“Lately I’ve been possessed of a singularly unhappy idea: The greatest influence on American fiction for the last twenty years may have been Richard Nixon.”
—Charles Baxter
“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
“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
What happens to American fiction in a time when villains are deprived of their villainy; when our consumer culture relentlessly insists on happy endings? In
Burning Down the House, Baxter delves into the dramatic way that social and political circumstances influence the “urgent issues of storytelling.” Did Richard Nixon start a trend of dysfunctional narration that is now rife throughout fiction? Why do we seem to have forgotten the true meaning of epiphany?
Burning Down the House is Baxter’s first collection of nonfiction and proves he has an equally strong gift for the art of the essay.
