Tree of Smoke

Tree of Smoke – the name given to a ‘psy op’ that might or might not be hypothetical and might or might not be officially sanctioned – is Denis Johnson’s most gripping, visionary and ambitious work to date. Set in south-east Asia and the US, and spanning two decades, it ostensibly tells the story of Skip Sands, a CIA spy who may or may not be engaged in psychological operations against the Viet Cong -- but also takes the reader on a surreal yet vivid journey, dipping in and out of characters’ lives to reveal fundamental truths at the heart of the human condition. ‘A Catch-22 for our times’ Alan Warner, Books of the Year, Observer 'The God I want to believe in has a voice and a sense of humour like Denis Johnson's' Jonathan Franzen ‘An epic of drenched sensuality and absurdly chewable dialogue, as though Don DeLillo and Joseph Heller had collaborated on a Vietnam war novel’ Steven Poole, Books of the Year, New Statesman

"Denis Johnson has delivered his masterpiece." --Chris Offutt "The God I want to believe in has a voice and a sense of humor like Denis Johnson's." --Jonathan Franzen "Prose of amazing power and stylishness." --Philip Roth "Once Johnson gets his hooks into you--it takes about two sentences--it's . . . pretty much impossible to stop reading." --David Gates, "The New York Times Book Review ""An amazingly talented writer . . . We can hear Twain in his biting irony, Whitman in his erotic excess, not a little of Dashiell Hammett too in the hard sentences he throws back at his gouged, wounded world." --Vince Passaro, "Newsday", "I can't be sure that there's been a better American novel published in the past ten years. It is a masterpiece."--"The Miami Herald ""It will . . . get inside your head like the war it is describing--mystifying, horrifying, mesmerizing. [Johnson] has written a book that by the end wraps around you as tightly as a snake."--"The Washington Post Book World ""Damn impressive, a layered, rich, sweaty accomplishment of massive proportions."--"Entertainment Weekly """Tree of Smoke" is a Vietnam war novel almost without peer, in which 'the abyss is alive.' Johnson . . . has written the best work of his career, an existential tour de force."--"The Plain Dealer" (Cleveland) "Good morning and please listen to me: Denis Johnson is a true American artist, and "Tree of Smoke "is a tremendous book.""--The New York Times Book Review "(cover review) "Johnson's power of empathy is a beam that radiates and cannot be modulated. It's helplessly total. . . . Johnson has written his "War and Peace,""--"Harper's Magazine ""Gorgeous prose . . . a heartbreaking portrait of war."--"Outside """Tree of Smoke "is a brilliant pillar of fire. . . . Haunting, tragic, and humane."--"Men's Vogue ""Opens a window onto a world of mystery, war, and intrigue whose importance in the (usually) unwritten history of our republic can't be denied."--"Chicago Tribune ""An epic, wrenching new novel . . . delivers a beautifully layered, insightful, and visceral montage of stories."--"The Seattle Times", "Denis Johnson is a true American artist, and "Tree of Smoke "is a tremendous book.""--The New York Times Book Review ""The God I want to believe in has a voice and a sense of humor like Denis Johnson's."--Jonathan Franzen"" "I can't be sure that there's been a better American novel published in the past ten years. It is a masterpiece."--"The Miami Herald ""It will . . . get inside your head like the war it is describing--mystifying, horrifying, mesmerizing. [Johnson] has written a book that by the end wraps around you as tightly as a snake."--"The Washington Post Book World """Tree of Smoke" is a masterpiece of language and depth."--"San Francisco Chronicle ""Johnson has captured the zeitgeist of American experience as surely as Twain, Hemingway, or Ellison."--"New York Post" "Opens a window onto a world of mystery, war, and intrigue whose importance in the (usually) unwritten history of our republic can't be denied."--"Chicago Tribune"" """Johnson has written his "War and Peace,""--"Harper's Magazine""

Denis Johnson is the author of several novels, including Already Dead (published by Picador), Resuscitation of a Hanged Man, Fiskadoro, The Stars at Noon, Angels and The Name of the World, plus a collection of short stories, Jesus' Son, and four volumes of poetry. He lives in northern Idaho.