We Burn Daylight

“Literature of the highest order … Even the most flashy stylistic flourishes [are grounded] in convincing, unexpected detail… . Ultimately, what keeps us reading a novel is the promise of revelation, and it’s in the smallest and most seemingly off-handed of its surprises that We Burn Daylight is most alluring.”—The New York Times

“A heartfelt yet unsparing read, one that manages to return to the victims of the Branch Davidian cult their humanity, making us see more of them than their misdeeds.”—The Boston Globe

“Great care is used to humanize every character, from the teenagers the novel revolves around to the adults who clumsily decide their fates… . The high stakes of federal agents confronting a cult are thrilling, but it’s the quiet spark of connection, understanding, and recognition between his star-crossed lovers that will touch readers long after the novel ends.”—Texas Monthly

“A magnificent portrait of how even as the rivets of our republic are popping loose, plumes of beauty still rise from the soil upon which so much wrong continues to repeat.”—Rick Bass, author of For a Little While and Why I Came West

“Who decides what we believe? Johnston allows curious onlookers inside the compound and the hearts of Waco in a perfect marriage of history and art.”—Booklist, starred review

“Amid the plethora of stories about cults, this stands out.”—Publishers Weekly

“A moving and epic tale. I would expect no less from Johnston.”—CrimeReads

“Symphonic and suspenseful, We Burn Daylight reimagines events at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco.”—Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March

“A colossal achievement of We Burn Daylight is that it demands to be read in a breathless rush, and afterward, demands deepest and most private reflection.”—Megha Majumdar, New York Times bestselling author of A Burning

“With bravery and compassion, Bret Anthony Johnston takes on a watershed moment in American history, cutting through the myth and messiainism to reveal a story that is profoundly—and tragically—human.”—Cristina Henriquez, author of The Great Divide

“Fascinating characters and an engaging, authentic style give We Burn Daylight a fine shot at the Great American Novel sweepstakes. Few people can bring Texas to life on the page like Bret Anthony Johnston.”—Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author of Our Country Friends

“Yes, it is spellbinding. Yes, it is explosive. Yes, it is a must-read book. An ineffable work of fiction, We Burn Daylight is full of characters grappling with the ways loss and language and space and desire make it so hard to speak not to the loss but to each other.”—Morgan Talty, bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit: A Novel

“Fast-moving and emotionally sophisticated …”—Kirkus Review, starred review

Bret Anthony Johnston is the author of the internationally bestselling novel Remember Me Like This, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and winner of the McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns Prize as well as the award-winning Corpus Christi- Stories. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, Esquire, The Paris Review, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Tin House, Glimmer Train, and Virginia Quarterly among others. Formerly director of the Harvard University creative writing program, Johnston is now the director of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas in Austin.

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