Super Short Summary

Philadelphia Fire by John Edgar Wideman portrays the aftermath of the 1985 police assault on MOVE, an Afrocentric organization in Philadelphia, which resulted in eleven deaths, five of whom were children. The story follows Cudjoe, an authorial alter ego, as he returns from Greece to investigate the fate of a possible survivor named Simmie and confronts personal and societal challenges, exploring themes of racial violence and community decay. The book contains graphic depictions of violence and death.