An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England - Hardcover

Clarke, Brock

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1565125517 ISBN 13: 9781565125513

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 2007

Synopsis

A lot of remarkable things have happened in the life of Sam Pulsifer, the hapless hero of this incendiary novel, beginning with the ten years he spent in prison for accidentally burning down Emily Dickinson's house and unwittingly killing two people. emerging at age twenty-eight, he creates a new life and identity as a husband and father. But when the homes of other famous New England writers suddenly go up in smoke, he must prove his innocence by uncovering the identity of this literary-minded arsonist.

In the league of such contemporary classics as A Confederacy of Dunces and The World According to Garp, An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England is an utterly original story about truth and honesty, life and the imagination.

About this title

Review:

"Clarke manages, with considerable dexterity and flourish, to pull out of the fire a series of absurdist scenarios and radically screwball characters that never stretch credulity...The high drama is mixed with some delightfully plaintive meditations on family life" (Independent on Sunday)

"Wildly, unpredictably funny" (New York Times)

"A tale that fuses tinder-dry comedy with meaningful questions of identity and literature" (Daily Mail)

"A playful, clever novel ... Billed as a novel disguised as a memoir meant as a self-help book, The Arsonist's Guide is also a rather brilliant satire on the culture of modern reading ... A highly enjoyable, absurdist farce." (New Statesman)

"A wonderfully wry, witty escapade." (Esquire)

Book Description:

A wise, funny, poignant and incredibly moving novel about one of life's losers who desperately wants to reinvent himself , but who discovers that he doesn't really know who he is in the first place.

About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1565125517
• ISBN 13: 9781565125513
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320