“We all create stories to protect ourselves”
Author
Mark Z. Danielewski is one of the most renowned American author known for his works such as House of Leaves, Only Revolutions, The Fifty Year Sword, The Little Blue Kite, and the Familiar Series. He was born and brought up in New York, The United States. He pursued his education in English Literature at Yale University. His literary works are mainly based on the genre, such as Thriller, Contemporary, etc.
About the Novel
The story is about a tattoo shop employee named Johnny Truant, who lived in Hollywood. He frequently drinks and takes drugs. One day, he and his friend find a manuscript called The Navidson Record of a recently deceased man named Zompano. Johnny took the script with him and became interested in it. As the days passed, Johnny becomes obsessed with the manuscript. He connects it with his real-life experiences. Soon, he starts experiences some paranormal activities and left his job. He went to find Ash Tree Lane in Virginia that is mentioned in the script. The novel has many horror and paranormal events, and it ends with footnotes of the text.
Genre: Horror Fiction | Satire
Tone: Autobiographical/ academic
Type: Novel
Year of publication: 2000
Famous Quotes
- Scars are the paler pain of survival received unwillingly and displayed in the language of injury
- Sublime is something you choke on after a shot of tequila
- Losing the possibility of something is the same thing as losing hope, and without hope, nothing can survive
- No one ever really gets used to nightmares
- The greatest of love letters are always coded for the one and not the many
Significant Characters
Johnny Truant
- The protagonist of the novel
- Careless person; lives for the present moment
- Spends major time in finding the Supernatural events from a book
Lude
- Truant’s Friend / Ex-roommates with Zampano
- Unpredictable about life
Zampano
- The blind old eccentric character
- Writes about a film called The Navidson
Will Navidson
- Subject from Zampano’s book
- Virginia based photojournalist
Famous Work of the Author
- The Little Blue Kite: A story about a boy who has a fear of flying a blue kite and when he overcome the fear, it will lead him to a great adventure
- The Fifty Year Sword: An ancient story of a seamstress and five orphans who face horror events after opening a long black box
- The Whalestoe Letters: A beautiful story of a mentally ill mother and her young son
