Broken Places  Outer Spaces, Nnedi Okorafor
Broken Places  Outer Spaces, Nnedi Okorafor
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Broken Places & Outer Spaces
Finding Creativity in the Unexpected

Author: Nnedi Okorafor

Series: TED Books

Narrator: Nnedi Okorafor

Unabridged: 2 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/18/2019


Synopsis

A powerful journey from star athlete to sudden paralysis to creative awakening, award-winning science fiction writer Nnedi Okorafor shows that what we think are our limitations have the potential to become our greatest strengths.

Nnedi Okorafor was never supposed to be paralyzed. A college track star and budding entomologist, Nnedi’s lifelong battle with scoliosis was just a bump in her plan—something a simple operation would easily correct. But when Nnedi wakes from the surgery to find she can’t move her legs, her entire sense of self begins to waver. Confined to a hospital bed for months, unusual things begin to happen. Psychedelic bugs crawl her hospital walls; strange dreams visit her nightly. Nnedi begins to put these experiences into writing, conjuring up strange, fantastical stories. What Nnedi discovers during her confinement would prove to be the key to her life as a successful science fiction author: In science fiction, when something breaks, something greater often emerges from the cracks.

In Broken Places & Outer Spaces, Nnedi takes the reader on a journey from her hospital bed deep into her memories, from her painful first experiences with racism as a child in Chicago to her powerful visits to her parents’ hometown in Nigeria. From Frida Kahlo to Mary Shelly, she examines great artists and writers who have pushed through their limitations, using hardship to fuel their work. Through these compelling stories and her own, Nnedi reveals a universal truth: What we perceive as limitations have the potential to become our greatest strengths—far greater than when we were unbroken.

A guidebook for anyone eager to understand how their limitations might actually be used as a creative springboard, Broken Places & Outer Spaces is an inspiring look at how to open up new windows in your mind.

About Nnedi Okorafor

Nnedi Okorafor is an award-winning novelist of African-based science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism. Born in the US to Nigerian immigrant parents, Okorafor is known for weaving African cultures into creative settings and memorable characters. Her book, Who Fears Death has been optioned by HBO, with Game of Thrones' George R.R. Martin as executive producer. Okorafor is a full-time professor at the University at Buffalo, New York (SUNY).  


Reviews

Goodreads review by Dave

“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places”—Ernest Hemingway A short memoir by Afro-futurist science fiction writer and Chicagoan Nnedi Okorafor (Akata Warrior, Binti, The Shadow Speaker, and also writing comics for Marvel out of the Black Panther universe) who writ......more

Goodreads review by Dannii

This was a combined personal history of Nnedi Okorafor's paralysis, an account of the discrimination she received due to the colour of her skin, and a hopeful message on how to persevere through the dark times and use them as your fuel to greatness. I really liked the format for this short autobiogra......more

Goodreads review by Sucre

I considered not leaving a review for this one but the more I read the 5 star reviews the more I feel like it's necessary for me to express what upset me about this book. I'm physically disabled and owe a lot to online disability communities. They helped me understand the social model of disability,......more

Goodreads review by Britta

Some interesting thoughts on creativity but the book was way to short (112 pages) to develop any of them in depth. 2.5*......more

I have kind of mixed feelings about this one, and I'm honestly struggling to sort through them. I'm going to sort it into what I liked and what I didn't like, for the sake of simplicity and exploring my own thoughts a bit here. Liked: -The explorations of literature and artists from the past was real......more