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

by Brock Clarke

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565126149
• ISBN13: 9781565126145
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Length: 305 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Great fun for a family tragedy

In the interests of full disclosure: Brock Clarke is the brother of one of my coworkers and he came to present at our fledgling Creative Writing conference out of fraternal affection and perhaps a free (steamtabled) dinner. Thus, to counter the really base ad hominem attacks appearing in these reviews, my impression of Brock Clarke, Human Being, is quite menschy. I also got to hear him read the first chapter of this book at our little conference, so maybe that experience put a better idea into my head of what Sam Pulsifer's voice should sound like: something between gullible and sardonic. Thus when I sat down the other day to read this book, I might have had more preparation to this character's voice than other reviewers. I think this book *is* hilarious, but I acknowledge that if you're not one for literary allusions, you'll probably hate this book and deride the author as pretentious. There's also some stuff that I think if you haven't been to grad school or worked in a college will also sail right over your head, such as Lees Ardor and her knee jerk antagonism. I think every college worth its salt has a Lees Ardor. (I'm afraid at my school it might be...*me*!) And Harry Potter parents might feel a little defensive after reading this. The plot is absurd, but not absurdist, and even when I was caught thinking Pulsifer sure was being a moron, I found myself reading along for absolute treasures in prose as some other reviewers have quoted. One of my favorites is when he speculates about his wife whether he's actually made her happy or just too busy to cry. If you're looking for realistic fiction with deep round rich characters and a suspenseful plot, this will surely disappoint. However, it is worth your time if you want to get into a real 'everyman' (who isn't, or doesn't at least feel himself or herself to be a bumbler at times?) and ask questions about love and family and above all, what's the point of books, of stories? Do we read to become like the characters we read about? Do we read to escape? What are books, what are *writers* supposed to do for us, anyway? And you meet some pretty outrageous unforgettable characters (like the bond analysts) along the way. Maybe Clarke's done himself a bad turn in writing 'niche fiction' that appeals to overeducated twits like myself. It seems that many reviewers would prefer if he wrote Oprah niche fiction. I'm glad he didn't. It's about time I got to laugh at myself and wonder exactly why do I do what I do with all these books...? Seems that the people who enjoy this book are the ones it's making fun of. I don't know what to say about the people who hate this book so much I fear some arson might be practiced at Mr. Clarke's home.....

A classic American chump story

I've always thought that American literature (and movies) needed a special genre called The Chump. You know, basically nice guys who just can't catch a break, like Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life." Sam Pulsifer, the main character in Brock Clarke's novel is such a character. This poor schmuck is everybody else's tool, it seems. Sent to jail as a teen for an accidental fire, he's harassed at every turn. It takes a few chapters to figure it out, but Clarke isn't just interested in telling a classic tale of a basically nice guy who gets kicked around. He's also writing a book about the idea that "everybody has their story," and in a day when talk-show TV and the internet make divulging those stories to the public easier all the time, well, Sam's in for a rough ride. Look at it too closely, and Sam's complaining could get annoying, but once you realize that the book is wickedly funny, well, you'll find yourself laughing out loud, or at least I did. Clarke even turns his caustic vision on himself, when Sam almost buys a copy of Clarke's earlier novel "The Ordinary White Boy," but rejects it as a waste of time. A good comic novel is never a waste of time, and Clarke has produced a beaut.

An inside joke for literature buffs and English majors

An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England is a fantastic read on its own, but it's also a hilarious inside joke for literature buffs. There's the titillating arson of writers' homes, like Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Edward Bellamy, and Robert Frost, as well as a playful skewering of literary theory (since I had to study theory instead of reading the classics for my English and Textual Studies degree, I actually cheered in parts) and publishing trends (James Frey isn't mentioned by name, but the discourse about allegedly true memoirs alludes to A Million Little Pieces, for example). But the book's main strength is a gripping plot and fabulous writing. Clarke shows he has the chops to make these jabs with lines like, "I could hear Anne Marie suck in a breath, one, two, three times, as if she were inhaling the words love, honor, and cherish before exhaling..." And for the book's detractors, I'll include another quote from the book: "That the world was full of kooks wasn't any bigger news than the fact that the world was full of bores."

hee, hee

I don't know how to say this without insulting some previous reviewers. But. The book is funny. The narrator is a self-professed bumbler. And occasionally he bumbles across insights. But he's still a bumbler. Maybe I'm just twisted, but the book made me laugh out loud and force my wife to listen to passages I read aloud. Other reviewers have compared this book to works by Irving. I've begun and put down many a book by John Irving, so I wouldn't compare Clarke to him. Rather, I'll shelve his book next to my collection of Charles Portis' novels.

Funny,sad,quirky,idiosyncratic,and a page turner.

This book has one of the quirkiest story lines I have ever read. Brook Clarke has restored my faith in the Great American novel with this sad, yet funny work about a hapless guy named Sam Pulsifer who mistakenly burns down Emily Dickenson's house and kills two people in the act of lovemaking in the process! He does ten years in the joint; when he gets out, he is bound and determined to redeem himself by going to college. Sam, against the predictions of his parents, goes to school and majors in Packaging Science, marries, has two kids of his own, buys a house in suburbia, makes a new life for himself, and out of the blue the past comes knocking on his door one day (with no warning as he is mowing his yard like a good suburbanite) his nightmare begins all over again. The book reads like an episode of Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" except it is much darker, and a heck of a lot more funnier. I don't personally believe that this work suspends credulity all that much. It has to, to some degree, otherwise it would not be an entertaining novel. Nevertheless, Clarke's characters are not all that complicated, yet they are textured and, in the case of Sam's mom, pitiable and unlikable at the same time. As for Sam's character, I'm not sure if he is "hapless," as the book jacket describes him, or he is just a hopeless romantic/sentimentalist. At the end of the story, Clarke leaves it up to the reader to figure out if Sam's taking the rap is an act of nobility, or just another case of "bumbling," perhaps a little of both. I greatly enjoyed this book. The plot was funny, sad, quirky and idiosyncratic. Clarke kept me turning the pages, so much so that I finished the book in two days. I like a book with an unorthodox story line. It is not so unorthodox, though, that you get lost. This book is one to curl up with and get lost in for a couple of hours.