An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England (2007)
© Brock Clarke, Algonquin Books
WB Options ARSONIST'S GUIDE
By: Jarrod Sarafin, News EditorDate: Thursday, October 11, 2007
Source: Variety
The Indie branch of Warner Bros., Warner Independent, has optioned the rights to AN ARSONIST'S GUIDE TO WRITERS' HOMES IN NEW ENGLAND, a book which was published by author Brock Clarke and Algonquin Books just last month. John Wells, Claire Polstein & Lisa Morales will be handling the producing for the studio.
Plot Concept: The story revolves around an accidental firebug who lights Emily Dickinson's house on fire, goes to jail, serves his time and tries to start his life over. Unfortunately, the past comes back to haunt him when other literary landmarks start to go up in smoke.
After checking out the book's official website, I came across this description.
As a teenager, it was never Sam Pulsifer’s intention to torch an American landmark. He certainly never planned to kill two people in the blaze. To this day, he still wonders why that young couple was upstairs in bed in the Emily Dickinson house after hours.
After serving ten years in prison for his crime, Sam is determined to put the past behind him. He finishes college, begins a career, falls in love, gets married, has two adorable kids, and buys a nice home. His low-profile life is chugging along quite nicely until the past comes crashing through his front door.
As the homes of Robert Frost, Edith Wharton, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and even a replica of Henry David Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond go up in smoke, Sam becomes the number one suspect. Finding the real culprit is the only way to clear his name—but sometimes there’s a terrible price to pay for the truth.
An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England is a literary tour de force—a brilliant skewering of every memoir every written and a novel that will have readers underlining their favorite passages and reading them aloud.
