Tom Robbins Forum

Tom Robbins

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I am on page 100 of the book and I am not understanding it. What is the plot of this story and will it get easier to understand?

>>By The Chosen One (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:56)

This is not a book which allows you to guess the plot at all. In fact, at the end you may still have to seriously consider if you understood all that you read. Things will come together a littel better about 3/4 of the way through, but you must read to the end to understand the beginning. Keep reading. It's worth it.

>>By spylinski (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:56)

His diction is too hard for me. Just for that, his writing doesn't interest me.

>>By Luka (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:56)

Jitterbug Perfume and Tom's writing is awesome, if you dont understand, you must open your mind. This will help in understanding many other things as well besides books.

>>By Fan (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:56)

The first Tom Robbins book I've read is Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. For those of you having doubts or feeling frustrated about his diction etc., if you haven't read this one, you should check it out. It's probably his most accessable book... a good way to get into reading him.

>>By CRB (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:56)

tom is intense and extremely unconventional. you should open your mind or read tom clancy.

>>By ian (Tuesday, 11 Feb 2003 20:19)

I've read ALL of TOm's books and really appreciate his wit, references to politics, drugs/sex/rock&roll, and art history. I think he is a smart, open-minded writer with a great following. Even if it a bit psuedo-Beat Lit.

Give him a chance. Jitterbug perfume is the best one to start with.

>>By GDTRFB (Thursday, 6 Mar 2003 22:54)

Pseudo beat-lit????? no no no! And definitely do not start with Cowgirls. Oye! Nothing posted here, of yet, gives credit to the sheer, imaginative genius of Mr. Robbins. His books to todays common novel are like Impressionist paintings to the Realists. His style is new and invigorating; downright intoxicating!!! Yet, his manner and content is more like dada. Sweet terror it all is. Start with Still Life or Skinny Legs, and make sure Jitterbug and Frog Pajamas are read consecutively. And if, when you're done reading all of them, you realize that your socks don't match, go back and read them all over again.

>>By 409 - Uncle Larry (Saturday, 22 Mar 2003 06:11)

Dear Tom,
Wow, let me tell you that you are not a very dull person.
How awesome is it that you get to tell the public your view of life this way?
Tom Robbins is an inspirational magician.

>>By Dr. Dave (Monday, 24 Mar 2003 07:45)

His writting gets better with age. I would suggest starting with Fierce Invalids and working backwards. I found that to be his most enjoyable book.

>>By joe gabonne (Thursday, 3 Apr 2003 19:28)

Legend has it that Tom commits to each sentance only when perfect.........and it shows. Orgasmic! Many of them reveal gems of insight, humor, satire and sheer joy. The downside of this however is the long wait between novels. Read them all, in any order.]Only two more days until Villa. Can hardly wait

>>By g-masala (Monday, 28 Apr 2003 03:10)

I've read all of TR's books and I'm awaiting "Villa Icognito" like a Baptist's heart thumps for the Second Coming. As far as the order of reading the novels, the only thing that I can offer is that you save "Another Roadside Attraction" for the end. I believe this is TR's first book and is written with the youthful passion of a man who has absolutely nothing to lose, but his mind. For those of you struggling with Robbins, hang in there! There is something for everyone inside, maybe not an epiphany, but you will look at the world differently. From the magic, to the comic, to the absurd, TR's philosophy of the "Infinite Goof" may be the next best thing to the Rapture.

>>By Thumper 70 (Thursday, 1 May 2003 23:24)

Villa Incognito is the first thing I have read touching on September 11 that actually makes me feel better. I finished reading it on a bus inside the Lincoln Tunnel in rush hour (ignoring all of those putative-but-scary suicide bombers) and smiled all day. What is it about his frappe of sex and philosophy that is always so g-o-o-o-o-d? Lesson of the day: no-one who lacks a sense of humor has any sense.

For those who find Robbins hard to read... It's like making love with somebody you really like for the first time. You're not sure when it's going to get good, and nothing fits quite the way you expect it to, but on the whole it's a very, very good idea.

>>By Vicky (Thursday, 15 May 2003 18:35)

One thing you can say about Tom; he sure has perfect timing with his novels.

