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How to Set a Fire and Why
A startling, subversive novel about a teenage girl who has lost everything and will burn anything.
Fourteen-year-old Lucia is a young narrator whose voice will long ring in your ears. She is angry with almost everyone, especially people who tell her what to do. She follows the one rule that makes any sense to her: Don't Do Things You Aren't Proud Of. Orphaned and living with her elderly aunt in poverty in the converted garage of a large mansion, Lucia makes her way through the world with only a book, a Zippo lighter, and a pocket full of stolen licorice. Expelled from school, again, Lucia spends her days riding the bus to visit her mother in The Home. When Lucia discovers a secret Arson Club, she will do anything to be a part of it. Her own arson manifesto is a marvellous anarchist pamphlet, written with biting wit and striking intelligence.
The voice of teenaged Lucia is a tour de force: a brilliant, wrenching cry from the heart and mind of a super-smart, funny girl who can’t help telling us the truth, a riveting chronicle of family, misguided friendship, and loss.
How to Set a Fire and Why is Jesse Ball’s most accessible novel yet; after Silence Once Begun and A Cure for Suicide, the pyrotechnics on display here will dazzle.
Jesse Ball is the author of five other novels: Samedi the Deafness, The Way Through Doors, The Curfew, Silence Once Begun and A Cure for Suicide. He was a finalist for the 2015 New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award and a 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Ball received an NEA creative writing fellowship for 2014 and the 2008 Paris Review Plimpton Prize. His verse has been included in the Best American Poetry series. He gives classes on lucid dreaming and lying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
‘I was captivated from the first line…Lucia belongs with all the great child truth tellers: David Copperfield, Huck Finn, Holden Caulfield…I loved her and I loved the book, every page of it.’ Peter Heller, author of The Dog Stars and The Painter
‘A young genius who hits all of the right notes.’Chicago Tribune
‘For a young writer, Jesse Ball’s output has been incredibly prolific. We’re getting to the point where it’s almost impossible for him to release a bad book. His works, though wildly different, are always mysterious, puzzling and incredibly interesting. How to Set a Fire and Why is no exception.’ Readings
306 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 5, 2016
259 people are currently reading
10737 people want to read
About the author
Jesse Ball
30 books906 followersJesse Ball (1978-) Born in New York. The author of fourteen books, most recently, the novel How To Set a Fire and Why. His prizewinning works of absurdity have been published to acclaim in many parts of the world and translated into more than a dozen languages. The recipient of the Paris Review's Plimpton Prize, as well as fellowships from the NEA, the Heinz foundation, and others, he is on the faculty at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 961 reviews
February 3, 2021
Te voy a contar una pequeña cosita que pasa en el libro, para que te des una idea de por qué no me gustó (no es un spoiler).
La protagonista es un piba de 16 años que, en un momento, tiene relaciones sexuales con un chabón de 20 y tantos. En frente de su propia madre, que esta internada en un hospital psiquiatrico. EN FRENTE DE SU PROPIA MADRE. Y LA PIBA HACE CONTACTO VISUAL CON ELLA MIENTRAS LO ESTA HACIENDO???? POR QUÉ UN HOMBRE DE CUARENTA AÑOS ESCRIBIRÍA ESO Y LO PUBLICARÍA?!?!?!? Y A NADIE LE PARECIÓ MAL?????
Mencionaría otras razones por las que no me gustó, como lo excesivamente pretencioso y la falta de trama, pero creo que con el párrafo anterior no necesito decir más.
Asi que, si viste la portada de este libro en alguna red social y, como yo, te da curiosidad leerlo, no lo hagas. Gasta tu plata en cualquier otra cosa, por favor.
La protagonista es un piba de 16 años que, en un momento, tiene relaciones sexuales con un chabón de 20 y tantos. En frente de su propia madre, que esta internada en un hospital psiquiatrico. EN FRENTE DE SU PROPIA MADRE. Y LA PIBA HACE CONTACTO VISUAL CON ELLA MIENTRAS LO ESTA HACIENDO???? POR QUÉ UN HOMBRE DE CUARENTA AÑOS ESCRIBIRÍA ESO Y LO PUBLICARÍA?!?!?!? Y A NADIE LE PARECIÓ MAL?????
Mencionaría otras razones por las que no me gustó, como lo excesivamente pretencioso y la falta de trama, pero creo que con el párrafo anterior no necesito decir más.
Asi que, si viste la portada de este libro en alguna red social y, como yo, te da curiosidad leerlo, no lo hagas. Gasta tu plata en cualquier otra cosa, por favor.
