The world around us will never be fully explained. Institutionalized education skims over things just enough to make it seem as if we know it all, but only succeeds in teaching us to take things for granted. Science need not be limited to books, educational films, and the occasional field trip. It can be an experiment in discovering the magic of all that surrounds us.
To this end Walter Gash home schools his only child Michael. Not for any religious or idealistic reasons. He just wants to give his son a few more years to develop outside of the all-too-structured environment of the public school system. Joining other home school teachers and students, he takes his son to the zoo where his more imaginative approach to teaching creates a conflict between himself and a family of Southern Baptists.
Described as "Vonnegutesque" by americanfiction.org (which the author finds to be the most flattering of heresies), "The Gray Matter Zoo" explores the mental phenomena of compartmentalism, rationalization, imagination, the way that they can interact with one another and be deconstructed within the wrinkled cages of the human psyche. |
