I NEVER PASS UP A BOOK BY BARBARA KINGSOLVER BECAUSE I ALWAYS LEARN SOMETHING NEW. FLIGHT BEHAVIOR IS A STORY ABOUT SMALL TOWN AMERICA AND HOW A STOP OVER OF MIGRATING MONARCHS INSPIRES AND THREATENS THE COMMUNITY. AS IN ALL HER BOOKS, THE CHARACTERS ARE IMPERFECT, LIKABLE, COMPLICATED, AND… REAL!
“She asked him how long the butterflies lived, and his answer was baffling: general about six weeks. The ones that lived through the winter lasted longer, a few months, by going into something like hibernation. “Diapause,” he called it, a pause in the normal schedule of growing up, mating, and reproducing. Somewhere in midlife, the cold or darkness of winter put them all on hold, shutting down their sex drive until future notice.” p145
“Dovey thought they should drive over to Cleary, which had fifty times more stores, at least to window-shop, but Dellarobia couldn’t afford to walk into most of those places, and recreational envy was not her idea of fun.” p156
“Will you explain to me why people encourage delusional behavior in children, and medicate it in adults?” p181
“If people played their channels right, they could be spared from disagreement for the length of their natural lives. Finally she got it. The need for so many channels.” p.258
“There’s just no room at our house for the end of the world. .. I’m not saying I don’t believe you, I’m saying I can’t.” p283
“… his T-shirt stretched to within an inch of its life across his broad belly, where the letters distorted outward link horror movie credits.” p313
“I’d say the teams get picked, and then the beliefs get handed around,” she said. “Team Camo, we get the right to bear arms and John Deere and the canning jars and tough love and taking care of our own. The other side wears I don’t know what, something expensive. They get recycling and population control and lattes and as many second chances as anybody wants. Students e-mailing to tell you they deserve their A’s.” p321
“That must be lonely, Dellarobia thought, to have answers whose questions had all died of natural causes.” p347