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

As a young single woman, Nezhukumatathil talks about corpse flowers, large flowers with a “seriously foul smell” (69), on dates to weed out men who might not share her interests. She is enchanted with corpse flowers and goes on trips to see them bloom at botanical gardens across the United States. Her first time seeing one is at the University of Wisconsin in 2001, and she visits another at the Buffalo Botanical Gardens with her husband and sons. Both times, she stands in a long line.

She describes the shape, color, and smell of the corpse flower and lists the names of corpse flowers cultivated in captivity. On their first date, her future husband, Dustin, reveals that he is also interested in corpse flowers. Nezhukumatathil reflects that Dustin has always supported and shared her interests and adventurous spirit: “This was a man who’d be happy when I bloomed” (73).

Early in their marriage, Nezhukumatathil and her husband go on a trip to India. They rent a houseboat. After docking one night, a calf and its mother charge out of the jungle and stare at them. Later that evening, they hear strange noises and see bits of papaya falling from the roof of the houseboat into the water.