Wolf In White Van

WOLF IN WHITE VAN

by John Darnielle

 

Nominations: LA Times Finalist 2014, National Book Longlist 2014

 

Date Read: September 19, 2023

 

This stark and bleak novel is written in stark prose and contemplates forever, games, obsessions, religion and the fortitude required to make it through life. Sean, we learn early on, is injured in some way and has become mostly a recluse. Only later on do we learn his entire face is disfigured because he shot himself in the face.

 

Sean lives off of disability and small earnings from a game he invented called Trace Italian. Even in this era of high tech graphics and multiple plot lines, Sean’s game is played in increments, trading moves by snail mail. There is something about this concept that I love and makes me nostalgic for that anticipation that comes with a slow society.

 

Sean has in-home caregivers that help him with the tasks he cannot manage on his own but otherwise he lives a very independent life. Most of his contact with the outside world occurs online or through the mail. Only occasionally does he venture out of his house, such as to go to court where he is being sued by the parents of two kids who took the Trace Italian game into the real world and were hurt.

 

Wolf In White Van refers to a record that was played backwards to reveal that message. It said the devil was a wolf in a white van. Before and after the accident, Sean contemplates religion and although he is never a full-fledged believer, he still tosses around the idea to see what might eventually stick.

 

This is the first novel I’ve read from Darnielle and I am quite impressed. He has a bluntness in his writing and a modern perspective with touches of retro subject matter. I read that he is also in a band, which is pretty cool too.

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