Why does she leave the West, where both of those famous figures chose to make their work, for New York City? Is the contemporary art world accessible to most people? Or is it somewhat elitist?Ģ. Reno wants to create Land Art in the manner of iconic artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer. She is invited to travel with the Valera race team in Italy, but when she goes to Sandro’s ancestral estate to meet his family, she discovers a rift she can’t bridge, one that sends her spiraling through betrayal, and into a radical scene in Rome.ġ. For an art project, ‘Reno’ rides a Moto Valera in the land speed trials on the Bonneville Salt Flats. She begins dating a golden boy of that world, Sandro Valera, an artist and wealthy heir to an Italian motorcycle fortune. When she moves to New York in 1975 with little more than a camera, she finds a fast-paced downtown art world of makers, fakers, manipulators, lovers, and friends.

The young and impressionable unnamed narrator of The Flamethrowers, occasionally referred to by other characters as “Reno,” grew up in that Nevada town, riding motorcycles with her rough and tumble cousins, and studied fine art at the University of Nevada. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.

This Scribner reading group guide for The Flamethrowers includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. Ardent, vulnerable, and bold, Reno is a fiercely memorable observer, superbly realized by Rachel Kushner. Reno is submitted to a sentimental education of sorts-by dreamers, poseurs, and raconteurs in New York and by radicals in Italy, where she goes with her lover to meet his estranged and formidable family. Her arrival coincides with an explosion of activity-artists colonize a deserted and industrial SoHo, stage actions in the East Village, blur the line between life and art.

Reno, so-called because of the place of her birth, comes to New York intent on turning her fascination with motorcycles and speed into art.

“Superb…Scintillatingly alive…A pure explosion of now.”- The New Yorker NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW * New York magazine’s #1 Book of the Year * Best Book of 2013 by: The Wall Street Journal Vogue O, The Oprah Magazine Los Angeles Times The San Francisco Chronicle The New Yorker Time Flavorwire Salon Slate The Daily Beast

The flamethrowers review