How to Set a Fire and Why: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries)

This is my third Jesse Ball novel and I have to say: I can’t think of another contemporary author who has such an original and inventive voice and style. The best thing about Ball is that he’s no one-trick pony: the only thing his books have in common is that they are each wholly unique.In How to Set a Fire and Why, his protagonist is a teenage girl named Lucia, who tells us her story through a series of journal entries. The best way I can describe Lucia is like this: Imagine Holden Caulfield if he were into arson, class warfare and vigilante justice. If that isn’t enough to pique your interest, I don’t know what to tell you.Lucia’s father is dead and her mother is in a mental institution. She lives with her 75-year-old aunt, who fully supports her niece’s myriad outlets for teen rebellion. After getting kicked out of her previous high school, Lucia finds a way to fit in at her new school: she join’s a secret Arson Club.I’m afraid I’m making this all sound very dark, but it’s not. Lucia’s voice is hilarious, sardonic and sarcastic. She’s smart enough to rationalize her penchant for destruction, insightful enough to clarify that while she doesn’t think there’s meaning in anything, she also doesn’t find nihilism exciting.Lucia is a unique new voice in teen rebellion, convinced that what she sets out to do is right and just. Most of us have been there before, though hopefully not to the point of committing felonies. Still, it’s hard to feel anything but love for this subversive character.I recommend this book to anyone who is drawn to quirky novels, from Chuck Palahniuk’s nihilism and anarchy to Miranda July’s peculiar tenderness.

The most creative novel I've read this year (and I read a lot!). The protagonist is unique, a complex troubled teenager, obsessed with fire. Her obsession becomes understandable through Ball's multi-faceted development: the character's drawings, her diary pages, and her reactions to others. Ball plays her readers' discomfort with the would-be arsonist's intentions against a growing empathy towards her. Can we actually root for an arsonist? Will she set the big fire? Or not?Suspense grows through plot twists and turns.My only regret is e-book version, which I had to read on phone due to broken arm. The drawings needed to be enlarged to be viewable. I could do that for most, but not tiny ones beginning every section, which were unreadable. The artwork is so good—witty, and always revealing—I suspect I missed a lot by not viewing all of it.

I love Jesse Ball's other novels and poems, but I was expecting more here. The voice felt inconsistent and unsure of itself, and a little bit...derivative? I read Ball's work to be surprised - and will probably continue to purchase everything he writes - but this one fell way short for me.

I liked this book a lot. It was very well written, humerous at times, horrible at times ( the subject matter, not the writing) and it's honest. The book is told from the point of view of a cynical teenager that is entirely too smart for her own good. It's almost painful to read at times because you want to say " what are you DOING kid?" It's not a quick read or a light read. It's actually emotionally pretty difficult, at least I felt that way. I actually had to put it down about 3/4 of the way through and read something else and go back to this book because it was upsetting me. That doesn't make it sound like a book I would recommend right? Wrong. If a book DOESN'T evoke an emotional response it hasn't done its job. This one does its job very well. Read it.

A unique story. Short, terse sentences that speak to the reader. Worth reading. I liked the innovative approach to character development and recognition that not everyone fits into the standard high school mold.

I was very disappointed by this book. Ball's previous works had such beautiful, evocative language. They lacked narrative drive but the intricate construction of word and phrase carried you along. Since this book purports to be written by a teenage narrator it can't have that same style that made Ball so special. I could see this book catching on in high school or college literature classes that celebrate the antihero- a 21st century Catcher in the Rye. It just wasn't my thing

A very thought-provoking book. Plan to get my 16 year old granddaughter a copy. Due to the language, she's got to promise that she won't mention that her grandmother got it for her.

A great debut novel with a very interesting protagonist.