Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
Sean creates and administers paper
based mail order games in a digital world, but his small income and solitary
environment are well suited to him. Years
ago Sean suffered a disfiguring accident that makes interaction with the
outside world uncomfortable, but the ordered pathways of running his games and
the small conversations he has through the mail are all he needs now. Until two game players take his directions to
find the Italian Trace literally and journey into the borderlands of Kansas and
Nebraska and face death and disfigurement at the hands of the elements. Now Sean is on trial and forced to leave his
protective environment.
I’ll admit it. I must have missed something. I enjoyed the book, nominated for a National
Book Award, but I can’t say I got it. I
know how Sean’s accident occurred, but not why, and I think that was the
central concept and point of the book.
Maybe I was reading too much on the surface, I’ll admit I read mostly
for plot, but when the time of the accident was being explained I did read more
closely and still must have missed something somewhere. Or the not knowing was exactly the point. For those that enjoy literary fiction and not
having most of their questions directly answered.
