Reviews of Burning Down the House

“In nine brilliant essays, Baxter displays his characteristic wit and intelligence as he muses about the influences of culture and politics on the art of storytelling.” —Ploughshares

“[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

“What elevates this collection from the status of technical manual (which it also is, and a brilliant one at that) is Mr. Baxter’s rare ability to gauge the capacities of fiction for conveying an image not only of individual existence, but of the characteristic feel of a time, a culture, a way of life.” —Washington Times