This is a book that is definitely About Something. I'm not sure what.

I mean, it's clearly About literacy, and pre-literate cultures, and the contact between them. It's also About disability, and the intersection of economics and class. It's a little bit About abuse in families and responses to it, and being an immigrant.

But man, what's it about? I don't know. Reading. Something about reading.

Should you read this book: if you like nineteenth century first-person travel accounts, you should buy this book immediately, because that is what it is most like. If you like fantasy that is not like other fantasy, give this a shot? If you have a lot of feelings about reading, you might like this.

Discussion questions for people who have read this book:
Why is every story from an oral tradition so terrible? Like, not bad, just depressing and awful.

What is the purpose of referring to what the readers clearly recognize as ghost as an angel?

What is the purpose of Miros' storyline?

I don't know, man.