
Tree of Smoke
American novelist, 1949–2017. Won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2007.
Tree of Smoke is a 2007 novel by Denis Johnson. It won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2007.
In war novels
On 3 of the 13 lists it was eligible for.
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At a glance
- Author
- Denis Johnson
- First published
- 2007
- Length
- 624 pages (UK paperback)
- Awards
- National Book Award for Fiction winner, 2007
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction shortlist, 2008
- Genre
- War novels, Political, Psychological
Is Tree of Smoke worth reading?
3 of the 13 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them the National Book Award for Fiction and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| National Book Award for Fiction (winners and finalists) (National Book Foundation, 2007) | Winner | See the list |
| Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (winners and finalists) (Columbia University, 2008) | Shortlist | See the list |
| The 100 best books of the 21st century (The New York Times, 2024) | No. 100 | See the list |
Best edition of Tree of Smoke
The edition we link to is the Picador paperback (2026), 624 pages.
- Publisher
- Picador (paperback, 2026)
- Pages
- 624
- ISBN
- 9781035091317
How critics, prizes and readers rate Tree of Smoke
Prize juries rate it most highly: it earned 56% of the points available on prize lists, against 14% on critics' lists and 0% on readers' and booksellers' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like Tree of Smoke
If you liked Tree of Smoke, try Train Dreams, Catch-22 or The Sympathizer.



