Tree of Smoke

A Novel

By: Denis Johnson

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 23 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Overrated

I enjoyed the book immensely for the most part. The Vietnam era war story was full of suspense, and was so well narrated by Will Paton that I was completely hooked to it. And then ... and then, the story turned to Malaysia ... and everything fell apart; because the author's ignorance and prejudice suddenly began to show all too conspicuously. Totally anticlimactic. In the whole, I was disappointed.

Tree of Smoke

This book focuses on the exploits, folly and often ridiculousness of the war in Vietnam, told through the eyes of soldiers, civilians, and people who inhabit the spaces in-between, both on the front and at home.
Sure there are plenty of reused tropes here- the whole “the bureaucracy won’t let us win,” and the enigmatic god soldier, a la Kurtz from Apocalypse Now, or even the cipher American, there for one thing but getting in to deep like the Quiet American.
But despite all that this book is great. What sets it apart for me is the dialogue. At times it is stunning, from the almost monosyllabic conversations between military men, the philosophical thoughts of priests and common folk, and the heartfelt discussions between family and soldiers.
Will Patton is a fabulous reader of the text, and his characters all have depth and life.
Great book.

The best Vietnam war fiction I have ever read

This is an incredible book. It feels very real and very realistic with interesting characters and a great storyline. I didn’t feel but it drifted so I’m in the last 25% or so, but still find it to be highly memorable.

Brilliant writing

Flashes of incandescence in a complex story woven together brilliantly. My first book by Johnson but definitely not my last.

Terrific Novel

There are not that many books that leave one with a lasting impression such that they will never forget the book. For me, such books as Les Miserable, Ben Hur, Moby Dick, et al, fit this category. So, too, does Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson. I can see where some might find this book a waste of time, for there are many who have not experienced such things as are described in this book and find it implausible, disjointed, or otherwise unacceptable that such things be written. As for me, this is a novel of epic proportion that wrenches the feel of a tragic time from its pages indelibly into the mind of the reader, never to be forgotten. This book is more than a "read". It is an experience, dreamlike, transcendent, and powerful. It is for those who would slake their curiosity. It takes a certain temerity to read a book such as this, an adventure for the imagination that conjures the nightmare of reality. I am a Vietnam era veteran, and I cannot recommend a book in a stronger fashion than this. Read it, feel it, and learn from it.

Too depressing

The author seems to have taken some of the drugs that his characters took. Although this is interesting from a historical perspective, the narrative is disjointed and too hard to follow.

Psyops and karma

In Vietnam the American military believed it was saving the world from the "absolute evil" of communism (as a central character here puts it, misinterpreting Hannah Arendt). Well, communism is gone, and evil is in pretty good shape. A Buddhist proverb says that holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. Denis Johnson's eloquent epic sheds light on how the violence and racism with which America waged war in southeast Asia - as the French had for ten years prior - cycled back to damage a generation of men & women. Arguably we are still suffering from the ideological self-assurance that transforms politics into evil. It's a good read in these dark times, masterfully read here by film and stage actor Will Patton.

Truly Majestic Audiobook

What an experience! Perfect Narrator & perfect novel!
If you like Jonathan Franzen, this very much feels similar to his work, with its heart, humor and moralistic visions of horrible actions, yet I couldnt stop listening! What a journey! Felt like an epic poem & narrator Will Patton absolutely perfect for it! I'm So Happy I finally took the Trip! BREAK ON THRU!

Fantastic narration of excellent novel

The narrator matches the tone and pace of the text well, and his use of distinct (but not over-the-top) voices for different characters/sections makes this rather long novel flow smoothly and beautifully.

A great read that is worth the effort

This book got a great review in the NY Times and readily deserved it. I was surprised to see so many negative reviews on Audible and as a result waited to download it. I am glad that I finally did. In fact I liked it so much that I listened to it twice (back to back) a feat that I only performed once before (David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas).

In defense of the previous reviewers this book presents some challenges to the reader: it has a lot of characters (many of whom adopt nicknames); it jumps around in sequence somewhat; and it lives up to its name (much is implied rather than fully stated).

In defense of the book it is beautifully written, gives lots to reflect on and is a fascinating story to boot. Although it is set in part in Vietnam during the war it is not about the war. It is a spiritual journey through eyes of some pretty interesting characters set against the backdrop of the war. It is hard to describe why it works but it does.