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

Tree of Smoke

Wow.. I just couldn't stay with this book, which I felt rambled from character to character, scene to scene. It received such a good review on Audible's website that I gave it a try, but even Will Patton's superb performing skills didn't redeem it, in my opinion.

Waste of Money for me

I picked this title from Audiuble's list of Top Ten Titles for Spy Stories. Unfortunately I had not read the other reviews before since that would have warned me. The book is no typical spy story. So far as I can see after listing to one third it is an impressionistic story of the South East Asia. In parts it reminds me a it of Somerset Maugham but without the wit. So it was no good buy for me. However, to save Audible's honor: I found "The Company" on the same top10 list and that WAS a good spy story. Win Some loose some.

The Horror!

Based on Book Award nomination and NYT book review, I slogged through a dreary, pointless 21 hours of this audiobook. Never did find a plot or a point, or any character development. Complete waste.

stupid

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I don't know, I can not think of anyone who would enjoy a book of, unfinished thoughts, confusion, and rambling.

What was most disappointing about Denis Johnson’s story?

After finishing 3 hours I found that this book didn't have a plot or story.

Which character – as performed by Will Patton – was your favorite?

Will Patton was the only reason I bought this book. He is one of the best readers I have heard.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

NO!!!!!!

Any additional comments?

Don't waste your credits.

hard to follow

I found this book interesting, but hard to follow. It might be easier to follow in written format. It kept introducing characters until the very end. I see it won a National Book Award, but I did not find this a terrific book.

It just sucks you down, down, down...

....until you feel like you've been covered by the literary equivalent of quicksand. I had hoped for something like "The Company" - or, at the least, an INTERESTING read with action and choice tidbits about the CIA's usually questionable actions. Instead, I could hardly discern the characters - one from another - by the author's descriptive mechanisms and even worse, by the narrator's voice. Will Patton's hushed, whispery voice, often near monotone, matched the mood of the book - depressed, weary to the bone and ready to give up the 'worthless world' and simply float like flotsam until the fates have their way with you. Granted, this may well be the way 'in country' CIA feel,by the time they've been dragged through the politics and stupidities of several countries.... but do we have to base an entire book on this? In addition, after listening to the excellent performances of many other narrators, I was continually exasperated to hear almost the same voice, with the same inflections, each time a new charater was introduced. Patton's idea of language skills seemed to be to lower the voice a bit, make it a bit more whispery -- but with nothing that even came close to sounding like the charater's accents - not Asian, not Indian, not even British. It was doubly hard to keep up with the characters when they all seemed to sound alike. The prose was nice - but in a war zone, I expected a little excitement - voices raised in screams, howls and expletives. Instead, it was: "I'm so tired I think I'll just sit here and whine for a few hundred pages." I, too, will be sure to read ALL the reviews before I make my next selection!

Bloated poser

Every so often an author unleashes a jumbled, overwritten ms that gets held up to the reading public as "deep and deliberate, a must read." Fearing they will be seen as ignorant if they speak out against its apparently manufactured merits, each reader pretends to like it more than the next. Suddenly, it has cult status and finds itself on every top ten list. Only after a year or so are people willing to admit the sad truth: the book is merely a bundle of potential, most of it undeveloped; the marketing division has earned its keep.

Tree of Flaws

Denis Johnson takes 700 pages to prove he understands neither Christians or soldiers. The book is one long, very long, Hollywood Vietnam cliche. How hard would it have been for Johnson to look up when the F16 was produced? It was not produced until 1976 and yet during the Tet Offensive of 1968 an American officer is shocked by the damage the “F16s” create. This is not me being pedantic. It illustrates how little the author knew about his subject or cared to learn. This book is trash. See the Atlantic review “Bright Shining Lie” for further exposition.

Ouch!

I've been tempted to write reviews of various audible books in the past, but never quite got around to it. This book pushed my limits and I find I needed to write this before finishing the book. I found the narrator somewhat irritating to listen to; the drone got to me. The content of the piece could probably have been shortened by about 7 hours. It was difficult to follow, particularly with the way the narrator moved from one part of the story to the next - it was as though there was not a break going from Arizona to Viet Nam to Minneapolis, it all flowed together. If I had ever taken acid, I would think to liken it to this book.

Tree of Stink

I have tried ti listen to this many times as well as reading the book. It is just unreadable, there is no plot, no theme etc.