A World War I motorcycle soldier, a young artist racing across the Nevada salt flats, and the strange, seductive art scene of 1970s New York might not sound like the ingredients for the same story. In Rachel Kushner’s The Flamethrowers, they somehow become part of one gloriously unpredictable ride. The connections take time to reveal themselves, but the payoff is a novel that moves through art, motorcycles, politics, class, love, and identity with remarkable precision.
At its center is Reno, a young artist from Nevada who arrives in 1970s New York with motorcycles, photography, and a vague ambition to become an artist. She soon finds herself drifting through the downtown art scene, where everyone seems to be performing some version of themselves. The people are damaged, clever, ironic, occasionally ridiculous, and endlessly fascinating.
