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More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:Other titles in the Flyover Fiction series:Because a Fire Was in My Head (Flyover Fiction)by Lynn Stegner
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Kate Riley is not the sort of heroine we meet in most American novels. Self-centered, shape-shifting, driven from one man to another and one city to the next, she is all too realbut not at all the loyal and steady homebody of idealized womanhood. When we first encounter her, Kate (or Katherine, or Kate of the Prairie, or Katrina) is about to undergo exploratory brain surgery for a condition she herself has fabricated. Sobered by the gravity of the procedure, she commences a journey of memory that takes us back to the Saskatchewan village where she grew up and to the singular event that altered her forever and irrevocably set the course of her life. From her childhood, in which she was held captive to a mother gone mad, through her adult life, which unfolds as a mesmerizing sequence of men, abandoned children, and perpetual movement, Kates story is one of desperation and remarkable invention, a strangely American tale, brilliantly narrated by one of our most original writers. Review:"It's hard to care about [Kate], which could prompt some readers to give up on the character, and the book. This would be a shame, as Stegner's meaty, eloquent prose, and the book's satisfying conclusion, make Kate's story ultimately worthy of seeing through to the end." Dory Cerny, Quill and Quire Review:"Having been a writer's writer for 20 years, Lynn Stegner is not exactly new. Yet her latest book, Because a Fire Was in My Head, will undoubtedly catapult her to literary fame.... Stegner has rendered a truly tragic story, yet she writes it beautifully, demonstrating the stunning things that can be done with the English language when one is gifted." Deseret Morning News Review:"Brave and old-fashioned, Stegner's supple use of language and precise evocation of period and place bring a literary intuitiveness to this inventive portrait of a scheming temptress, rendering with disarming psychological acuity Kate's warring self-serving and self-destructive tendencies. Kate is too egocentric to be a sympathetic heroine, yet through Stegner's masterful treatment, she does become a forceful, persuasive, and wholly mesmerizing character." Carol Haggas, Booklist Review:"A brilliant book, more solid than the ground we stand on. This novel does honor to the best in the tradition of storytelling, even though you occasionally want to shove the heroine off the highest possible cliff. In other words, you are drawn into the story, and when you have finished you have added amplitude to your knowledge of the human condition." Jim Harrison, author of Legends of the Fall Review:"[S]tunning... The poetic detail of Stegner's sentences — not to mention her wanton protagonist — is reminiscent of the novels of John Updike.... Because a Fire Was in My Head, her most ambitious novel so far, ought to attract for Stegner the wider audience she so richly deserves." Julia Scheeres, New York Times Book Review, "Editor's Choice" Review:"A novel fully realized on every level, Because a Fire Was in My Head is a provocative literary work of weight and luster. A risky, intermittently melodramatic tale, it casts light both on the timeless mysteries of the human psyche and on the paradoxes of a notoriously contrary epoch, namely, post-World War II North America.... [A] bold and stunning novel." Donna Seaman, Los Angeles Times Book Review Review:"With bracing prose, Stegner turns a potential monster into a character both fascinating and pitiable; you may hate Kate, but you won't want to leave her." Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly About the AuthorLynn Stegner is the author of four novels, including Undertow, Fata Morgana, and Pipers at the Gates of Dawn, which was awarded the Faulkner Society’s Gold Medal for Best Novella. The manuscript for Because a Fire Was in My Head won the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Award for Best Novel of 2005. Stegner currently directs the Santa Fe Writers’ Workshop and lives in Santa Fe with her husband, the writer Page Stegner, and their daughter, Allison. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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