How do you know who you are, if you don’t know where you come from? Can the line between truths and lies be just a little blurry? These two questions are at the heart of Dinaw Mengestu’s novel How to Read the Air, a force of a story that takes concentration to follow and more than a little bit of skepticism to process.
Jonas Woldemariam, son of Ethiopian immigrants Yosef and Mariam, serves as the novel’s narrator, taking the reader for a ride through his and his parents’ histories that bounces around in time. We see Mariam, about a year before Jonas was born, trying to figure out how to live in this new country with a husband whom she hardly knows, and we see Yosef making his dangerous departure from the volatile environment of Ethiopia a few years before that. We’re privy to Jonas’ perspective on his courtship and marriage to Angela, an African-American lawyer who desperately seeks out security and stability in their relationship, right alongside his understanding of Angela’s perspective. Many anecdotes are presented, with confidence and detail and emotion, but the question of absolute truth still stands, and for many reasons that are unveiled throughout the book, Jonas’ ability to speak the truth becomes questionable.
Truth be told, I had a bit of difficulty getting into this book for the first 80 pages or so, mostly due to my confusion from the non-chronological storytelling style. Having started this immediately on the heels of a book of short stories that frequently addressed an African immigrant experience in the U.S., I instantly felt a different tone in this narrative, focusing more on the emotional depths that are universal to all, regardless of citizenship. The “immigrant experience” typically marked with a feeling of isolation and outsider-status appears to be shared as equally among Yosef and Mariam as with Jonas and Angela. As Jonas wanders through his parents’ history, both what he knows to be true and the embellishments that he purposefully creates, he rediscovers more of the deep-seated fears and worries that have been a part of him for as long as he can remember.
Haunting and deeply affecting, How to Read the Air begs to be read a second time for me- like the stories told by Jonas, this one is full of details and emotion that deserve a second look.
Thanks to the publisher, we have a copy of How to Read the Air to give to one of you. Please leave a comment if you’d like to win (U.S. and Canada only). We’ll announce the winner on January 26.
This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered.
- The winner of Evermore and Night Star audiobooks is #6 Aik.
Novels that explore the human condition and incite emotional response are Dawn’s favorite picks. She shares more book love, along with an NPR obsession and a penchant for cute-kid-stories on her blog, my thoughts exactly.
This sounds like a book that I would be able to read from beginning to end in one sitting! Id love to read this one!
Looks really interesting. Thanks for the chance!
This sounds like a great read! I’m always looking for books from different international perspectives.
sounds like an interesting read!
I have been anxiously waiting my copy to come up at the library. This would be a great giveaway to win!
Sounds interesting for a wannabe/in progress memoirist, me?
I would love to read this, it sounds really good.
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After Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengiste, this would be a fascinating book to read. Thank you for hosting this giveaway!
This sounds like an ideal book for my husband, he is fascinated with things of this nature, as his father was an immigrant. I’d love to win it for him, thanks!
I’d like to give it a read.
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
This is an excellent theme for a book. Glad that it when you got into the short stories. I am very interested in reading this book. I am sure that some of the problems that those immigrants encounter as affect my husband who is an immigrant.
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
I am looking for books to recommend to my 9th graders, and started with sites that liked the Hunger Games which they recently read. I’d love a chance to read this book myself and then put it in my room library!
Would love to win!
This sounds like the type of book that once you start it, you won’t be able to put it down till you are done. My type of book.
I would love a chance to win it.
Thanks for the chance
Sounds FASCINATING!!
Would love to curl up with a good book.
Looks interesting…thanks for the giveaway.
sounds like a story I’d enjoy
I would like to win
Congratulations, Natalia- wish granted! 🙂 You’re our randomly selected winner for this book. Please email me at morninglightmama(at)gmail(dot)com with your name and address so I can pass it along to the publisher. Thanks for reading 5M4B!
Sounds great, thanks for the chance!