How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly

by Connie May Fowler

  Reading Group Guide

  Discussion Questions

  1. How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly opens with vivid descriptions of the weather and wildlife of Hope, Florida: “this swampy southern outpost,” “the humidity-laden situation,” “its sundry wildlife… all steeling themselves against the inevitable onslaught of the day’s hellish heat.” How do the climate and geography of Hope affect the story? Could the events that take place have happened anywhere else in the country? In the world?

  2. Recalling what she once thought of as a heroic move, Clarissa considers the way Iggy left his family and South Africa because of their different feelings about race. “She did not ask, ‘If a man walks away from his mother because he seriously disagrees with her politics, how deep is his allegiance to a wife?’ ” Do you agree that one’s relationship with family can be an indicator of one’s relationship with a spouse? Why or why not?

  3. A fly that is in love with Clarissa plays an important role in this story. We are also introduced to other insects and animals living in Clarissa’s home, truck, and other spaces around her that she doesn’t even know about. How does knowing about these creatures affect your perception of Clarissa, if at all? Would the story be different without them?

  4. “Jane was, unknowingly, ticking off the list of the most asked, most useless questions thrown at writers.” Is it fair that Clarissa thinks of her interviewer’s questions this way? What questions would you want to ask a writer you admire? What questions would you want an interviewer to ask you?

  5. Clarissa is described as not having much confidence or independence at the beginning of the book: “uncharacteristically courageous,” “despite all that she had accomplished in her life, she was not a woman accustomed to doing things on her own.” How does Clarissa change as the day progresses? What was it about this one day that was so special?

  6. “What was love if not an idea—abstract as wind, concrete as rain—an invisible homily so powerful that it propelled even the meekest souls to hold dear what they feared most?” Do you agree that love drives you toward what you “fear most”? Why or why not? Have you experienced love that made you feel this way? What would the fly in the story think about this notion?

  7. What is the significance of all the trash that piled up in Clarissa’s truck, and why is she so determined to get rid of it by herself on this day?

  8. Why does Clarissa go to the cemetery, and in what way did it affect her? Do you think she is aware of the ghosts there, particularly the children who pull her out of the mud?

  9. Clarissa realizes “her marriage hung by a single tendril spun of stubbornness and fear.” What is she being stubborn about, and about what is she fearful? How does Iggy fit into this fragile arrangement?

  10. Clarissa is harassed by the boys at the Treetop General Store, but Miss Lossie seems to get rid of them without a problem. “Surprised at their compliance, Clarissa wondered why she had commanded such little respect from the two-pint punks.” What is it about Miss Lossie that Clarissa doesn’t possess? How do Miss Lossie and Chester aid Clarissa in her spiritual journey?

  11. How do the stories about the worm gruntin’ stob fit into the larger picture of Clarissa’s new life? Why do Chester and Miss Lossie regard worm gruntin’ so highly, and what does Clarissa take away from that devotion?

  12. How do Clarissa’s perceptions and desires shift as she rides Chester’s motorcycle? “Hurtling down the highway on two wheels, she felt death’s presence… Duende… the Spanish notion of a creative force antithetical to the muse—a death dancer spinning a flamenco composed of carnality, sadness, and passion.” How does this awakening relate to the rest of her lessons of the day?

  13. Despite all the excitement of buying a flashy new car, Clarissa notices the understated details of car salesman Raul:

  Raul’s fingers resumed their dance. They were graceful fingers, tanned, and still bore the calluses of a man who used his hands to make a living.

  Clarissa wondered how long he had worked at the car lot and if he missed whatever it was that earned him those calluses. Maybe he understood the secrets of oak and pine, citrus and tomatoes, drywall and nails.

  How could Clarissa spend so much time considering the back story of another when her own life is changing so wildly? Do you think that the mind of a writer naturally imagines the histories of those she encounters?

  14. Iggy’s ire over the new car doesn’t surprise Clarissa, but she realizes, “Her life—all of its molehills and detours—she realized, was an enormous annoyance to him.” What kept her from having this awareness during their seven years of marriage? What gives Clarissa the strength to do something about her problems now?

