The Flamethrowers

by Rachel Kushner

Literary Fiction

Historical

Coming-of-Age

383 Pages

"Electric and audacious—Kushner captures the raw energy of 1970s counterculture with stunning prose and fearless vision."

Synopsis

The year is 1975, and Reno—named for the place of her birth—has arrived in New York intent on transforming her fascination with motorcycles and speed into art. Her arrival coincides with an explosion of creative activity: artists have colonized the deserted industrial spaces of SoHo, are staging provocative actions in the East Village, and are blurring the boundaries between life and art. Reno meets a group of dreamers and raconteurs who provide her with a sentimental education of sorts. Ardent, vulnerable, and bold, she begins an affair with Sandro Valera, an artist and the semi-estranged scion of an Italian tire and motorcycle empire. When they travel to Sandro's family estate in Italy, Reno falls in with members of the radical leftist movement that overtook the country in the seventies. Betrayal sends her reeling into a clandestine revolutionary undertow where the stakes become dangerously real. The Flamethrowers is a National Book Award finalist and an intensely engaging exploration of art, politics, speed, and the mystique of the feminine. At its center is Kushner's brilliantly realized protagonist—a young woman on the verge of discovering who she is and what she's capable of. Thrilling and fearless, moving between New York's gritty downtown scene and Italy's violent political upheaval, this is a major American novel from a writer of spectacular talent and imagination.

Our Take

The Flamethrowers is an electrifying novel that captures multiple worlds with stunning precision—1970s downtown New York art scene, Italian political radicalism, and the masculine culture of speed and motorcycles. Rachel Kushner's prose is muscular and lyrical, capable of rendering both the sensory thrill of racing and the intellectual ferment of revolutionary politics. What makes Reno such a compelling protagonist is her position as observer and participant—she's drawn into these worlds but remains fundamentally an outsider, allowing readers to see them with fresh eyes. Kushner excels at creating vivid set pieces, from land speed record attempts in the Nevada desert to violent street protests in Rome. The novel explores how women navigate male-dominated spaces—art, motorcycles, radical politics—and the costs of being young, female, and ambitious in the 1970s. The historical research is meticulous without ever feeling pedantic; Kushner brings the era to life through sensory details and cultural textures. Some readers find the plot less important than atmosphere and ideas, which is intentional—this is a novel about consciousness and experience rather than conventional narrative. The exploration of political violence, class, and authenticity remains powerfully relevant. Fans of City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg or Just Kids by Patti Smith will appreciate Kushner's vivid evocation of 1970s counterculture. The Flamethrowers established Kushner as one of contemporary fiction's most ambitious and exciting voices—essential reading for anyone interested in novels that take artistic and intellectual risks.