Wolf in White Van

Darnielle, John. Wolf in White Van. New York: Farar, Straus and Giroux. 2014. Print.

First Sentences:

My father used to carry me down the hall to my room after I came home from the hospital.

By then I could walk if I had to, but the risk of falling was too great, so he carried me like a child. It's a cluster memory now: it consists of every time it happened and is recalled in a continuous loop.

Description:

Clearly, the narrator of John Darnielle's unusual, compelling book Wolf in White Van is physically damaged, but the exact nature of his injury is only slowly revealed. Something happened to Sean Phillips in his teens, but since he tells his story in reverse chronology, the exact situation that caused his damage is only revealed in the final paragraphs. His terribly distorted facial features serve as a background to the action of the plot rather than the driving force. As I said, unusual and compelling, daring readers to peek ahead to try to learn what happened to set the plot in motion.

Sean lives alone in his apartment, running a successful fantasy game n an imaginary post-apocalyptic world as they search for the mythical sheltering cityvia mail. Subscribers pay a fee and are given instructions for possible moves i. While online video games are available, his customers seems to prefer the snail-mail delivery format.

This is a game first imagined by Sean as a teen during the months he lay in a hospital recovering from some incident that left his face horribly disfigured. (It is hinted that this was due to an incident he may have brought about himself.) Upon return to his parents' home, he writes down all these memories and movements, carefully organizing them in files to create Trace Italian, a role-playing game. After placing ads in various magazines, players from around the world subscribe and write him for an introduction to this world and the first possible steps to address the choices they now face in this fantasy world.

All seems to progress well, but Sean' stream of thought narration occasionally refers to a young couple who took the game too far, confusing the imaginary world with the real one, and who suffered dire consequences. He only hints at this situation, again leaving the details tantalizingly off the page as he fleetingly contemplates their fates and his own possible role. As he tries to unravel their reasons as well as face his own withdrawal into his secluded life away from former friends and family, the plot slowly lets us learn about the workings of Sean's mind and the events that shaped his current situation.

I feel safe [at home], but I am lost, and I need constantly to be shoring up the wall that holds my emotions at bay, or I will feel something too great to contain.

It is a delicious book, full of interesting characters who anonymously play the intricate Trace Italian game or try to reconnect with Sean after the injury. The backwards revelations of the plot through a disjointed use of time and situation brings to mind the confusion of a video game: full of the unknown, choices, decisions, and consequences. The narrative captures the words and thoughts of a teen and adult Sean as he jumps from person to person, game situation to reality in his daily life.

It's a fascinating read that is on the many of the "Best Reads of 2014" lists. I completely agree.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Bronsky, Alina. Just Call Me Superhero

A young teen, horribly disfigured in his face, is thrown together with other damaged teens under the guidance of a questionable guru.