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How to Set a Fire and Why: A Novel
by Ball, Jesse
- Used
- Very Good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good/Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 1101870575
- ISBN 13
- 9781101870570
- Seller
-
Skyway, Washington, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Pantheon Books, 2016. First printing quarter cloth hard cover with dust jacket, VG/VG. Clean, tight, crisp and unmarked copy. Unclipped dust jacket slightly rubbed. 282pp.. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - 8" - 9" Tall.
Reviews
On Apr 17 2016, a reader said:
"I … thought about the fire. I know it was just an abandoned building but I felt like something had happened, a real thing for once. My aunt's stroke had felt pretty real too. I guess real things happen all at once, and then you go back to the false parade of garbage that characterizes modern life"
How To Set a Fire And Why is the sixth novel by American author, Jesse Ball. Lucia Stanton lives in virtual poverty with her elderly Aunt Margaret in a garage at the back of a messy garden. She has been thrown out of her last school for anti-social behaviour and now attends Whistler High School. When her aunt gives her a notebook with a black felted cover, she decides to use in to write down her predictions: The Book Of How Things Will Go.
It is apparent from her narrative that Lucia is intelligent: a lot smarter than some of her teachers. But Lucia has a subversive streak, and her aunt supports her individuality. Along with predictions, Lucia relates the events of her life in an almost stream-of-consciousness style. And, after some interaction with would-be fire-setters at her new school, she also records in her notebook, her own pamphlet: HOW TO SET A FIRE AND WHY.
Lucia's behaviour may be related to the reason that her mother is essentially catatonic in a care facility, that her father is dead (his Zippo lighter is her only remaining piece of him), and that her aunt is now her guardian. But whatever those events may be, they are never revealed to the reader. Lucia is bright and audacious, but for older readers, may be a little difficult to relate to, and some readers may have difficulty with the lack of quotation marks for speech. Kelly Blair has designed a brilliantly clever cover to showcase this highly original novel. 3.5 stars
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Details
- Bookseller
- Turn-The-Page Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 24707
- Title
- How to Set a Fire and Why: A Novel
- Author
- Ball, Jesse
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Edition
- First Edition
- ISBN 10
- 1101870575
- ISBN 13
- 9781101870570
- Publisher
- Pantheon Books
- Place of Publication
- Us
- Date Published
- 2016
- Size
- 8vo - 8" - 9" Tall
Terms of Sale
Turn-The-Page Books
Returns: All merchandise accepted for a book-price refund if put into the mail within 10 days of receipt by buyer, and in the same condition as received. Any books received in "not as described" condition can be returned for a full refund, including return shipping, within 30 days. In these extremely rare instances, please email us of intent to return so that we can most efficiently expedite matters.
About the Seller
Turn-The-Page Books
Biblio member since 2004
Skyway, Washington
About Turn-The-Page Books
Customer service is our top priority! Susan is an ALA member librarian and lifelong book collector and enthusiast. Peter has happily spent over 30 years in the used book business. Books are well packaged to prevent damage in transit.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- VG/VG
- Very Good Condition book with a Very Good Condition dust jacket. Very Good Condition indicates a used book that does show some...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Crisp
- A term often used to indicate a book's new-like condition. Indicates that the hinges are not loosened. A book described as crisp...