world of wonders aimee nezhukumatathil review

No matter where she is, Nezhukumatathil turns to nature to ground and form herself. It’s a journey that takes the family from the plains of Kansas to the desert of Arizona to the temperate forests of western New York and Ohio with stops in Kerala, the Philippines, and Greece. They spent their formative years hopscotching around the country as their parents, both in medicine, finished schooling and found jobs. Nezhukumatathil and her younger sister were born in the States. Her mother is from the Philippines, her father hails from Kerala, India. Did you know the narwhal’s horn is actually a tooth used for echolocation? Or that the axolotl, a salamander native to Mexico, can regrow its limbs no matter how many times it gets cut off? Or that the plant Mimosa pudica is sometimes called shameplant because it shivers and folds in on itself when it feels threatened? Spend enough time with Nezhukumatathil and your list of amazing facts about the world will grow exponentially.Īgainst this backdrop, she weaves in her own history and that of her family.

What holds the collection together is Nezhukumatathil’s love of the natural world and fondness for its weirder bits. The essays are supplemented by Fumi Mini Nakamura’s lavish drawings, which render the recipients of Nezhukumatathil’s fascination in vivid detail on the page. Each essay focuses on a single animal, plant, or phenomena and braids in Nezhukumatathil’s own experiences in the world. Every essay in World of Wonders has had a previous life elsewhere, either in Nezhukumatathil’s short-lived bi-monthly column “World of Wonders” for The Toast or across a plethora of literary magazines. The 28 essays and accompanying illustrations span 160 pages with most topping out at around 5 pages. Wonder, as in a state of being awed, is a hard thing to sustain, which may explain slenderness of the collection. There’s so much to be dazzled by in the world, Nezhukumatathil reminds us. Here is everything that’s been missing: family, food, travel, immersion in nature, the abundance of the season, the time to slow down and savor.

Into this summer of our discontent comes poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s first book of essays World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments. There’s the enforced indoor time, the constant bad news, and the de rigueur doom scrolling to take in everything. The most expansive and languid of seasons has become stilted and bowed under the pandemic restrictions. If ever there were a season that needs a do-over, it’s summer 2020.

World of wonders aimee nezhukumatathil review