NOVEMBER 2020 - AudioFile
American poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil's voice is gentle as she tells listeners how her love of nature developed in childhood. The poet fondly recalls her father taking the family to the Great Smoky Mountains to see the glowing fireflies. She remembers, with defiance in her voice, not being allowed to draw a peacock, India's national bird, for a class project in drawing wildlife. She brings a childlike sense of wonder to a reflection on walking among the trees of the University of Mississippi campus, where she teaches writing, and to swimming in a tank of whale sharks and other creatures. Nezhukumatathil also tells of the passing wonder of taking her son to an Audubon bird count. Listeners are occasionally asked to “try it themselves”—as when she recalls talking to birds as a child. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
04/06/2020
Nezhukumatathil (Oceanic) applies her skill as a poet to a scintillating series of short essays on nature. She takes up topics that fascinate her—the bizarre-looking potoo birds of Central and South America; corpse flowers, with their rich colors and acrid odor—and connects them to her own experience of the world. She’ll begin with a study of dancing flamingos, only to pivot to memories of going to dance clubs as a young woman, and end with an exhortation for everyone to “keep in step with our small dances on this earth.” Elsewhere, she considers the vampire squid and its prodigious aptitude for concealment, then intently examines her own so-called lonely “cephalopod” year at a new high school. A memory of being laughed at by bonnet macaque monkeys serves as a reminder to laugh at herself. Throughout, she vividly describes sounds, smells, and color—the myriad hues of a “sea of saris” from India—and folds in touches of poetry. Fumi Nakamura’s lush illustrations add to the book’s appeal. Readers of Terry Tempest Williams and Annie Dillard will appreciate Nezhukumatathil’s lyrical look at nature. Christopher Rhodes, Stuart Agency. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
Praise for World of Wonders
"From its gorgeous illustrations to its unusual combination of lyrical nature writing and memoir, World of Wonders is hands-down one of the most beautiful books of the year." —NPR, "Best Books of the Year""Within two pages, nature writing feels different and fresh and new. Nezhukumatathil has written a timely story about love, identity and belonging . . . We are losing the language and the ability to see and understand the wondrous things around us. And our lives are impoverished by this process . . . This book demands we find the eyes to see and the heart to love such things once more. It is a very fine book indeed, truly full of wonder." —New York Times Book Review
"From peacocks to eels and dragon fruit, it’s immediately clear the poet is right at home in the world of the essay.”—Shondaland
"It can be helpful to focus on the wonder of the natural world when so much of what is happening around us feels out of our control . . . World of Wonders urges us to take a breath and look around." —NPR Morning Edition
"A truly wondrous essay collection that reminds us that when we look close enough we can see that we are surrounded by extraordinary things."—Roxane Gay
"World of Wonders, kind of like Aimee, is flabbergasted, gobsmacked, and astonished with glee by all kinds of creatures and phenomena, all kinds of kin, from flamingos to catalpas, from monsoons to corpse flowers, from dancing frogs to axolotls." —Ross Gay, Poets & Writers
"The nature writing we have been exposed to has been overwhelmingly male and white, which is just one reason that Aimee Nezhukumatathil's latest essay collection, World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments is a breath of fresh air . . . What makes her work shine is its joyful embrace of difference, revealing that true beauty resides only in diversity." —San Francisco Chronicle
"World of Wonders is a stunning union of biography, poetry, philosophy, and science; it is imbued with a love for her readers and for the natural world, and with a hope that people of color will feel more seen in nature writing . . . With a sense of amazement for the creatures around us, Aimee makes an ardent and artistic case for a compassionate ethics grounded in a deeper understanding—and love—of nature." —The Rumpus
"Nezhukumatathil's investigations, enhanced by Nakamura's vividly rendered full-color illustrations, range across the world, from a rapturous rendering of monsoon season in her father's native India to her formative years in Iowa, Kansas, and Arizona, where she learned from the native flora and fauna that it was common to be different . . . The writing dazzles with the marvel of being fully alive." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"Nezhukumatathil's essays, with vibrant illustrations from Nakamura, are in turn humorous, poignant, relatable, passionate (especially when she's bemoaning disappearing species and habitats), and always interesting." —Booklist
"A lyrical exploration of a woman finding her true home in the world, interspersed with hauntingly beautiful descriptions of the lives on the animals and plants that illuminate it, this natural history will appeal to nature lovers and readers who relish thoughtful, introspective works. Also suggest to fans of Margaret Renkl's Late Migrations." —Library Journal
"Aimee Nezhukumatathil's shimmering essay collection about fantastic creatures and plants, World of Wonders, is shot through with memories of her peripatetic life and observations about race, motherhood, and environmental issues . . . [It's] a bibliophilic and visual delight that dazzles the senses, much like Nezhukumatathil's beloved comb jellies. Her entrancing essays are a reminder to spend more time outdoors wondering at and cherishing this 'magnificent and wondrous planet.'" —Foreword Reviews, Starred Review
"Reading World of Wonders, it's clear that Nezhukumtathil is a poet. These essays sing with joy and longing—each focusing on a different natural wonder, all connected by the thread of Nezhukumtathil's curiosity and her identification with the world's beautiful oddities . . . It's a heartwarming, poignant, and often funny collection, enlivened by Fumi Nakamura's dreamy illustrations." —BuzzFeed, "Summer Books You Won't Be Able to Put Down"
