Tree of Smoke

A Novel

By: Denis Johnson

Narrated by: Will Patton

Once upon a time there was a war . . . and a young American who thought of himself as the Quiet American and the Ugly American, and who wished to be neither, who wanted instead to be the Wise American, or the Good American, but who eventually came to witness himself as the Real American and finally as simply the Fucking American. That's me.

This is the story of Skip Sands—spy-in-training, engaged in Psychological Operations against the Vietcong—and the disasters that befall him thanks to his famous uncle, a war hero known in intelligence circles simply as the Colonel. This is also the story of the Houston brothers, Bill and James, young men who drift out of the Arizona desert into a war in which the line between disinformation and delusion has blurred away. In its vision of human folly, and its gritty, sympathetic portraits of men and women desperate for an end to their loneliness, whether in sex or death or by the grace of God, this is a story like nothing in our literature.

Tree of Smoke is Denis Johnson's first full-length novel in nine years, and his most gripping, beautiful, and powerful work to date.

©2007 Denis Johnson (P)2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Winner, Literary Fiction, 2008

“Patton is outstanding...[his] performance is quiet, powerful, and gut-wrenching....This is MUST listening.” —AudioFile Magazine

“This is the very talented Will Paton's greatest performance as a reader so far. His range of voices and evocation of character--the hopeful, the innocent, the cynical, the despairing and the mad--bring the tale to even more terrible and blistered life than the book itself, making it a 23-hour excursion into mesmerizing darkness.” —The Washington Post

“Will Patton's reading of \"Tree of Smoke\" is superb...The experience overall is one of hallucinatory horror, laugh-out-loud outrage, of sadness at the tremendous waste of lives, money and the national pride that went into Vietnam and did not return.” —Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Better read than heard

My rating reflects the audiobook, not the book itself. I think that Tree of Smoke might be a very good book to read, but it is a difficult book to listen to. It's not the narrator's fault: he does a superb job of capturing the mood and aiding in characterization.

I'm a big reader, and I like marking in important books. I like underlining important, repeated phrases and flipping back to earlier passages when I sense the author making allusions. I kept wanting to do this with Tree of Smoke, but I couldn't! Specifically, I remember a significant folk tale that is related early in the book that may be a key to understanding the whole, but it occurred so early in this rather long book that I couldn't remember the details of the tale by the end of the book. I needed to be able to flip back and read the folk tale again!

Here's the upshot of my too long review: I would recommend that someone read this book, but I do not recommend the audiobook.

Well crafted; perfectly realized

Big and challenging and expertly narrated. One of the better books I've downloaded.

Disneyland on Acid

This is not an easy book to listen. And perhaps, read. It is long and fragmented and Johnson is not trying (at all) to make it easy. Then what is he trying to do here? Vietnam - really? - after Kubrick, Coppola and Greene - is there another new word left to say? Apparently yes. In his prose Johnson manages not only to show us Vietnam but he manages to put you inside Vietnam, in a war that was never completely war but managed to suck everyone associated with it inside out. This book should not be classified prose, cause really is poetry - page after page, line after line of words you'd want to hang around - even if they make you cringe. That takes talent. I suggest you listen to this book in increments of 0.5 hours at one go and by the end of it you'd want to turn back to line 1. Like I did.

Harrowing yet a story that needs to be heard

I have a personal interest in the history of WW1 & WW11 and devour literature that paints a picture of the events that shaped these episodes of human history. I downloaded Tree of Smoke mostly because I liked the title, but also because of the reviews I'd read.

I was not prepared. This book left me ashamed that I have neglected to acquire an adequate picture of the events in Vietnam, the evolution of the capacity of humans to remain standing in a world that rarely makes a distinction between what is right and wrong, regardless of politics.

I will be listening to this book again, I feel I must.

Writing is ok. Story goes nowhere.

This isn’t a Vietnam war story. It’s kind of a love story. There’s very little excitement. All in all it’s ok. If you want a love story or sad story but not a war story or spy thriller.

In-depth, intense

I really liked this novel and I thought the narrator did a good job, too.

I'll admit it, it's not an easy novel to swallow. The plot lines roam about and the over-arching logic is elusive. It's not a typically structured novel. It's more like if Thomas Pynchon or Don Delillo wrote a novel about Psy-Ops in Vietnam. Denis Johnson has his own distinctive voice, but the winding and sometimes paranoid logic reminds me of those authors. The novel explores some very dark themes concerning war and truth and spirituality. And it doesn't pull any punches when it comes to action or language.

The narrator skillfully navigated the difficult text and provided unique voice to the characters in a way that, quite honestly, didn't annoy me at all. Just so you know though, the narrator tries to sort of play different characters.

Still disturbing after all this time

Missed the original and want to experience the Viet Nam war? Denis Johnson does a remarkable job of recreating this psychotic episode in American history. If you're looking for understanding, you might not find it here -- though the forest spirit hypothesis works for me. If you're looking for closure, I'd look elsewhere.

Simply amazing

One of the best books i've heard or read stupendous the writing is amazing lyrical an nuanced. Captures a time and place like nothing else I've read or seen

Expert narration

This lengthy book is worth the time, as Patton takes us on a wild ride over 10 years, from the Philippines to Vietnam

great narration

The narrator was great. The story was even better. Gritty and unapologetic the narrative captures the senselessness and futility of fighting a war against an idea. The chaotic and everchanging nature of the conflict leave those caught in its grip finding enemies everywhere, even on their own side.