August 4, 2016
Do you remember as a child how easy it seemed to solve life's problems? If all the rich people shared their excess, then there would be no poor. Simple, right? In How to Set a Fire and Why, a teenage girl: Lucia discusses how she would go about making this the norm. No homelessness, no hunger, no more daily struggling, and certainly no fat old money staring down their noses at the one's who weren't born so lucky. But Lucia is sort of special. Her personal life stressors combined with her impatient but advanced thought processes have dropped her impulse control down to zero. She wants this to happen and she wants everyone on board...now.
Most adolescents on the brim of independence need a sense of control. They can smell the freedom but they can't reach it and it's enough to drive anyone crazy. Lucia finds her control in her late father's trusty Zippo lighter. It creates fire if she allows it. Things are not on fire because she has not made it so. She has total control of what burns. She alone chooses.
I absolutely loved Lucia's character. She's angry, entitled, unapologetic, in-your-face, unchallenged, and bored as most kids with smart minds usually are. While there may be a lot going on with her, her message is almost childlike at its core. Life has been unfair to her, she's grieving and alone, she wants life to be different...to be better. I am slowly but surely making my way through Jesse Ball's books and this one is my favorite to date. I'm looking forward to the next.
My favorite quote:
"You will keep it in your pocket as a sort of token. Stick your hand in there now and then as you go around and remember: all the buildings that exist, all the grand structures of wealth and power, they remain standing because you permit them to remain. With this little lick of flame in your pocket, with this little gift of Prometheus, you can reduce everyone to a sort of grim equality. All those who ride on a high horse may be made to walk. Therefore when you are at the bank and the bank manager speaks roughly to you, when you are denied entrance to a restaurant or other place of business, when you are made to work longer than you should need to, when you are driven out of your own little dwelling and made to live in the street, reach into your pocket, caress your own little vehicle of flame and feel the comfort there. We shall set fires—and when we set them, we shall know why."
Most adolescents on the brim of independence need a sense of control. They can smell the freedom but they can't reach it and it's enough to drive anyone crazy. Lucia finds her control in her late father's trusty Zippo lighter. It creates fire if she allows it. Things are not on fire because she has not made it so. She has total control of what burns. She alone chooses.
I absolutely loved Lucia's character. She's angry, entitled, unapologetic, in-your-face, unchallenged, and bored as most kids with smart minds usually are. While there may be a lot going on with her, her message is almost childlike at its core. Life has been unfair to her, she's grieving and alone, she wants life to be different...to be better. I am slowly but surely making my way through Jesse Ball's books and this one is my favorite to date. I'm looking forward to the next.
My favorite quote:
"You will keep it in your pocket as a sort of token. Stick your hand in there now and then as you go around and remember: all the buildings that exist, all the grand structures of wealth and power, they remain standing because you permit them to remain. With this little lick of flame in your pocket, with this little gift of Prometheus, you can reduce everyone to a sort of grim equality. All those who ride on a high horse may be made to walk. Therefore when you are at the bank and the bank manager speaks roughly to you, when you are denied entrance to a restaurant or other place of business, when you are made to work longer than you should need to, when you are driven out of your own little dwelling and made to live in the street, reach into your pocket, caress your own little vehicle of flame and feel the comfort there. We shall set fires—and when we set them, we shall know why."
February 10, 2017
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.
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.
April 14, 2020
”Can you imagine? That you can say something, offhand, and it can matter, it can really matter to someone else? Can you imagine what it’s like to hear something like that? To hear someone say something and feel the world ripple around you.”
Oh How to Set a Fire and Why what an odd little book you are. What an oddball collection of characters you got and the sweetest sweetheart of an Auntie there is. I feel you. I feel you even where the writing is very detached and I certainly feel you when it manages to touch my heart...
“Just in case the letter doesn’t get all the way to you, I gave it some wings so it could fly the rest of the way.”
Lucia was such a ferocious little genius-y oddball girl, I sincerely do not know how else to describe her: she’s super tough and she’s utterly true to herself all of the times - it makes me envious many times over I can tell you.
“ I guess real things happen all at once, and then you go back to the false parade of garbage that characterizes modern life.
Well, I don’t want to go back there.”
I am so weak for a flourish relationship between a young lady and her elder relatives. I am just mush for Lucia and Lucy. I was basically inconsolable.
“ to see you become utterly her—become her whom you will be inalienably. That person, I feel, will be someone to behold.”
“
Your strongest supporter always, Lucy”
Oh How to Set a Fire and Why what an odd little book you are. What an oddball collection of characters you got and the sweetest sweetheart of an Auntie there is. I feel you. I feel you even where the writing is very detached and I certainly feel you when it manages to touch my heart...
“Just in case the letter doesn’t get all the way to you, I gave it some wings so it could fly the rest of the way.”
Lucia was such a ferocious little genius-y oddball girl, I sincerely do not know how else to describe her: she’s super tough and she’s utterly true to herself all of the times - it makes me envious many times over I can tell you.
