How to Read the Air Summary
Dinaw Mengestu

How to Read the Air Overview

Dinaw Mengestu's second novel How to Read the Air maps first person narrator and protagonist Jonas Woldemariam's search for the truth of his parents' enigmatic immigrant story through the retracing of their honeymoon drive from Peoria, Illinois to Nashville, Tennessee. Through the reimagining of his parents' relationship, Jonas finds unexpected clarity regarding his own complicated marriage to his ex-wife Angela. Mengestu uses these parallel narratives of intimacy, to explore the interaction between the individual's past, present, and future, as well as the power of fictional reinvention to provide him new perspective on his life and world.