Synopsis
Tree of Smoke – the name given to a ‘psyop’ 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 across south-east Asia and the United States, 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. Johnson takes the reader on a surreal, vivid journey, dipping in and out of characters’ lives to reveal fundamental truths at the heart of the human condition.
Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.
Details
12 March 2026624 pages
9781035091317Imprint: Picador
Reviews
An artist of strange diligence . . . Tree of Smoke is as excessive and messy as Moby Dick . . . It's a big, dirty, unmade bed of a book and, once you settle in you're in no hurry to get out.Geoff Dyer, Guardian
Denis Johnson is a true American artist, and Tree of Smoke is a tremendous book, a strange entertainment, very long but very fast, a great whirly rideNew York Times
The God I want to believe in has a voice and a sense of humor like Denis Johnson'sJonathan Franzen
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 snakeThe Washington Post
