Questions Without Answers

Novelist and essayist Manguso (Liars) teams up with cartoonist Finck (How to Baby) for a slight if occasionally profound exploration of young children’s curiosity. Manguso attests she was once put off by people who found their own children fascinating, calling them “people who had decided not to be interesting anymore.” Surprised to later discover that her own son was “intellectually” compelling, she decided to “challenge the popular depiction of children as adorable idiots.” Using social media, Manguso crowdsourced examples of strange questions people had been asked by their children, 140 of which are collected here, each accompanied by one of Finck’s minimalist drawings. Sometimes the pairing is droll, as when the question “Did cavemen clean their caves?” is illustrated by a caveman holding a broom. Elsewhere, the illustrations are oddly literal—“How important are necks?” is depicted by a question mark aimed at a person’s neck. The best entries demonstrate, as Manguso puts it, children’s “ease with the abyss”—“Can a person die of sadness?” is accompanied by a dead body lying in a pool of tears—while a few questions like “Is there a spot in our house that no one has ever walked on?” tickle the mind with the feathery force of a zen koan. This has its moments. (Apr.)