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World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments Audiobook
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Publisher Description
From the beloved, award-winning poet comes a collection of essays about the natural world and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us.
As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the grounds of a Kansas mental institution, where her Filipina mother was a doctor; the open skies and tall mountains of Arizona, where she hiked with her Indian father; and the chillier climes of western New York and Ohio. But no matter where she was transplanted―no matter how awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape―she was able to turn to our world’s fierce and funny creatures for guidance.
“What the peacock can do,” she tells us, “is remind you of a home you will run away from and run back to all your life.” The axolotl teaches us to smile, even in the face of unkindness; the touch-me-not plant shows us how to shake off unwanted advances; the narwhal demonstrates how to survive in hostile environments.
Even in the strange and the unlovely, Nezhukumatathil finds beauty and kinship. For it is this way with wonder: it requires that we are curious enough to look past the distractions in order to fully appreciate the world’s gifts.
Warm, lyrical, and gorgeously illustrated by Fumi Nakamura, World of Wonders is a book of sustenance and joy.
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“Within two pages, nature writing feels different and fresh and new…This book demands we find the eyes to see and the heart to love such things once more.”
— New York Times Book Review
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“What makes her work shine is its joyful embrace of difference, revealing that true beauty resides only in diversity.”
— San Francisco Chronicle -
“[A] shimmering essay collection…a reminder to spend more time outdoors wondering at and cherishing this ‘magnificent and wondrous planet.’"
— Foreword Reviews (starred review)
Awards
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Finalist for the Kirkus Prize in Nonfiction
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A BuzzFeed Books Pick of Summer Reads
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A Literary Hub Pick of Best Books of Summer
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A BookPage Best Book of 2020
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The #1 Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Year
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A New York Times bestseller
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Finalist for the Southern Book Prize
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An Esquire Magazine Best Book of the Year Pick
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An NPR Best Book of 2020
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A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
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A New York Times Book Review pick of Best Books Now in Paperback
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About Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of the New York Times bestselling illustrated collection of nature essays World of Wonders, chosen as Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year and as a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. She has published four award-winning poetry collections and is the poetry editor for Sierra magazine, the storytelling branch of the Sierra Club. She is a professor of English and creative writing in the University of Mississippi’s MFA degree program.