Stunning stories

I have a thing for short stories that lend insight into the lives of immigrants caught between two cultures. My favorite writers in this category have been Jhumpa Lahiri and Sana Krasikov.

Now I'm adding the Nigerian-born Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, winner of a MacArthur genius grant and author of the novels, "Purple Hibiscus" and "Half of a Yellow Sun." Her collection of stories, "The Thing Around Your Neck," being published Tuesday, is beautifully written and heartbreaking. I'm halfway through it. I want to race through it because each story so far has been so powerful. And yet I want to go slowly, to savor her bringing me over to Nigeria and then back to the US, getting a glimpse of what it's like to be stuck in the middle, between the old and the new, the home of the heart and the home of the future.

She'll be reading from the new collection at Harvard Book Store at 7 p.m. next Friday, the 19th.