Even the liberal guys in my class agreed that each page dripped with man-hatred. None of the girls saw it, they liked the book.
There's only one male in that entire book who is portrayed in a positive light. He's a minority, he's a left-wing refugee, he doesn't speak English--actually, we don't really know this, because he almost never says anything, he just follows his wife around like a dog. That's Kingsolver's "perfect man." God forbid a man should have his own opinions and free will. Every single other man is some sort of demon figure responsible for hurting women. It was pure poison. That was the worst liberal book I had to read in high school.
Wow, I'd forgotten this thread existed. Fun to take up a discussion again a year hence!
I'm sure the girls in your class liked Bean Trees because unfortunately, there still aren't that many books with spunky heroines out there. I was a lefty at the time I read it, so I'm sure that had something to do with it, but the prose is clean, and the female lead character is fun. Most books I had to read in high school were about boys. We all like to see ourselves reflected in literature.