“ I guess real things happen all at once, and then you go back to the false parade of garbage that characterizes modern life.
Well, I don’t want to go back there.”
I am so weak for a flourish relationship between a young lady and her elder relatives. I am just mush for Lucia and Lucy. I was basically inconsolable.
“ to see you become utterly her—become her whom you will be inalienably. That person, I feel, will be someone to behold.”
“
Your strongest supporter always, Lucy”
January 28, 2019
Jesse Ball is one of the most interesting writers around PERIOD. He is fearless, inventive, and somehow manages to have a distinct voice although his books all have their own peculiar vibe: I just loved the enigmatic Census (winner of the Gordon Burn Prize 2018, and rightly so), and while it would be more apt so say that I rather admired than loved "How to Set a Fire and Why", the sound of its teenage narrator Lucia intrigued me. To write from the perspective of a rebellious teen can easily take a turn for the pretentious and embarrasing, but certainly not in the hands of this author: Lucia is smart, strong and fragile at the same time as she is trying to come to terms with the tough world around her. With her father dead and her mother in a mental institution, she is living in a garage with her beloved elderly aunt. At school, she is struggling, because she is unwilling to play by rules she perceives as hollow - this clever misfit is under a lot of pressure, and didn't we all feel like burning everything to the ground at some point?
Although still young, she has no illusions regarding the workings of the world and feels a sense of futility, but nevertheless she believes that people can be kind (or at least kinder) to each other if they want to - but what if they don't? Lucia, who always carries her late father's zippo with her, joins a mysterious "Arson Club" and starts to write a pamphlet entitled "How to Set a Fire and Why" in which she elaborates on arson as a form of resistance against an oppressive system that values wealth and property above anything else.
This novel is held together by the captivating voice of Ball's narrator while the text itself digresses again and again - it's part of the poetic concept and helps to unfold Lucia's worldview, but I found it a little tedious sometimes (I'm generally struggling with meandering narratives, it's just not my thing). While it becomes clear that Ball once more wrote a book which is, at its core, dealing with questions of compassion, I found parts of Lucia's pamphlet slightly placative, which put me off because the book truly shines in its most edgy passages.
Still, I absolutely love Jesse Ball and have the greatest admiration for his work and his world of ideas. I can't wait to read whatever he comes up with next.
Although still young, she has no illusions regarding the workings of the world and feels a sense of futility, but nevertheless she believes that people can be kind (or at least kinder) to each other if they want to - but what if they don't? Lucia, who always carries her late father's zippo with her, joins a mysterious "Arson Club" and starts to write a pamphlet entitled "How to Set a Fire and Why" in which she elaborates on arson as a form of resistance against an oppressive system that values wealth and property above anything else.
This novel is held together by the captivating voice of Ball's narrator while the text itself digresses again and again - it's part of the poetic concept and helps to unfold Lucia's worldview, but I found it a little tedious sometimes (I'm generally struggling with meandering narratives, it's just not my thing). While it becomes clear that Ball once more wrote a book which is, at its core, dealing with questions of compassion, I found parts of Lucia's pamphlet slightly placative, which put me off because the book truly shines in its most edgy passages.
Still, I absolutely love Jesse Ball and have the greatest admiration for his work and his world of ideas. I can't wait to read whatever he comes up with next.
January 1, 2021
Meh. Más allá del alevoso "homenaje" a una novela rupturista como lo fue The Catcher In The Rye, lo que más me molestó fue la voz impostada de esta joven. Si hubiera estado en 3ra persona, tal vez me habría irritado menos. O sea: me pareció una novela del montón sobre el White Trash yanqui escrita por un tipo de más de 40 años imitando la voz de una chica adolescente. Será que me estoy volviendo una vieja feminista poco tolerante?
September 9, 2016
It's another book written by a man who thinks he understands the mind of a teenage girl. This book is not what I expected, it actually focuses more on her relationships with her family that the arson club, which makes this book very cliche and played out.
July 19, 2016
Lucia Stanton is a cynical 14-year-old misfit who lives with her elderly aunt in a garage. At first she only supports the idea of arson, but events draw her into getting personally involved. This is one of those fairly rare novels that stand out immediately for the first-person voice. Lucia reminded me of Holden Caulfield or of Mim Malone from David Arnold’s Mosquitoland. She’s like a cynical philosopher. For as heartbreaking as her family history is, she was always either making me laugh or impressing me with her wisdom. Although this is his sixth novel, I hadn’t heard much about Jesse Ball prior to picking it up. His skill at creating the interior world of a troubled 14-year-old girl leads me to believe that the rest of his work would be well worth a look.
See my full review at The Bookbag.
See my full review at The Bookbag.
