World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments

Nezhukumatathil provides a poetic description of the dragon fruit, mentioning its flavor, its appearance, and the associations its name carries. Despite its vibrant colors and “ethereal displays of blossoming” (114), the dragon fruit’s flavor is soft and subtle. It has several uses, from cocktails to soothing skin balms. The first time Nezhukumatathil eats a dragon fruit is at a market in Singapore with her mother.

Nezhukumatathil describes flamingos gathering around a lake and eating algae, and she explains their mating rituals. She transitions to her freshman year in college, where she and other young women often travel together and sometimes dance with older men at bars. They often walk home together in groups or in pairs. She briefly mentions growing pains in her legs as a teenager.

She tells the story of “Pinky,” a flamingo at Busch Gardens in Tampa who is “so beloved, she was named the zoo mascot” (118). Pinky is violently attacked by a man at the zoo and has to be euthanized. Nezhukumatathil moves again to the present, when she is a professor at the University of Mississippi. She worries about young women and says “a silent prayer for them all to come back safe to their nests late at night, again and again” (120).