Wolf in White Van
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Wolf in White Van
Buy Now for £10.64
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Narrated by:
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John Darnielle
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By:
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John Darnielle
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.
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
I absolutely loved the whole book and was at a loss when it ended. It's a beautifully told story and I followed every beat of it eagerly completing the whole thing in two days. Darnielle has such a wonderful way of telling a story and listening to him read it with his own mannerisms really brought it to life in a hauntingly beautiful way. It's deep, poignant book that explores some pretty dark and vivid stuff and I can say wholeheartedly that it is a fantastic read. The story and world he created stayed with me long after finishing it.
Astounding book, beautifully read
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“Who’d seen the future and counted himself out”
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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, obviously context needed, but the I've contemplated buying a copy for my Aunt.It isn't complex, it's scattered in the sense that the story is intentionally not told chronologically.
What other book might you compare Wolf in White Van to, and why?
John Darnielle has written a review of the Black Sabbath album "Masters of Reality" which is very similar in a sense.Have you listened to any of John Darnielle’s other performances? How does this one compare?
I wish there was other recordings of books by John. John writes in the same kind of voice as he sings, as such any Mountain Goats fans should check this out.If you didn't know John is the primary member of the band The Mountain Goats.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I was really attached to this book, there was moments that effected me emotionally.Any additional comments?
It's a lovely book, it's worth reading up on the furore over the Judas Priest court case and the Dungeons and Dragons hysteria.A story told out of order by a brilliant lyricist
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Where does Wolf in White Van rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Somewhere in the middle. I enjoyed Darnielle's narration, as well as writing, but I'm not sure how much substance this book actually had.Would you recommend Wolf in White Van to your friends? Why or why not?
That's actually quite hard to say. I would recommend it to anyone looking for something a little off-beat, and obviously to anyone who is a fan of Darnielle's music. I think for most fiction fans, though, this is a little too bizarre to recommend.Which scene did you most enjoy?
I actually really enjoyed the scene in the parking lot with the teenagers. I also enjoyed the parts where he is narrating locations - it added some amount of tension, and gave insight into the way the main character thought.Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Neither - I was somewhat engaged, but never felt much emotional connection to the book.Any additional comments?
I know people are raving about this, but I'm really not sure how I feel about it, even six months to a year after listening to it. But I will be looking out for what Darnielle does in the future.Odd
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Incredible immersive audiobook experience
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