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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao-Junot Diaz
By Jenn · 7 posts · 29 views
last updated Jul 21, 2010 07:35PM
The End of the Alphabet by C.S. Richardson
By Lisa · 5 posts · 19 views
last updated Mar 03, 2010 04:48PM

What Members Thought

Travis
Nov 03, 2011 rated it liked it
Shelves: fiction
I had high hopes for this one. The book begins with a man getting out of prison after serving 20 years for burning down the Emily Dickens house (accidentally killing two people inside). Of course, this rips his current family apart. When he gets out he goes to school, gets married, has kids, etc. But then other famous authors homes start burning up! Is he doing it? How can he clear his name? It's a GREAT plot and story thread.

Unfortunately, for me, there are so many characters involved that we s
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Bookmarks Magazine

The Chicago Tribune calls An Arsonist's Guide "a Matryoshka doll of a book ... a novel, nested within a memoir, nested within a how-to-guide." Accidental arsonist Sam's misadventures allow for a lot of literary in-jokes and parodies, but they also accommodate serious musings about the powerful role stories and storytelling play in our lives. The Dallas Morning News opines that Brock Clarke's attempt to pull off "whimsy, satire and black comedy" all in the same novel results in a muddle, and othe

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Amanda
Jan 13, 2009 rated it really liked it
Rita
Jun 24, 2009 marked it as to-read
Heather (DeathByBook)
Oct 31, 2009 marked it as to-read
Jami
Nov 25, 2009 marked it as to-read
Dottie
Jan 03, 2010 rated it really liked it
Bronwyn
Jul 07, 2010 marked it as to-read
Erin
Aug 10, 2010 rated it really liked it
Kathy
Sep 15, 2010 marked it as to-read
Belinda Burkhart
Nov 17, 2010 rated it liked it
Rebekah
Feb 01, 2011 marked it as wishlist  ·  review of another edition
Juny
Jan 25, 2013 rated it liked it
Tracy
Oct 09, 2013 marked it as to-read
Christina Browne
Jan 06, 2014 marked it as to-read
Chris
Apr 18, 2016 rated it liked it
Janet
May 07, 2022 marked it as to-read