  15. “What good was hope if it remained nebulous? Hope was one of those abstractions, like love; for it to be meaningful, it had to be hitched to something real.” If this is true and it’s also true that love drives a person to what they fear most, what does hope motivate a person to do? According to Clarissa, how are the two similar and how are they different? What is your opinion?

  16. Compare Iggy and Adams. How do they perceive Clarissa? How do they treat her? In what ways does she respond to each of them?

  17. Clarissa taught Adams that writing is scary and painful and dangerous, and now he has to re-explain that lesson to her. What made Clarissa forget this essential part of her craft? How does she turn her writer’s block around?

  18. Do you agree that Olga’s story is the one that Clarissa should focus on for her new book, as Adams says? Why or why not?

  19. “She’d woken up that morning naive. And now she was not. Now the world was a different place. And Iggy was going to have to catch up.” Do you think it’s possible to turn a life around in one day? Have you ever had an epitome similar to Clarissa’s, whether it was about a relationship, a job, or another major life decision?

  20. How do Larry Dibble/Lawrence Butler and the Villada–Archer family function in Clarissa’s alteration? Do you believe that spirits of the past can influence the present?

  21. What do you think will happen next to Clarissa Burden?

  Contents

  Front Cover Image

  Welcome

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Begin Reading

  Acknowledgments

  Reading Group Guide

  Also by Connie May Fowler

  Acclaim for How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly

  Copyright

  ALSO BY CONNIE MAY FOWLER

  The Problem with Murmur Lee

  Remembering Blue

  When Katie Wakes

  Before Women Had Wings

  River of Hidden Dreams

  Sugar Cage

  Acclaim for

  HOW Clarissa Burden LEARNED TO Fly

  “Folksy and sophisticated, humorous yet at times grave… seductive and thoroughly satisfying.”

  Library Journal

  “A wacky, witty, self-reflective romp.”

  —Tampa Tribune

  “[This book] is a mush of genres… But it is a lush, ripe, heated, fragrant, and very often pleasurable mush… Kudos to Fowler for her imagination and her imagery.”

  —HuffingtonPost.com

  “Fowler lends magic and voice to the singular Florida landscape and gives an interesting twist on the novel; she blurs the line between the written and the writer.”

  —Booklist

  “Fowler’s commanding skill at creating a sultry, vivid sense of place makes this book memorable.”

  —Miami Herald

  “A fine novel… The quirky characters are as rich in detail as they are in humanness.”

  —Winston-Salem Journal

  “Fowler has created a quilt of characters and plot that come together into one very satisfying read.”

  —Florida Times-Union

  “An imaginative, magical tale… This novel is rich with imagery, vividly capturing everything her title character sees.”

  —Charleston Post and Courier (SC) />
  “A little magic goes a long way.”

  —St. Petersburg Times

  “Fowler is a storyteller extraordinaire… You can feel the summer heat in the lazy Southern town, catch the scent of roses, and empathize with Clarissa’s self-imposed entrapment… So powerful is Fowler’s narrative that you’re left to wonder just what passes unseen around us.”

  —BarcelonaReview.com

  “A whimsical, emotional tale… a perfect read for those upcoming days of summer heat.”

  —Wichita Falls Times Record News (TX)

  “In this magical, funny, at times heartbreaking book, Connie May Fowler has shown us that even a housefly can have a point of view. Compact and enchanting, yet achingly dark, it reminds me of the novels of Alice McDermott and Alice Hoffman that I love to read. Now Fowler gives us a midsummer’s night dream of her own!”

  —Mary Morris, author of Revenge

  “A soaring achievement… Fowler challenges readers with a most original voice and manner. Her prose glitters, and her mix of psychological and spiritual truth, of realism and fantasy, takes readers up and away.”

  —Naples Florida Weekly (FL)

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2010 by Connie May Fowler

  Reading Group Guide Copyright © 2011 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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  Second eBook Edition: July 2011

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  ISBN: 978-0-446-56898-2