Biographies & memoirs

The Flitting: A Memoir of Fathers, Sons, and Butterflies, by Ben Masters

The Flitting is one of the most moving and exquisite books I’ve read all year.

When Ben Masters’s naturalist father is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he is unable to follow the butterfly cycle that has been his obsession since childhood, so Masters steps in to help his father maintain a connection to his beloved butterflies, carrying home reports of species and habitats he has long loved and studied but can no longer see for himself.

This debut memoir explores the nature of memory, masculinity, the generation gap, and more; at its heart, however, it is a portrait of a son trying to share and connect with his father while he still c