August 6, 2016
I loved this - Lucia's voice is blisteringly funny, dark and unapologetically idealistic. She's been dealt a shit hand in life and she's angry at the fakes, idiots and condescending adults that she has to deal with every day. The writing is fantastic - I completely bought into Lucia as a narrator and was knocked out by her smart, sad and hilarious take on the world. I'm definitely going to chase down more of Jesse Ball's books.
May 11, 2024
Es bastante evidente que esto viene a ser una especie de homenaje medio bruto a "El guardián entre el centeno", libro que sí me gustó mucho. Este intento de tributo de Jesse Ball me pareció bastante insulso, ni siquiera tenía bien delineada una trama o un hilo conductor para ir siguiendo bien los acontecimientos en la vida de la protagonista. Y, ya que hablamos de este última, es el personaje más soberbio, altanero y poco creíble que leí en un buen tiempo, y eso me resultó medio insufrible. Siempre con actitudes terriblemente forzadas, para nada interesante. La famosa escenita con la madre que se menciona por acá queda tan descolocada que no tiene ni sentido que figure. Y no hablo en términos morales, hablo de lo mal proyectadas que están algunas ideas en la historia.
Pero no todo fue malo: el formato que se usó para narrar esta historia está bastante bueno, porque rompe con la estructura típica de una novela convencional. Aparte, por lo que se plantea, siento que quedó bastante apropiado para la narración. El comienzo también se presenta como algo bastante llamativo, engancha rápidamente. Una lástima que no se supo sostener el resto de la historia.
Pero no todo fue malo: el formato que se usó para narrar esta historia está bastante bueno, porque rompe con la estructura típica de una novela convencional. Aparte, por lo que se plantea, siento que quedó bastante apropiado para la narración. El comienzo también se presenta como algo bastante llamativo, engancha rápidamente. Una lástima que no se supo sostener el resto de la historia.
July 9, 2025
DNF -45%. This was just terrible. The more I read it, the more I hated it. Lucia is the most annoying main character I know. She's nothing like the cool anti-heroin I expected her to be. No matter how tragic her past was, she has no right to treat people the way she did. She also have no reason to burn things down. It's just her feeling that she's so smart that rules dont't apply to her.
August 23, 2016
Wow, what a book. I can't figure out another author who writes like Jesse Ball does. He suffuses so much artistry and philosophy into his writing and characters that his books are hard to classify. Longer review to come. This is a toughie to digest, but I am very impressed and highly recommend it.
October 29, 2020
Lo empecé con muchas expectativas pero me terminó decepcionando bastante. Por momentos se me hizo incluso algo aburrido. Pensé, al leer la contratapa, que la historia se centraba más en una crítica social, pero me terminó pareciendo un relato adolescente trillado
December 26, 2018
Freaking hated this book. Only read it cause i have a reading challenge to finish. Let this book serve as a reminder that if a book description includes “edgy, raw, and hilarious” is actually means boring, pretentious, and mind numbing. Sometimes men just should not write.
August 14, 2019
Readers are like small time loan sharks, to whom authors are perpetually in debt. The reader agrees to invest their time, and expect to be paid back with a good story. Readers don't care if you hit a dry spell. They don't care if the baby is crying all night. They don't care if your adjunct classes are eating more of your time than you expected. Payment is due on the last page.
Page 50: "Now, Author. I'm agreeing to give you the time, but this wasn't a gift. You have to pay this back."
"Of course, Mr. Reader. I'm good for it. You can trust me."
Page 100: "This is starting to look literary, Author. A big ring of talk circling planet nothing. I'm starting to think that there might be no story here at all. I'm getting the feeling that I get when I start reading a literary fleece job."
"Mr. Reader. This is a story. It is not a fleece job. It will pay. I promise."
Page 183: "Author. Now, I have to call you in because you're replacing actual writing with cheap formatting tricks. Two columns. One word pages. Lots of White space. This is not writing. You have to make your payments. The reader needs to be paid."
"Mr. Reader, I don't know what to say. Let me pay you what I can now and I'll get back on track. This will be great. You'll see."
Page 200: "Author? There were some pages missing at the end of the story. Some pages that contained the actual action? The pages that you promised with 200 plus pages of missed payments and character portraits. Author? Open the door and let's talk about this, Author. Open. The. Door."
[Author slips out through the bathroom window]
Months Later:
(The man formerly known as) Author reverently closes his book and removes the glasses from the end of his nose. He looks out into the small group of fawning fans. No one will raise the question where the actual action in the story is, or why he cut and ran before the action occurred. To do so would be to admit that one does not understand literary works. These were not common people. These were literary people rich with time to lavish upon him whether or not (more likely not) he paid them back. Payment was vulgar. Spending was the norm. This is where he would thrive.
This book will owe you. To read it, you just have to decide whether you care or not.