"Aimee Nezhukumatathil's World of Wonders is a gorgeous collection of essays that ruminate on flora, fauna, and what they can teach us about life itself. Moving between vignettes from Nezhukumatathil's life and her ponderings on nature, World of Wonders is a one-of-a-kind book you won't want to miss this year." —Bustle, "The Best Books of Fall 2020"
"Nezhukumatathil's 30 essays are brightly crafted microcosms of childhood, identity, belonging, parenthood, and memory. From fireflies recalling summer nights in rural western New York to touch-me-not plants sparking contemplation on closeness, the writing shines with a tactile and beautiful lyricism that reimagines the world we see every day and sparks new magic in it." —Ralph Lauren Magazine, "The Summer Reading List"
"Aimee Nezhukumatathil's World of Wonders is the first book to make me feel like a firefly as much as it reminds me I'm still a black boy playing in Central Mississippi woods. The book walks. It sprints. It leaps. Most importantly, the book lingers in a world where power, people, and the literal outside wrestle painfully, beautifully. This book is a world of wonders. This book is about to shake the Earth." —Kiese Laymon
"Nezhukumtathil applies her skill as a poet to a scintillating series of short essays on nature. She takes up topics that fascinate her—the bizarre-looking potoo birds of Central and South America; corpse flowers, with their rich colors and acrid odor—and connects them to her own experience of the world . . . Throughout, she vividly describes sounds, smells, and color—the myriad hues of a 'sea of saris' from India—and folds in touches of poetry. Fumi Nakamura's lush illustrations add to the book's appeal. Readers of Terry Tempest Williams and Annie Dillard will appreciate Nezhukumtathil's lyrical look at nature." —Publishers Weekly
“These are the praise songs of a poet working brilliantly in prose. Each essay compresses a great deal of art and truth into a small space, whether about fireflies or flamingos, monkeys or monsoons, childhood or motherhood, or the trials and triumphs of living with a brown skin in a dominant white world. You will not find a more elegant, exuberant braiding of natural and personal history.” —Scott Russell Sanders
"World of Wonders is a mesmerizing work of essays and tender illustrations, meditations on nature, cumulative in effect; nature as memoir, nature as memoir, nature as simply and joyously itself. Each chapter captures a moment, each centered around a different natural phenomenon and charts the reverberations of the lived experience it evokes, be in family, identity, or the notion of belonging. A centering book, delightful and unexpected." —Sallye L, Barnes & Noble Book of the Year Finalist selection
Library Journal
07/01/2020
Award-winning poet Nezhukumatathil (English, Univ. of Mississippi; Oceanic) intertwines snapshots of memoir with a fascinating look at various animals and plants in this account weaving memories of growing up feeling like an outsider, a brown girl in an overwhelmingly white world, with facts about the flora and fauna that are important touchstones for her. She shares reminiscences about her family, her work, and the importance of the natural world in her life. Racism follows her from childhood, including an instance when a teacher dismisses her drawing of a favorite bird because it's not an American species. Throughout, she describes how she turned to nature in times of need, finding both comfort and solace. Elegant illustrations by Nakamura enhance the text. VERDICT A lyrical exploration of a woman finding her true home in the world, interspersed with hauntingly beautiful descriptions of the lives of the animals and plants that illuminate it, this natural history will appeal to nature lovers and readers who relish thoughtful, introspective works. Also suggest to fans of Margaret Renkl's Late Migrations.—Sue O'Brien, Downers Grove, IL
NOVEMBER 2020 - AudioFile
American poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil's voice is gentle as she tells listeners how her love of nature developed in childhood. The poet fondly recalls her father taking the family to the Great Smoky Mountains to see the glowing fireflies. She remembers, with defiance in her voice, not being allowed to draw a peacock, India's national bird, for a class project in drawing wildlife. She brings a childlike sense of wonder to a reflection on walking among the trees of the University of Mississippi campus, where she teaches writing, and to swimming in a tank of whale sharks and other creatures. Nezhukumatathil also tells of the passing wonder of taking her son to an Audubon bird count. Listeners are occasionally asked to “try it themselves”—as when she recalls talking to birds as a child. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2020-05-18
A poet celebrates the wonders of nature in a collection of essays that could almost serve as a coming-of-age memoir.
The daughter of an Indian father and Filipino mother, Nezhukumatathil was often the only brown face in her classrooms, and she sought lessons from nature on how to adapt, protect herself, and conform or fit in but still be able to stand strong on her own. She shares those lessons throughout these frequently enchanting essays. Take the axolotl, from whom the author learned the “salamander smile”: “If a white girl tries to tell you what your brown skin can and cannot wear for makeup, just remember the smile of an axolotl. The best thing to do in that moment is to just smile and smile, even if your smile is thin. The tighter your smile, the tougher you become.” Nezhukumatathil’s investigations, enhanced by Nakamura’s vividly rendered full-color illustrations, range across the world, from a rapturous rendering of monsoon season in her father’s native India to her formative years in Iowa, Kansas, and Arizona, where she learned from the native flora and fauna that it was common to be different. The corpse flower guided the author when she met her future husband, helping her to “clear out the sleaze, the unsavory, the unpleasant—the weeds—of the dating world” and “find a man who’d be happy when I bloomed.” Nezhukumatathil isn’t only interested in nature as metaphor. She once devoted most of a year’s sabbatical to the study of whale sharks, and she humanizes her experience of natural splendor to the point where observation and memory merge, where she can’t see or smell something without remembering the details of her environment when she first encountered it. Among other fascinating species, the author enlightens readers on the vampire squid, the bonnet macaque, and the red-spotted newt.
The writing dazzles with the marvel of being fully alive.