Orlean attempted an experiment in preparation for this book: She burned a book. The task was a difficult one for her—that is, working herself up to burn a book was very hard, while actually burning it was simple. Orleans has never been able to destroy a book—not even one she no longer wanted. She has similar feelings about throwing away a plant. She tried to decide on which book to burn. She didn’t want to burn a book simply because she didn’t like it—that seemed hostile. She also certainly couldn’t burn one that she loved. She considered burning one of her own books, but even that proved too difficult, despite owning so many copies of her own work. She was just about to give up when her husband gave her a new copy of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. This was, indeed, the book to burn.

She climbed to the top of a hill to burn Bradbury’s masterpiece. It was a paperback edition. She put a lit match to the book’s cover, which featured an image of a matchbook. When Orlean ignited the book, the flame consumed it so quickly that it seemed as though it exploded. The new paperback was almost immediately consumed by the flame.