Trace Italian

Trace Italian is the imaginary role-playing game (similar in some ways to Dungeons and Dragons) developed, marketed, and run by protagonist Sean Philips. On one level, the choice-defined journeys made by the game's players (and the consequences of some of those choices) form important foundations for the novel's plots. On a symbolic level, the quests of the game players for a truth that the game master (Sean) says they will never actually reach metaphorically represents Sean's own movement towards a truth that, in contrast to the truth at the core of the game, he actually DOES reach.

The Bridge

"The Bridge" is the setting for the first move of Trace Italian: the place where each player begins his / her individual journey. In the same way as the game symbolically represents Sean's personal journey, "The Bridge" can be seen as metaphorically representing the beginning of that...