Every summer, thousands gather from around the world in the blistering heat of Nevada's Black Rock Desert for the seven-day celebration of art, community, and fire known as Burning Man. Culminating in the spectacular incineration of a wooden effigy, this festival is grand-scale theater for self-expression, personal transformation, eclectic spirituality, communal bonding, and cultural renewal. In this engrossing ethnography of the Burning Man phenomenon, Lee Gilmore explores why "burners" come in vast numbers to transform a temporary gathering of strangers into an enduring community. Accompanied by a DVD, which provides panoramic views of events, individuals, art works, and, of course, the climactic final night, the book delves into the varieties of spirituality, ritual, and performance conducted within the festival space. As Gilmore examines and analyzes this unique experience, she homes in on many of the tensions exhibited in American culture today: environmental awareness vs. unbridled consumption, the desire for both individual expression and community, the relationship between virtual reality and lived experience, the purpose and meaning of art, and the rejection of institutionalized religion alongside a palpable need for ritual.