An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England(2007) by Brock Clarke

 1001 Novels: An American Library

An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England(2007)

 by Brock Clarke

Amherst, Massachusetts

Massachusetts: 1/30

    30 novels to represent Massachusetts's seems low, but I've already noticed a distinct preference for editor Susan Straight to pick more recent books, first novels in particular, so from that perspective you would expect Massachusetts's to be under-represented since it dominates the 19th century and then drops off in significance from there.  Today I associate Massachusetts lit with working-class white guys, the idea of a Brahmin literary elite is risible in 2023.

   Out of the 31 books picked to represent Massachusetts, only two of them are in the western half of the state.  To cut Massachusetts in half you simply follow the course of the Connecticut river, which is familiar to most Americans as the border between New Hampshire and Vermont, that line runs right down the middle of Massachusetts.  This book is one of them and the other is Born Slippy by Tom Lutz, which is placed just south of the Vermont border in Leyden.

   My experience with An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Home in New England was compromised by two facts, first my background as a criminal defense attorney and second, my decision to listen to the Audiobook edition.  I can't remember a time when I was so bothered by the voice of the person reading an Audiobook- dating back to when I pulled down public domain Audiobooks read by amateurs.  Daniel Passer- if you are subscribed to Google alert's for mentions of your name and this pops up- I'm sorry.  I see that you are a theater actor and some kind of "professional clown," and I saw that you read the Audiobook edition of Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney, so obviously you are well respected in the field etc,  but personally I just couldn't stand it.

  As to my background in criminal defense- I very much try to avoid to be one of those people who lets their profession dominate their perceptions about culture but the background here was just too much suspension of disbelief, based on what I know.  Specifically, the idea is that the narrator (unreliable at best) is released from prison after serving a 10 year sentence for "accidentally" burning down the Emily Dickinson house and killing two people.

    All the facts within the book that flow from this incident are ridiculous.  To name a few:

1.  Everyone constantly calls the narrator a murderer but it's clear from the way he was treated (10 year sentence instead of life in prison) that everyone accepted that the deaths were accidental.

2.  After he is released from serving his ten year prison sentence, he spends the rest of the book gallivanting around New England without any sort of probation or parole agent keeping track of him.  The fact that he is obviously on parole, and would be for a long, long time given his conviction for arson resulting in death, would be a huge factor in the story this author is seeking to tell about this narrator.

3. The quasi breezy tone of the novel built around arson was off-putting.  Arsonists are placed on a level with serial killers and torturers in the criminal justice system, it's one of the most dangerous crimes that exist.  

   In writing this review I am aware that Clarke has a reputation as a surrealist with a dark sense of humor, and that he is a tenured Professor of English at Bowdoin.  I'm also aware that he has published five novels and there isn't a hit or award winner among them.  There are plenty of writers with this profile in the 1001 Novels: An American Library and while I'm resigned to my fate, in the same way I resigned myself to reading 150 European philosophical novels during the 1001 Novels to Read Before You Die project, I'm not happy about it.