John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats is known for his storytelling prowess, so it's only natural that the lyric-centric songwriter will be releasing a novel this year. Wolf in White Van is due out on September 30 through Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.
According to the synopsis, the book centres on Sean Phillips, a man from California who has been disfigured from an injury since the age of 17. He creates a text-based role-playing game called Trace Italian, which operates through the mail and allows him to guide strangers through an imaginary world. Two Florida teens named Lance and Carrie bring their adventures in the game to the real world, with the whole story playing out in reverse chronological order.
In an announcement, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux's Sean McDonald called Wolf in White Van "simply a magnificent novel, weird and dark and wonderful, adventurous and spellbinding in the way of any great piece of literary art."
It's available to order here.
Darnielle previously penned a book for the 33 1/3 series about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality, which was written from the perspective of a 15-year-old patient in a psychiatric hospital.
According to the synopsis, the book centres on Sean Phillips, a man from California who has been disfigured from an injury since the age of 17. He creates a text-based role-playing game called Trace Italian, which operates through the mail and allows him to guide strangers through an imaginary world. Two Florida teens named Lance and Carrie bring their adventures in the game to the real world, with the whole story playing out in reverse chronological order.
In an announcement, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux's Sean McDonald called Wolf in White Van "simply a magnificent novel, weird and dark and wonderful, adventurous and spellbinding in the way of any great piece of literary art."
It's available to order here.
Darnielle previously penned a book for the 33 1/3 series about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality, which was written from the perspective of a 15-year-old patient in a psychiatric hospital.