American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Sociology, Rural, True Crime, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse, Liveright
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Monica Hesse ISBN: 9781631490521
Publisher: Liveright Publication: July 11, 2017
Imprint: Liveright Language: English
Author: Monica Hesse
ISBN: 9781631490521
Publisher: Liveright
Publication: July 11, 2017
Imprint: Liveright
Language: English

**One of NPR's Best Books of 2017

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year

“A brisk, captivating and expertly crafted reconstruction of a community living through a time of fear. . . . Masterful.”— Washington Post**

The arsons started on a cold November midnight and didn’t stop for months. Night after night, the people of Accomack County waited to see which building would burn down next, regarding each other at first with compassion, and later suspicion. Vigilante groups sprang up, patrolling the rural Virginia coast with cameras and camouflage. Volunteer firefighters slept at their stations. The arsonist seemed to target abandoned buildings, but local police were stretched too thin to surveil them all. Accomack was desolate—there were hundreds of abandoned buildings. And by the dozen they were burning.

“One of the year’s best and most unusual true-crime books” (Christian Science Monitor), American Fire brings to vivid life the reeling county of Accomack. “Ace reporter” (Entertainment Weekly) Monica Hesse spent years investigating the story, emerging with breathtaking portraits of the arsonists—troubled addict Charlie Smith and his girlfriend, Tonya Bundick. Tracing the shift in their relationship from true love to crime spree, Hesse also conjures the once-thriving coastal community, decimated by a punishing economy and increasingly suspicious of their neighbors as the culprits remained at large. Weaving the story into the history of arson in the United States, the critically acclaimed American Fire re-creates the anguished nights this quiet county lit up in flames, evoking a microcosm of rural America—a land half-gutted before the fires began.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

**One of NPR's Best Books of 2017

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year

“A brisk, captivating and expertly crafted reconstruction of a community living through a time of fear. . . . Masterful.”— Washington Post**

The arsons started on a cold November midnight and didn’t stop for months. Night after night, the people of Accomack County waited to see which building would burn down next, regarding each other at first with compassion, and later suspicion. Vigilante groups sprang up, patrolling the rural Virginia coast with cameras and camouflage. Volunteer firefighters slept at their stations. The arsonist seemed to target abandoned buildings, but local police were stretched too thin to surveil them all. Accomack was desolate—there were hundreds of abandoned buildings. And by the dozen they were burning.

“One of the year’s best and most unusual true-crime books” (Christian Science Monitor), American Fire brings to vivid life the reeling county of Accomack. “Ace reporter” (Entertainment Weekly) Monica Hesse spent years investigating the story, emerging with breathtaking portraits of the arsonists—troubled addict Charlie Smith and his girlfriend, Tonya Bundick. Tracing the shift in their relationship from true love to crime spree, Hesse also conjures the once-thriving coastal community, decimated by a punishing economy and increasingly suspicious of their neighbors as the culprits remained at large. Weaving the story into the history of arson in the United States, the critically acclaimed American Fire re-creates the anguished nights this quiet county lit up in flames, evoking a microcosm of rural America—a land half-gutted before the fires began.

More books from Liveright

Cover of the book For Adam's Sake: A Family Saga in Colonial New England by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book A Miscellany (Revised) by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book In My Mind's Eye: A Thought Diary by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book In the Name of the Father: Family, Football, and the Manning Dynasty by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book The Red and the White: A Family Saga of the American West by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book The World Doesn't Require You: Stories by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book Best Boy: A Novel by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book "Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book Reading Dante: From Here to Eternity by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book Goethe: Life as a Work of Art by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book A Field Philosopher's Guide to Fracking: How One Texas Town Stood Up to Big Oil and Gas by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book Mercy of a Rude Stream: The Complete Novels by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book The Lost Founding Father: John Quincy Adams and the Transformation of American Politics by Monica Hesse
Cover of the book Alone: Britain, Churchill, and Dunkirk: Defeat into Victory by Monica Hesse
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy