At the age of 18, Sam Pulsifer burned down the Emily Dickinson house, accidentally killing two people. Now he has served his time and is married with two kids, who know nothing of his infamous past, when the son of the couple he killed returns from that past to threaten it all. This leads Sam to return to his estranged parents and pick up the threads of their dysfunctional relationship while ferreting out some family secrets. Meanwhile, someone has started burning down the homes of other famous New England authors, and Sam must find out why before he takes the blame.

For me, this was an uneven book. At times, it was quite funny, and I enjoyed its satirical commentary on literature and the way it can affect us, often not for the better. But I felt like too many characters behaved in ways that were necessary to advance the story rather than in line with their natural motivations, which strained my disbelief some. And the narrative voice was rather long-winded and breathless, which could get annoying. All in all, it was a decent read that might have benefited from some judicious rewriting.