Page 50: "Now, Author. I'm agreeing to give you the time, but this wasn't a gift. You have to pay this back."
"Of course, Mr. Reader. I'm good for it. You can trust me."
Page 100: "This is starting to look literary, Author. A big ring of talk circling planet nothing. I'm starting to think that there might be no story here at all. I'm getting the feeling that I get when I start reading a literary fleece job."
"Mr. Reader. This is a story. It is not a fleece job. It will pay. I promise."
Page 183: "Author. Now, I have to call you in because you're replacing actual writing with cheap formatting tricks. Two columns. One word pages. Lots of White space. This is not writing. You have to make your payments. The reader needs to be paid."
"Mr. Reader, I don't know what to say. Let me pay you what I can now and I'll get back on track. This will be great. You'll see."
Page 200: "Author? There were some pages missing at the end of the story. Some pages that contained the actual action? The pages that you promised with 200 plus pages of missed payments and character portraits. Author? Open the door and let's talk about this, Author. Open. The. Door."
[Author slips out through the bathroom window]
Months Later:
(The man formerly known as) Author reverently closes his book and removes the glasses from the end of his nose. He looks out into the small group of fawning fans. No one will raise the question where the actual action in the story is, or why he cut and ran before the action occurred. To do so would be to admit that one does not understand literary works. These were not common people. These were literary people rich with time to lavish upon him whether or not (more likely not) he paid them back. Payment was vulgar. Spending was the norm. This is where he would thrive.
This book will owe you. To read it, you just have to decide whether you care or not.
February 22, 2016
“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★s
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★s
May 15, 2016
If J.D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield had a tryst with Stephen King’s Carrie, perhaps she would be a bit like Lucia Stanton – cynical, disillusioned, subversive, self-aware, and lost.
Her father is dead, her mother is ailing, and she lives full-time with her destitute yet caring aunt, in a converted garage. Every day, she wears the same “uniform” to school, where she is marginalized. Unlike her schoolmates, who are burning with the promise of adolescence, Lucia’s flame may be predestined to quickly burn out. Until she meets up with other misfits in the Sonar Club (an acronym for Arson Club) and seriously begins to explore how she can set fire to the world.
There is, indeed, a manifesto printed within these pages that fulfills the promise of the title: stating how to set a fire and why. It is the “why” that fuels the narrative of the book. For those whose promising flames are being extinguished by hypocrisy and injustice, inability to embrace those who are different (or even to recognize their potential), and forced to participate in the “false parade of garbage that characterizes modern life”, burning down the past and striking out for new horizons (evocative of Huckleberry Finn) sometimes seems the only solution.
I expect to be prodded and provoked by Jesse Ball’s prose; no two past efforts have been alike. How to Build A Fire And Why does not disappoint.
Her father is dead, her mother is ailing, and she lives full-time with her destitute yet caring aunt, in a converted garage. Every day, she wears the same “uniform” to school, where she is marginalized. Unlike her schoolmates, who are burning with the promise of adolescence, Lucia’s flame may be predestined to quickly burn out. Until she meets up with other misfits in the Sonar Club (an acronym for Arson Club) and seriously begins to explore how she can set fire to the world.
There is, indeed, a manifesto printed within these pages that fulfills the promise of the title: stating how to set a fire and why. It is the “why” that fuels the narrative of the book. For those whose promising flames are being extinguished by hypocrisy and injustice, inability to embrace those who are different (or even to recognize their potential), and forced to participate in the “false parade of garbage that characterizes modern life”, burning down the past and striking out for new horizons (evocative of Huckleberry Finn) sometimes seems the only solution.
I expect to be prodded and provoked by Jesse Ball’s prose; no two past efforts have been alike. How to Build A Fire And Why does not disappoint.
April 1, 2021
Si pienso en la figura del adolescente, pienso en su resistencia a formar parte de una sociedad que percibe rota, en el afán por no adaptarse a un mundo que le resulta incómodo. «Cómo provocar un incendio y por qué» se distancia de cierto nihilismo adormecido que abunda en las novelas con protagonistas jóvenes, críticos del mundo. Si bien, Lucia Staton, la narradora, reflexiona sobre la sociedad en cierto tono misántropo, esquiva todos los clichés y se convierte en una bocanada de aire fresco entre las novelas de su tipo.
October 11, 2016
Lucia is a tough, young woman who doesn't fit in. Her dad is dead, her mom is in an institution, and she lives with her (seemingly and endearingly) batty but philosophically enlightened old aunt. Lucia is well read, and even more well spoken-she has nothing but her somewhat twisted ideals, the notebook she writes random predictions in, and her stolen licorice. Lucia is an avid reader, with advanced thoughts and a vocabulary that would shame the kids of Dawson's Creek. All Lucia has leftover from her old life however, is anger, pain, abandonment, and her dad's old zippo lighter. So when the measly shreds of her world are ripped loose, and blow away-what else is Lucia to do, but to look for a way to equalize the ruthless, arbitrary ways of the world in an effort to return ashes to ashes-and begin again phoenix style.
