Questions Without Answers (Penguin Random House, April 29, 2025)

About the book

Pondering the questions only kids would think to ask, this hilarious, poignant collection captures the wonder of a child’s imagination, brought to life by beloved New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck. 

Does the rain know that people love to play in the rain? Are the bubbles in drinks their thoughts? Do dogs have chins? What does it feel like on the last day you’re a child?

What’s the best question a kid ever asked you? When Sarah Manguso opened a Twitter account and posted this single (and only) tweet, she immediately received hundreds of answers. Many, she discovered, were intelligent, intuitive, inventive, and philosophical. In the process of assembling them, the questions seemed to form a “choral philosophy” that she believes disappears from most people’s lives in kindergarten. As Manguso says in her illuminating foreword, “These questions are cute by the word’s original definition, swift and piercing. They cut to the quick.”  

Praise

“A book that will appeal to anyone who has raised humans or is thinking of raising humans—or is a human. Deep and often hilarious.” (Kirkus)… “These questions… tickle the mind with the feathery force of a Zen koan.” (Publishers Weekly)… “This book is for everyone.” (Lemony Snicket)… “A miracle… the most profoundly silly and wise book I’ve read in years.” (Bess Kalb)… “A terrific book for anyone who has ever been around kids, or has been a kid themselves.” —Roz Chast

Press