Martha's Vineyard Burning: A Tragicomedy Memoir of Drugs, Sex & Arson is the coming-of-age story of David Duarte, a second-generation son of Martha's Vineyard who also descends from Portuguese whalers first arriving in the area in the 1800s. Along with coauthor Ginger Martin, Duarte chronicles the pitfalls and obstacles he overcame without the help of a male mentor. Humans have the ability to do horrible things to fellow humans, but Martha's Vineyard Burning reminds readers that we're never alone, no matter how much we may feel we are, in times of deep pain. Eventually, it will all turn out for the best, a lesson Duarte can see clearly now, after seventy-nine years on one of the most unique islands in the world.