How to Start a Fire and Why, by Jesse Ball is an addictive read. As a reader, I found myself liking Lucia-feeling for her-agreeing with her on numerous points, while seeing the flaws in her judgement. Lucia has a powerful voice, that I will not soon forget.
How to Start a Fire and Why, by Jesse Ball is an addictive read. As a reader, I found myself liking Lucia-feeling for her-agreeing with her on numerous points, while seeing the flaws in her judgement. Lucia has a powerful voice, that I will not soon forget.
September 20, 2018
Algo rápido
Jesse Ball escribe bien. Si con Toque de queda se ganó un lugar en mi corazón, con esta novela confirmé que es un escritor de la puta madre.
¿De qué va?
How To Set a Fire And Why nos pone en el lugar de Lucia Stanton, una estudiante de secundaria anti-todo que termina viviendo con su tía al quedarse "huérfana". La posta de la novela llega cuando se entera de un club de gente que prende fuego cosas: aguante todo.
¿La recomiendo?
Mucho. Si bien es una novela mucho más efectista que Toque de queda, imposible no amar a un personaje TAN bien armado como Lucia.
Jesse Ball escribe bien. Si con Toque de queda se ganó un lugar en mi corazón, con esta novela confirmé que es un escritor de la puta madre.
¿De qué va?
How To Set a Fire And Why nos pone en el lugar de Lucia Stanton, una estudiante de secundaria anti-todo que termina viviendo con su tía al quedarse "huérfana". La posta de la novela llega cuando se entera de un club de gente que prende fuego cosas: aguante todo.
¿La recomiendo?
Mucho. Si bien es una novela mucho más efectista que Toque de queda, imposible no amar a un personaje TAN bien armado como Lucia.
January 25, 2021
Interesante. Definitivamente interesante.
Un llamado a la anarquía pretencioso, por supuesto, pero interesante.
Las primeras cien páginas y pico fueron bastante cuesta arriba, pero después me enganchó por completo. Aunque el final me dejó medio fría. Quizá aún no lo digiero.
Entiendo por qué lo compara con El guardián entre el centeno, la voz de Lucia es muy similar a la de Holden. Hasta diría que la emula pero no la supera.
Entiendo también por qué las críticas tan encontradas. Yo, por mi parte, ni lo amé ni lo odié. Estoy bien en el medio, y que Lucia y sus incendiarios disculpen la tibieza.
Un llamado a la anarquía pretencioso, por supuesto, pero interesante.
Las primeras cien páginas y pico fueron bastante cuesta arriba, pero después me enganchó por completo. Aunque el final me dejó medio fría. Quizá aún no lo digiero.
Entiendo por qué lo compara con El guardián entre el centeno, la voz de Lucia es muy similar a la de Holden. Hasta diría que la emula pero no la supera.
Entiendo también por qué las críticas tan encontradas. Yo, por mi parte, ni lo amé ni lo odié. Estoy bien en el medio, y que Lucia y sus incendiarios disculpen la tibieza.
April 3, 2020
Lucia Stanton has some issues. As the novel opens, she is being expelled from her school for stabbing a fellow student with a pencil. In her eyes, this was perfectly reasonable behaviour because she had warned her victim what would happen if he touched her most treasured possession: a cigarette lighter that had belonged to her father.
That’s when I said, your little prince basketball hero shouldn’t have touched my lighter. Then I wouldn’t have put a pencil in his neck.
(Entirely coincidentally, this is the second book I have read this week where a cigarette lighter takes a key role (cf. Summerwater by Sarah Moss)).
Lucia is anti-social and has an unusual outlook on life. But don’t get the idea that she is a thug or stupid. She is the cleverest person in her school. She reads a LOT. Early on she is impressed when she sees a fellow student in her new school reading Trakl, she argues with her psychologist about quotes from Rumi and how best to translate them and her reading list as mentioned in the book is fairly challenging (for example, The Theatre and Its Double, Barbarian in the Garden, Poor Richard's Almanac & Familiar Letters).
Lucia is a complex character. It is interesting to look at the reviews of this book because they seem to be undecided about Lucia. Some see her as a well-developed character and others see her as some kind of trope and under-developed as a person. I fall into the first category: I can imagine that Lucia as a person will stay with me for some time after I shelve this book.
Lucia lives with her aunt Lucy (I had to struggle to stop thinking about Paddington Bear at times while reading the book) and they share a life of poverty. Lucy is an eccentric character (another one who will live on in my imagination for a long time) but a firm supporter of Lucia despite her issues.
