 Johnny Truant serves a dual role, as primary editor of Zampanò's academic study of "The Navidson Record" and protagonist as revealed through footnotes and appendices.In the beginning of the book, Truant appears to be a normal, reasonably attractive young man who happens upon a trunk full of notes left behind by the now deceased Zampanò.As Truant begins to do the editing, however, he begins to lose the tenuous grip he has on reality, and his life begins to erode around him.