Sock: a Novel by Penn Jillette

A detective story… told by a sock monkey.

In Sock: A Novel, Penn Jillette flips the crime genre on its head with a narrator you’ll never forget: Dickie, a philosophical, sharp-observing sock monkey who witnesses the strange, suspenseful investigation of a New York police diver searching for the truth behind a murder pulled from the Hudson River.

What follows is anything but ordinary. The case twists through danger, dark humor, pop-culture nostalgia, and unexpected philosophical detours, all filtered through Dickie’s wildly unique perspective. It’s suspenseful, strange, funny, and oddly profound — the kind of book that keeps you turning pages because you truly have no idea where it’s going next.

Why Tannen’s loves it:
Magicians and performers will especially appreciate this one. Like a great routine, Sock constantly subverts expectations, plays with perception, and proves that point of view changes everything. It’s storytelling with misdirection — and it’s unforgettable.