Lucia is very interested in fire. Or, more specifically, arson. When her new school presents her with an opportunity to join an arson club, she is immediately interested. The title of the book is also the title of a pamphlet that Lucy writes (reproduced in the book) which argues the case for arson as a mean of fighting back against oppression.
What do we hate? We hate when we see people prevented from having what is necessary and least. Others may talk of owning horses and riding in elegant machines on broad roads built just for them. We deplore such things. What’s more, we have an intention, and our intention is this: WE WILL BURN THEM OUT.
Events in the story conspire to mean Lucia has to work out how to make her theoretical pamphlet a practical reality.
To finish with a lengthy quote from entropymag.com which picks up on the “why” in the book’s title because that is where Ball chooses to focus the book as it progresses:
As Lucia’s story progresses, Ball challenges us to ask the ‘why’ in our own lives and whatever philosophies we’ve settled on. Lucia is not depicted as a stereotypical heroine, but not as an anti-heroine, either. She is simply a rational human being trapped in a world of insanity, as many of us can feel sometimes. Though very intelligent, she is susceptible to the same failings we are. Something about the honesty with which her thoughts are written create electrifying highs and lows for the reader, as if your empathy for her can leave you personally reeling when things start to deteriorate. Unlike a fictional protagonist who extolls all the virtues our particular culture aspires to, Lucia is like the person we’ve always been, without trying to meet all the impossible standards impressed upon us. She represents the side of us that sees the world for what it is, the one that knows all the fake smiling and pleasantries of modern life are simply an attractive justification for a fundamentally unfair world. The choices of how we respond to the circumstances of our lives are unique to the individual, but Ball gives us a look into a kind of character who we don’t see very much in contemporary media. When faced with the choice of protecting herself and her own, she will burn you down and not look back.
That’s when I said, your little prince basketball hero shouldn’t have touched my lighter. Then I wouldn’t have put a pencil in his neck.
(Entirely coincidentally, this is the second book I have read this week where a cigarette lighter takes a key role (cf. Summerwater by Sarah Moss)).
Lucia is anti-social and has an unusual outlook on life. But don’t get the idea that she is a thug or stupid. She is the cleverest person in her school. She reads a LOT. Early on she is impressed when she sees a fellow student in her new school reading Trakl, she argues with her psychologist about quotes from Rumi and how best to translate them and her reading list as mentioned in the book is fairly challenging (for example, The Theatre and Its Double, Barbarian in the Garden, Poor Richard's Almanac & Familiar Letters).
Lucia is a complex character. It is interesting to look at the reviews of this book because they seem to be undecided about Lucia. Some see her as a well-developed character and others see her as some kind of trope and under-developed as a person. I fall into the first category: I can imagine that Lucia as a person will stay with me for some time after I shelve this book.
Lucia lives with her aunt Lucy (I had to struggle to stop thinking about Paddington Bear at times while reading the book) and they share a life of poverty. Lucy is an eccentric character (another one who will live on in my imagination for a long time) but a firm supporter of Lucia despite her issues.
Lucia is very interested in fire. Or, more specifically, arson. When her new school presents her with an opportunity to join an arson club, she is immediately interested. The title of the book is also the title of a pamphlet that Lucy writes (reproduced in the book) which argues the case for arson as a mean of fighting back against oppression.
What do we hate? We hate when we see people prevented from having what is necessary and least. Others may talk of owning horses and riding in elegant machines on broad roads built just for them. We deplore such things. What’s more, we have an intention, and our intention is this: WE WILL BURN THEM OUT.
Events in the story conspire to mean Lucia has to work out how to make her theoretical pamphlet a practical reality.
To finish with a lengthy quote from entropymag.com which picks up on the “why” in the book’s title because that is where Ball chooses to focus the book as it progresses:
As Lucia’s story progresses, Ball challenges us to ask the ‘why’ in our own lives and whatever philosophies we’ve settled on. Lucia is not depicted as a stereotypical heroine, but not as an anti-heroine, either. She is simply a rational human being trapped in a world of insanity, as many of us can feel sometimes. Though very intelligent, she is susceptible to the same failings we are. Something about the honesty with which her thoughts are written create electrifying highs and lows for the reader, as if your empathy for her can leave you personally reeling when things start to deteriorate. Unlike a fictional protagonist who extolls all the virtues our particular culture aspires to, Lucia is like the person we’ve always been, without trying to meet all the impossible standards impressed upon us. She represents the side of us that sees the world for what it is, the one that knows all the fake smiling and pleasantries of modern life are simply an attractive justification for a fundamentally unfair world. The choices of how we respond to the circumstances of our lives are unique to the individual, but Ball gives us a look into a kind of character who we don’t see very much in contemporary media. When faced with the choice of protecting herself and her own, she will burn you down and not look back.
