false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172080826m/136349.jpg 136349 3 For fiction lovers, history and social commentary on the genre is a thought-provoking addition to reading. Novelist Charles Baxter's essays on contemporary fiction dissect the connections between life, values, and art with unerring and insightful precision. Baxter compares the dysfunction in contemporary fiction to the removal of the villain from politics. He decries the prostituting of epiphany as a commercial product that turns fiction into a pseudo-instruction manual, and he reveals the magic within Donald Barthelme's innovative prose, created with a generosity "almost unseen" in American letters. This is a powerful companion to Baxter's short story collections. 131405 1997 Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction total:284|5:120|4:116|3:37|2:8|1:3| 284 1194 449 40 5 3 false false Fri May 09 08:15:52 -0700 2008 Fri May 09 08:37:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 15:35:25 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 01 06:17:59 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 07 08:18:32 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 08 07:16:11 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Mar 31 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 16 02:47:17 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 31 23:50:47 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Sep 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 24 07:20:16 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 24 07:50:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Oct 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 28 13:58:43 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 17 13:46:24 -0700 2009
1) Plot driven vs. Epip...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 08:14:29 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 29 08:01:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Aug 05 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue May 06 07:51:53 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 10:06:18 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Sep 27 09:48:10 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 05 07:25:31 -0700 2007 Burning Down the House (yes, that's ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 11 07:34:26 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 03 12:51:12 -0700 2008 —NEW YORK TIMES ...more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Jul 31 08:29:01 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 31 08:30:40 -0700 2009 5 1 false false Wed Apr 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 10:13:05 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 10:14:54 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 15 10:10:57 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 15 10:12:05 -0700 2009 My favorite essays are “On Defamiliarization,” “Talking Forks: Fiction and the Inner Life of Objects,” and “Counterpointed Characterization.” ]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jun 29 18:26:55 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 18:29:43 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu May 07 16:52:18 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 16:53:08 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 07:05:18 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 07:05:58 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 08 13:35:57 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 18 17:31:39 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 09 11:59:28 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 14 10:56:02 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Nov 03 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Aug 19 16:14:16 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 03 07:24:07 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Thu Jun 21 13:32:11 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 21 13:33:47 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=136349