A History of Nomadism

This essay explores the author's peripatetic childhood, nomadic family history, and conflicting desires for home and mobility in seventeen brief sections—a structure reflecting the number of times she moved growing up. Meditations on historical, philosophical, experiential, and psychological aspects of nomadism—from Bedouin traditions to Bruce Chatwin's travelogues—interweave with memoir of the author learning to create "home" for her own family.