November 11, 2016
Lucia is a badass teenager, living with her aunt in a garage converted into a rental suite they haven't been able to pay the rent on for quite a while. She visits her mom in the mental hospital once a week despite her mom having no idea who her daughter or she herself is. Lucia's most treasured possession is her dead dad's Zippo lighter, which she guards with her life because "every time someone touches it there is less of him on it. His corpse is actually on it—I mean, not his death corpse, but his regular one, the body that falls off us all the time." A classmate violated her don't-touch-the-lighter rule, she stabbed him with her pencil, and Lucia got expelled from yet another school.
It sounds dark, right? It is dark, but joyously so because of Lucia's wit, brutal honesty, and general badassedness. For example, here she is in a counseling session, when the guidance counsellor makes the mistake of quoting a Rumi poem at her:
Lucia, as you might have already gathered, has trouble making friends. At her new school, she does have a bit better luck, especially when she gets wind of an arson club. That sounds right up her alley.
I felt bad for her, worried about her, loved her, rooted for her. She cracked me up a hundred times. I finished reading the novel a couple of weeks ago: Lucia continues to stomp around, brilliant and brash, inside me. Like she owns the place.
It sounds dark, right? It is dark, but joyously so because of Lucia's wit, brutal honesty, and general badassedness. For example, here she is in a counseling session, when the guidance counsellor makes the mistake of quoting a Rumi poem at her:
I said, you small-minded bitch, you think that is poetry? Of all Rumi’s goddamned poems, you pick that one? Did you find it in some psych-nonsense anthology? That has to be his worst poem, and it isn’t even translated well. How does it feel to wade around in life so hopelessly? You are just mired in shit. You’re so limited …
I laughed some more. Of all the poems, that one.
She was looking at me in shock. I think she was actually speechless, so I gave her some more.
Whoever’s calm and sensible is insane.
What?
I said, that’s Rumi. Or didn’t you know?
Lucia, as you might have already gathered, has trouble making friends. At her new school, she does have a bit better luck, especially when she gets wind of an arson club. That sounds right up her alley.
I felt bad for her, worried about her, loved her, rooted for her. She cracked me up a hundred times. I finished reading the novel a couple of weeks ago: Lucia continues to stomp around, brilliant and brash, inside me. Like she owns the place.
February 23, 2021
Este libro tiene una de las voces más entretenidas qué he leído en mucho tiempo. Lucia una adolescente que vive con su tía anarquista en el garaje de un viejo de mierda, encuentra una sociedad del fuego con quien encuentra la valentía para arrasar con todo lo que le ha sido arrebatado. Tiene una opinión súper dura al sistema económico estadounidense, centrándose en la educación, la salud y vivienda (nulos derechos sociales).
Lucia sabe no ser lastimera y además es muy culta, se ríe de mucho clichés artísticos entre ellos películas, libros y autores como RUMI. Lucia sabe dejar a psicólogas llorando, y profesores rendidos a sus pies x su forma de escribir. Sumado a que el libro tiene una estructura muy rica, se adapta a la libreta de Lucia incluyendo pensamientos, panfletos, ensayos, premoniciones, entre otras.
Lucia sabe no ser lastimera y además es muy culta, se ríe de mucho clichés artísticos entre ellos películas, libros y autores como RUMI. Lucia sabe dejar a psicólogas llorando, y profesores rendidos a sus pies x su forma de escribir. Sumado a que el libro tiene una estructura muy rica, se adapta a la libreta de Lucia incluyendo pensamientos, panfletos, ensayos, premoniciones, entre otras.
October 12, 2016
How versatile one can be!?
This book is typical and atypical Jesse Ball. Loved it!
Two tips: 1. Read it as young adult
2. Listen to the audiobook (the voice of the girl is exactly like the voice of the girl in the book!)
This book is typical and atypical Jesse Ball. Loved it!
Two tips: 1. Read it as young adult
2. Listen to the audiobook (the voice of the girl is exactly like the voice of the girl in the book!)
August 7, 2016
Horrible. I couldn't get into this book and couldn't wait to finish reading it even though I didn't want to actually finish reading it.
October 4, 2017
What the actual heck did I just read?
Update: I finished this more than a week ago & I'm still confused AF.
Update: I finished this more than a week ago & I'm still confused AF.
December 20, 2020
no me gusto la mayor parte del libro, real que me obligue a terminarlo. pero de todas formas el final me dejo: ✨vacia✨
October 5, 2025
My mom...one day she left her body and I have never seen her again…What I mean is: the shitty little cells that cluster together to muster up in sum total the person I used to know are now clustering in some inferior way and the person I know cannot ever be found.
March 18, 2021
Con ganas de leer mas del autor !
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