"[The book] is a pleasure to read, and it performs an important function--by mucking around in the problems that plague contemporary fiction, "Burning Down the House "may spur both readers and writers first to a recognition of guilty complicity and then to constructive thought." --"The New York Times Book Review ""The most pleasurable and instructive book on the craft since John Gardner's "The Art of Fiction."" --"City Pages ""Baxter displays his characteristic wit and intelligence as he muses about the influence of culture and politics on the art of storytelling." --"Ploughshares"

Charles Baxter is the author of ten books, including "The Feast of Love," a finalist for the National Book Award, and "The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot." He lives in Minneapolis.