Wolf in White Van

By John Darnielle

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250074711
• ISBN13: 9781250074713
• Release Date: September 2015
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Save your money. Not as good as it sounds

I really disliked this. I thought about not finishing, but since it's only about 200 pages, I stuck with it. I thought the author rambled too much with details that were not important. The story jumped around too much, and I didn't think the main character was even likable or relatable. The title was the best part!

Love it

Love it

First novel by Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle

A surprising novel that unfolds slowly, filled with gorgeous sentences. Not like anything else I’ve read. The ending and everything else is like a punch to the heart.