD. I listened to the audiobook, and I think his weird rhythm suited the prose. Not my favorite book of the year, but I enjoyed it.

      As with a lot of great magic systems and world-building in fantasy/sci-fi, Trace Italian itself seemed interesting enough for its own book.
    • 4/5
      As a Mountain Goats fan, probably the main reason why anyone would get their hands on this immediately or immediately as you can when you have few ideas for Christmas presents, I am predisposed to liking this book. That said it is quite a brilliant and look at the world through Darnielle's incisive wit, sharp use of imagery and dealing with the world when everything has seemingly gone to shit.

      My only gripe with the narrative, especially compared to Darinelle's 33 1/3 book, is that Sean, the narrator, is almost too witty, clever and this dry, taciturn voice is too controlled and makes the story a bit sterile, like the author is the in the role of game designer himself and you can see the choices and pathways too obviously with each chapter.

      Read this book. It's a good one.
    • 4/5
      This is a bleak, psychological novel that succeeds in portraying the mind of a very troubled but imaginative and sensitive young man. Sean Phillips has been severely disfigured and thus has become an introverted social misfit. He seeks meaning by administering a role-playing game called Trace Italian. The participants seek sanctuary in a post apocalyptic world by traveling to safety in this fictitious fortress—not unlike Sean’s own journey from isolation to independence. Sean uses fantasy to heal and obtain a sense of worth, but he also discovers that this can be quite dangerous if taken too literally as illustrated by two young participants who suffer as a result of the game.The title refers to back masking in rock records. Legend holds that if one plays seemingly benign records backwards evil and satanic messages can become apparent. It seems that Darnielle has taken this motif to an extreme by laying out his timeline for the novel in reverse. Unfortunately, this tends to confuse the overall reading experience without adding much to the story. It seems reasonable that this novel might have been more effective if read backward because then Sean moves from an almost hopeless situation to one of independence and redemption.
    • 2/5
      I'm putting this behind a spoiler shield, but not going to reveal much. This is the story of a psychologically messed up person, who also ends up in an accident. You may want it to be explained some other way, but it is not. The other thing is that it is written in a style that isn't as poetic or pretty as it needs to be to carry off the conceit the author is trying to carry off. Not a terrible read, but not a great one.
    • 3/5
      Well this book was more depressing than I thought it was going to be. And I mean, I wasn’t expecting a jolly book, what with the premise of a guy who tried to commit suicide. But there was just too much left unresolved.

      I could definitely tell a musician wrote this. There was poetry in the words. It was often sad, but it was emotional in the way that good sad songs are.

