Burning Down the House - 2nd Edition by Charles Baxter (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Graywolf reissues one of its most successful essay collections with two new essays and a new foreword by Charles Baxter

As much a rumination on the state of literature as a technical manual for aspiring writers, Burning Down the House has been enjoyed by readers and taught in classrooms for more than a decade. Readers are rewarded with thoughtful analysis, humorous one-liners, and plenty of brushfires that continue burning long after the book is closed.

Review Quotes

"[The book] is a pleasure to read, and it performs an important function--by mucking around in the problems that plague contemporary fiction, Burning Down the House may spur both readers and writers first to a recognition of guilty complicity and then to constructive thought." --The New York Times Book Review

"The most pleasurable and instructive book on the craft since John Gardner's The Art of Fiction." --City Pages

"Baxter displays his characteristic wit and intelligence as he muses about the influence of culture and politics on the art of storytelling." --Ploughshares

About the Author

Charles Baxter is the author of ten books, including The Feast of Love, a finalist for the National Book Award, and The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot. He lives in Minneapolis.