About Kiele Takeuchi

According to the back cover of The Isle of Math, you can read all about me on this website. I’ve waited a while before actually doing a long bio of me until the book was out. Well, it’s out, and here I am. Seeing as it’s the Fourth of July today, and I’m all alone, I’ll conduct the interview with myself.

Full name? Kiele Kione Takeuchi

Where do you live? California, but I’ve also lived in Hawaii…hence the name Kiele. At some point or other I had some Japanese ancestry, but it’s so far back that only the last name shows it.

What possessed you to write a book about math? College geometry. Trying to prove that 1 didn’t equal 0 made absolutely no sense. That and the fact that no one’s ever written a book about hating math before. There was a blaring necessity for it.

What was your goal in writing a book about hating math? Hmm. I had quite a few goals. 1. First of all, there’s a need for this type book. Poll any random algebra class, and at least 75% of them will say they hate math. 2. For those who hate math really passionately, they tend to want to vent their frustration. Why not read about a math teacher whose life is ruined by math rather than burning that algebra book? It’s much cheaper. 3. To show how silly some of those college professors can be. 4. To vent my own frustration with math. 5. There are more reasons, but I can’t think of them at the moment.

Have you written any other novels? Yes, but they’re still in my editing pile. Lately I’ve been working on short stories and articles for magazines.

What do you do in your spare time? Reading and writing, obviously. I like to travel. Hawaii’s always been a favorite, but I’d like to travel abroad someday.