      The “plot” was confusing at best. I was never really sure what were the important parts, but I liked the lyrical text and the musings about life. This whole book was an exploration of “l’appel de vide” the “call of the void”, where you have an impulse to do something like jump off a building or crash your car. What would happen if you made that strongest choice? Well, in this story, it turns out kinda bad. And the whole book explores the results of actually acting out those impulses. It was weird and unsatisfying, but I think that was the point.
    • 4/5
      A spiral of memory and storytelling, I enjoyed this exploration of trauma. At times the overlapping ambiguity felt contrived. The narrator lies to himself , he claims to value honesty but he can’t put words to the “accident” that irrevocably altered his life. We’re along for the ride.
    • 4/5
      When I was growing up with three brothers, it usually felt like gender was fluid and semi-imaginary, a concept that my parents used to excuse behaviors from my brothers while punishing them from me. But other times, it truly seemed that adolescent boys were another planet: inexplicable, barren, and remote; the fact that they were the stars of all the books and media I encountered a societal conspiracy, meant to trick me into thinking that they were also human. So to a certain extent, this book feels like a truth finally acknowledged, like I am an alien abductee discovering others like me in some dark corner of the internet.
    • 3/5
      A young man with a severe face-disfiguring injury makes a modest living running a play-by-mail game set in a post-apocalyptic America. He faces a possible lawsuit when two of the players in his game take it too far with tragic consequences, and compares the nature of the game with the path his own life has taken.I thought this was a thoughtful book, but it never gave me enough information to satisfy. I think the author is trying to get across the point that people don't often understand their own actions, especially those that are spur-of-the-moment, let alone the actions of anyone else. I don't disagree with that message, but I would have liked more factual information, especially on what the two players in the game thought they were doing.
    • 5/5
      Wolf in White Van is a beautiful, mysterious, complex, and compelling novel. I have been thinking of it, going over in my mind it's chapters, it's labyrinthine cover and and it's labyrinthine pages, since completing it, and soon I will, I have to, read it over again. I must admit, John Darnielle at the Mountain Goats have come to be one of my favorite bands, and with his lyrical, intricate song writing expressing entire stories in 3 or 4 minute pieces, I had high hopes for this novel, high hopes that were in no way disappointed, and were, in fact, surpassed.An exploration of the memories of Sean, a man disfigured in a terrible teenage accident, he spends his time piecing together intricate worlds for other people to explore; the post-apocalyptic Trace Italian, among other old fashioned play be mail fantasy games, he shares his vision and imagination with others only to have, once again, tragedy strike as a pair of kids try to bring Seans' world into their real lives, with deadly results. The Trace Italian, with its vision of a devastated future America with a promise, however impossible, of a perfect world hidden in its interior strikes me as particularly apt, a vision of the world many of us live in. An extremely introspective novel, Sean is an unreliable narrator as he considers how the choices he made has effected his life and the lives of others; like a "Choose Your Own Adventure Book" or a roleplaying game, every choice we make can have dire, wonderful, unimagined consequences; what would happen if things went a different way? Wolf in White Van is packed with wonder, pain, and sadness, intricate details which will reward another reading, I feel. How our memory haunts our imagination, our inner lives and our relationships with others, how our choices make us, and if there is any way we can make better choices, all resonate through the novel without overpowering Sean's story, and Darnielle's masterful descriptions. Reading it after terrible tragedy has stricken my own life, Darnielle's language and thoughtfulness actually brought tears to me eyes. What new perspectives and ideas will I find in the next exploration?
    • 4/5
      A disturbing will-he-won't-he story told by a man disfigured by a suicide attempt. This book is full of small moments, but they certainly are powerful.
    • 3/5
      This book is a bit of trip. Reading it was like finding out you have a lot in common with a mentally deranged loner. I picked up all the pop culture references that Darnielle was putting down, but I was disturbed by how these same cultural touchstones had affected, or at least adorned, the main character of Wolf in White Van. I love the movie Krull, I own several battered editions of the DMG, but I cringe at Sean's life. I am not sure of how to view Sean. The time line is all over the place and he's a bit of an unreliable narrator, so I don't know if I should see him as a victim or a monster. Overall, the book had great sentence structure, great story telling, but it certainly was sad and disturbing. If there is a happy nerd character out their in modern literature, I have yet to come across it. Chabon, Diaz, and now Darnielle. Do all their lives have to be so tragic?
    • 4/5
      This novel held my interest. The first person narrative is not straight forward, but a unique blend of perceptions on the world. The plot does not stretch very far, and yet because of the author's imagination other non-physically present elements are added.
    • 2/5
      Although acquainted with Darnielle through the Mountain Goats, I can't say I'm a fan of either his music or this first novel. I recognize in both his storytelling capacity & his imagination, but neither manages to capture me.The conceit of the novel is interesting enough. It is a story told in reverse that involves recreating the story that the main character, Sean, concocts while recovering from his failed suicide attempt. The tale he weaves to cope with pain and boredom in the hospital serves as a prototype for a mail-in role-playing game, which eventually affords him a small income, and which connects him (somewhat tenuously) to the outside world. The death of one of his players IRL and the severe injury of another supposedly draws him into the public eye (his game is deemed responsible and he is brought to court), allegedly compelling a disfigured man to confront himself, his inner world, and his fateful decision to end his life.But the conceit doesn't quite work. It doesn't quite pay off. Suspense is poorly managed throughout, characters are left unduly (or unbelievably) opaque, and Darnielle doesn't quite deliver Sean's confrontation between reality and fiction in a convincing or compelling way. There is not enough information offered to understand any of Sean's relationships with others, be they his parents, his players, his (former) friends, or himself.If that is the point--that we really can't understand why anyone chooses what they choose, and that most people can't even explain why they choose what they do--then I guess we've rewound and are left back at the beginning of the tape with more questions and even fewer answers. Probably that is the point of the novel. As I reader I do not mind being left without an answer generally, but in this case the characters were too shallow for me to care about, and so the "is that are there is?" finale was a special annoyance. In the final analysis, largely a WOMFT.
    • 5/5
      Profoundly sad but remarkably resonant and told with a unique voice. Even knowing the place the plot was going and working backward, many episodes offer potent revelations. I sought out this first novel after hearing about the author on the Judge John Hodgman podcast.
    • 4/5
      At the beginning it felt like 5 stars. The right combo of intriguing and thoughtful. Towards the middle I took a break, and when I came back and read Part 2, it didn't feel as affecting. It was still an excellent book, and for that, it gets 4 stars.