Burning Down the House Essays on Fiction

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 Househas 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.

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.

“[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