Tree of Smoke: A NovelMacmillan, 2007 M09 4 - 614 pages 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.Tree of Smoke is the 2007 National Book Award Winner for Fiction. |
Contents
Section 1 | 3 |
Section 2 | 12 |
Section 3 | 19 |
Section 4 | 35 |
Section 5 | 75 |
Section 6 | 110 |
Section 7 | 111 |
Section 8 | 119 |
Section 24 | 422 |
Section 25 | 462 |
Section 26 | 465 |
Section 27 | 467 |
Section 28 | 472 |
Section 29 | 485 |
Section 30 | 487 |
Section 31 | 501 |
Section 9 | 138 |
Section 10 | 143 |
Section 11 | 165 |
Section 12 | 171 |
Section 13 | 176 |
Section 14 | 182 |
Section 15 | 238 |
Section 16 | 241 |
Section 17 | 269 |
Section 18 | 288 |
Section 19 | 310 |
Section 20 | 348 |
Section 21 | 371 |
Section 22 | 383 |
Section 23 | 398 |
Section 32 | 507 |
Section 33 | 510 |
Section 34 | 513 |
Section 35 | 517 |
Section 36 | 518 |
Section 37 | 524 |
Section 38 | 526 |
Section 39 | 535 |
Section 40 | 538 |
Section 41 | 541 |
Section 42 | 542 |
Section 43 | 548 |
Section 44 | 597 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
ain't American asked aswang barangay beer Benét Bill Houston breath Bushmills called Cao Phuc Carignan Cebu City Cho Lon cigarette colonel Crodelle Damulog dark dead door drink Eddie eyes face feet felt Fest Filipino fuck girl goddamn gonna Green Berets hand he'd head heard Houston inside James Jesus Jimmy Johnny Kathy killed kind knew laughed lived looked Manila mean Mindanao Minh minutes mountain never night Okay Pitchfork polygraph priest Pudu Prison Saigon Sarge Screwy Loot seemed Sergeant shirt shit side Skip's smoke sorry South Vietnam spoke stared stay Stevie stood stopped Storm street sure talk tell There's thing thought told took Trung tunnels turned uncle Vietcong Vietminh Vietnam Voss waited walked watched What's woman Yeah young