American fire : love, arson, and life in a vanishing land
(Book)
Author:
Published:
New York : Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2018.
Format:
Book
Physical Desc:
252 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 21 cm
Status:
Description
Shocked by a five-month arson spree that left a Virginia county reeling, reporter Monica Hesse drove to Accomack to cover the trial of Charlie Smith who pled guilty to 67 counts of arson. But Smith wasn't lighting fires alone: his crimes were galvanised by a twisted love story. Hesse uncovered the motives of this troubled addict and his accomplice, Tonya Bundick. In depicting the dangerous shift in their passionate relationship, Hesse brings to life the once-thriving coastal community and its distressed inhabitants, decimated by a punishing economy and increasingly terrified by a string of fires they could not explain. Incorporating this drama into the history of arson in the US, American Fire re-creates the anguished nights of this quiet county lit up in flames, evoking a microcosm of rural America--a land gutted before the fires began.
Copies
Location
Call Number
Status
Essex Adult Paperback
PBK 364.1 HES
In Process
More Details
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781631494512
Notes
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
Description
"The arsons started on a cold November midnight and didn't stop for months. Night after night, the people of Accomack County--once the richest rural county in the nation--waited to see which building would burn down next, regarding one another with compassion at first, and, later, suspicion. Vigilante groups sprang up, patrolling the rural coast. Volunteer firefighters slept at their stations. Local police were stretched thin. The arsonist seemed to target abandoned buildings, and by the dozen they were going up in flames. Over two years of investigation, Monica Hesse uncovered the motives of troubled mechanic Charlie Smith and his struggling accomplice, girlfriend Tonya Bundick. In depicting dangerous shifts in their fraught relationship, Hesse introduces the once-thriving coastal community, decimated by a punishing economy and increasingly afraid. American Fire re-creates the anguished nights when this quiet county was set on fire, evoking a microcosm of rural America--a land gutted before the fires even began."--Back cover.
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Hesse, M. (2018). American fire: love, arson, and life in a vanishing land. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Hesse, Monica. 2018. American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Hesse, Monica, American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2018.
MLA Citation (style guide)Hesse, Monica. American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2018. Print.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2010. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
99127e24-6be2-db39-c1eb-27beae965b44
| Last File Modification Time | Jul 09, 2019 10:48:27 PM |
|---|---|
| Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Aug 17, 2019 10:32:31 PM |
MARC Record
| LEADER | 03907cam a2200373Ii 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | ocm04105355 | ||
| 003 | OCoLC | ||
| 005 | 20180924110536.0 | ||
| 008 | 171004s2018 nyuaf 000 0 eng d | ||
| 020 | |a 9781631494512 | ||
| 040 | |a YDX |b eng |e rda |c YDX |d EXR |d OCLCF |d D9M |d WUV |d BIB | ||
| 043 | |a n-us-va | ||
| 049 | |a BIBA | ||
| 050 | 4 | |a HV6638.5.U6 |b H47 2018 | |
| 092 | |a 364.1642 |b H463a | ||
| 100 | 1 | |a Hesse, Monica, |e author. | |
| 245 | 1 | 0 | |a American fire : |b love, arson, and life in a vanishing land / |c Monica Hesse. |
| 264 | 1 | |a New York : |b Liveright Publishing Corporation, |c 2018. | |
| 300 | |a 252 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : |b illustrations ; |c 21 cm | ||
| 336 | |a text |b txt |2 rdacontent | ||
| 337 | |a unmediated |b n |2 rdamedia | ||
| 338 | |a volume |b nc |2 rdacarrier | ||
| 504 | |a Includes bibliographical references. | ||
| 505 | 0 | |a "Charge that line!" -- "The South starts here" -- "Orange in the sky" -- Charlie -- Monomanie incendiaire -- Tonya -- "Like a ghost" -- "Tell us what you know about that" -- Charlie and Tonya -- Schrödinger's evidence -- The eastern shore arsonist hunters -- "I've seen enough ass to know" -- "Like hell was coming up through the ground" -- Tonya and Charlie -- "They're not hunters at all" -- "I didn't light them all" -- "Someday they'll go down together" -- "Everybody has a reason for why they do things in life" -- "I can't tell you something I don't know" -- "Midnight without makeup" -- The broken things -- "Time to wake up" -- Burned -- "We'd done it before" -- "They came out of everywhere" -- "Moral turpitude" -- What happened next -- "It's over." | |
| 520 | |a "The arsons started on a cold November midnight and didn't stop for months. Night after night, the people of Accomack County--once the richest rural county in the nation--waited to see which building would burn down next, regarding one another with compassion at first, and, later, suspicion. Vigilante groups sprang up, patrolling the rural coast. Volunteer firefighters slept at their stations. Local police were stretched thin. The arsonist seemed to target abandoned buildings, and by the dozen they were going up in flames. Over two years of investigation, Monica Hesse uncovered the motives of troubled mechanic Charlie Smith and his struggling accomplice, girlfriend Tonya Bundick. In depicting dangerous shifts in their fraught relationship, Hesse introduces the once-thriving coastal community, decimated by a punishing economy and increasingly afraid. American Fire re-creates the anguished nights when this quiet county was set on fire, evoking a microcosm of rural America--a land gutted before the fires even began."--Back cover. | ||
| 505 | 0 | |a "Charge that line!" -- "The South starts here" -- "Orange in the sky" -- Charlie -- Monomanie incendiaire -- Tonya -- "Like a ghost" -- "Tell us what you know about that" -- Charlie and Tonya -- Schrödinger's evidence -- The eastern shore arsonist hunters -- "I've seen enough ass to know" -- "Like hell was coming up through the ground" -- Tonya and Charlie -- "They're not hunters at all" -- "I didn't light them all" -- "Someday they'll go down together" -- "Everybody has a reason for why they do things in life" -- "I can't tell you something I don't know" -- "Midnight without makeup" -- The broken things -- "Time to wake up" -- Burned -- "We'd done it before" -- "They came out of everywhere" -- "Moral turpitude" -- What happened next -- "It's over." | |
| 600 | 1 | 0 | |a Smith, Charlie |c (Arsonist.) |
| 600 | 1 | 0 | |a Bundick, Tonya |c (Arsonist.) |
| 650 | 0 | |a Arson |z Virginia |z Accomack County. | |
| 651 | 0 | |a Accomack County (Va.) |x Economic conditions. | |
| 655 | 7 | |a True crime stories. |2 lcgft | |
| 907 | |a .b26181782 |b 06-07-19 |c 06-07-19 | ||
| 998 | |a ex |b 06-07-19 |c m |d a |e - |f eng |g nyu |h 0 |i 0 | ||
| 945 | |a PBK 364.1 HES |g 0 |h - - |i 21501117523 |j 6 |l exak |n G 6/19 |o - |p $15.00 |q - |r - |s r |t 16 |u 0 |v 0 |w 0 |x 0 |y .i62907359 |z 06-07-19 | ||
