Dancyger has carefully organized this collection, providing a platform for both established and newer writers to speak on their experiences of anger and pushing them to express that anger ... Every single essay in this collection touches on an important topic or idea that illuminates the ways in which women express anger and are prevented from expressing it ... delivers essay after essay of bold and powerful writing.
... an extraordinary collection of talent; each essay is distinct from the next (although some themes overlap), and each takes a slightly different approach to the art of creative nonfiction — whether the essays are braided, factual, or lyric. It's also an extremely well-timed book ... [Dancyger's] experience and sharp eye make this anthology a thorough exploration of its topic ... If nothing else, this anthology instructs the reader that American women are just now at the starting line of exploring and understanding their anger. It's a force that has barely been tapped. Burn It Down both diagnoses and analyzes the state of anger among American women, even if the book demonstrates that we have a long way to go to understand it fully.
This panoply of voices demonstrates that anger isn’t the rightful domain of a particular location, a race, or an economic status. The diversity of subjectivities serves two main functions: readers can find at least one essay in which they identify strongly with the author, and it creates a sense of sisterhood that could hypothetically transcend the typical boundaries that keep women from combining their considerable forces to enact change ... Lilly Dancyger notes, 'It’s okay, get angry,' and that is exactly what the authors do, in a confessional, intimate way. Though the urgent tone and relatively short length of each essay may tempt the reader to rush through, these stories are worthy of unhurried contemplation and definitely benefit from a little breathing room ... Reading these essays arouses all of the emotional states that they contain: anguish, anxiety, disorientation, and indignation ... Burn It Down is an impressive collection of essays; nevertheless, women who want to see large-scale social change must beware the ease of stopping at mere personal disclosure, no matter how assuaging the feeling of release.
