BIG IDEAS
SIMPLY
EXPLAINED
For students, families, or anyone interested in a concise, thought-provoking refresher on a single subject.
9781465415851 | hc | 352 pp. 7 5/8 x 9 1/4” | $25.00
9780756698270 | hc | 352 pp. 7 5/8 x 9 1/4” | $25.00
9780756668617 | hc | 352 pp. 7 5/8 x 9 1/4” | $25.00
“THE ’BIG IDEAS SIMPLY EXPLAINED’ SERIES IS TRULY MARVELOUS.” —EXAMINER.COM
9781465402141 | hc | 352 pp. 7 5/8 x 9 1/4” | $25.00
9780756689704 | hc | 352 pp. 7 5/8 x 9 1/4” | $25.00
A WORLD OF IDEAS: SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW
9781465408433 | hc | 352 pp. 7 5/8 x 9 1/4” | $25.00
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R E A D M O R E AT B O O K PA G E . C O M
tinged with lightness—as when a thick clump of hair is found in the cranberry sauce during an emotionally fraught Thanksgiving dinner. But overall, Oyeyemi’s irreverence serves to disrupt fairy-tale convention, which typically relies on strict black-and-white dichotomy. No character, she seems to say, can be defined by race or gender, let alone moral good or evil. “Sure, it’s easier if you stick to absolutes,” she admits. “This is a man. This is a woman. This is what a white person does. This is what a black person does. This is what a black person looks like. This is what a white person looks like. And Oyeyemi has so on. But what particular I wanted to do was create sympathy characters who for one type connect on other levels, who of literary overcome the scapegoat: obstacles that the wicked might otherwise make them stepmother, enemies.” whom she Another absobelieves gets lute that drives Oyeyemi crazy a bad rap. is the concept of “happily ever after” or “closure,” both of which she resists in Boy, Snow, Bird. “What does ‘closure’ even mean?” she demands, laughing. “I don’t know if I should confess this, but I’ve been obsessed with this TV show called ‘Pretty Little Liars,’ and every episode it seems like somebody needs ‘closure.’ What psychobabble!” Then, with a hint of mischief: “The only real closure is death, right?” This interplay between the funny and the grim, the refreshing banal and the fantastically unknowable is perhaps what makes Oyeyemi so likeable—both as a person and as a writer. She’s wise beyond her years, but never pompous or intimidating. She gushes about Lydia Davis’ new short story collection, but also admits to crying during trashy airplane movies. And then of course there’s her fiction, which is at times difficult and dense, but always full of humor, joy and good old-fashioned plotting. About this balance, Oyeyemi is remarkably humble. “The things I write are so disobedient. I never know what they’ll turn out to be.” OK, fine. But in that case: She’s one darn good disciplinarian.
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