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong examined 25 animals representing eight species in a live animal market in southern China and found the virus in all six masked palm civets they sampled, as well as in a badger and a raccoon dog. from WHO press release 5/23

Much like the theme phrase in Skinney Legs and All "Maybe we are all just making it up as we go along"

>>By Phillip G. (Friday, 23 May 2003 19:27)

the first book i read was jitterbug perfume i have read it over and over again as a mantra when life is overwelming i have read most of his books and will continue to until i die tom robbins is an amazing author and talented individual may all of the gods bless and keep him forever

>>By ursula hefner (Thursday, 3 Jul 2003 20:04)

I read Jitterbug Perfume as a school assignment. How cool is that! It was a great book and I look forward to reading more of his work.

>>By Cojo (Friday, 18 Jul 2003 11:48)

I am completely addicted to Tom Robbins...I never have had any trouble relating to his "diction" and find his writing remarkably easy to visualize....The first of his books that I read was "Another Roadside Attraction" and have forced it upon many of my friends with good results...I noticed a reference to his books as being "a bit pseudo beat-lit", which I would sooner rephrase as being "post beat-lit"...I coincidentally read Another Roadside Attraction right after I finished a school paper that involved studying the likes of Kerouac, and although not chronologically correct, the underlying style and ambience of Robbins writing seems naturally consecutive to beat-era writing...And something must be said for his sense of humor, which is so uhhh...ummmm...what is the word that I'm looking for?

>>By missbungle (Friday, 1 Aug 2003 17:53)

Have been a fan for 20 some years now. Have read all his books in the order written.
Jitterbug Perfume is my favorite. Have read it many times over de years. Tickles my soul everytime.. Renews , inspires, and usually leads to run of wild sex (to the thrill of my hubby)

Hey Tom, i grew up in the NW.. have always had the feelin we know some of the same people.. i keep an eye out for ya when im in laconner, and some old haunts in Seattle...

Every year when i put in my row of beets in, i think of you..

>>By deba (Monday, 4 Aug 2003 08:17)

Hey deba, how is it in Laconnor these days? I grew up in Seattle. Which is probably why I identify so closely with Tom Robbins. Like many of the reviewers here, I believe Jitterbug Perfume is one of the most influential works of fiction (if it is a work of fiction) of the 20th Century. I draw analogies from it on a regular basis, which is probably why I'm a single mother. And I try to have as much sex and take as many baths as possible, hoping I might still be around 500 years from now! Villa and Invalids are a little more obscure, but you must buy them if for no other reason than to experience the most fantastic, sensual, FREE imagination of all time (not to mention the most AMAZING sentences!). Robbins has escaped the shackles of reason and logic we all seem to be imprisoned by and, like many Spanish authors, talks openly about those magical moments we all know exist but refuse to admit in polite society. Bravo!

>>By dreaminginblue (Friday, 8 Aug 2003 09:28)

i'm surrounded by people who are heavily into patriarchal religions and,consequently smug self-denial; Skinny Legs is giving me hope and reconfirming my faith in fun loving Mother worship. Why cant more people embrace this kind of philosophy? Without being dubbed a crazy old hippy? The world would be a better place.

>>By ted.p.j. (Monday, 15 Sep 2003 10:27)

that rant on Catholosism in Another Roadside Attraction is his best...

>>By repercush (Friday, 28 Nov 2003 07:04)

Tom Robbins...one of the few authors alive who has my attention even while waiting for his next book to appear.....My favorite - "Jitterbug Perfume"..gave me a whole new appreciation of "beets". ;-)

>>By Melody (Tuesday, 9 Dec 2003 05:05)

my god...when i read the opening lines of Villa Incognito, i creamed in my panties..Tanuki fell from the sky using his scrotum as a paracute"...or something like that...god...robbins ability to maintain my undivided interest through paragraph upon verbose paragraph abouot absolutely nothing is amazing...escapism at its finest....He makes me laugh...like, really laugh though...where you have tears streaming down your sore cheeks, trying to stiffle the laughs that you know the other people in the waiting room just wouldnt understand....

>>By missbungle (Saturday, 20 Dec 2003 04:04)

Neet to come across this site and other people who appreciate Tom Robbins.

>>By trotsky (Saturday, 17 Jan 2004 11:55)

hey y'all. i just finished reading 'fierce invalids..', all 400 + pages, and have to say, i think our main characters stayed way too long in the desert. so much so that i was feeling a bit o' cabin fever some point in, wishing i could get back to the Hilariously robbins trademark descriptions of mr. switters trekking down a tropical river. i've read 5 or 6 of his now, and can't tell if i just got used to the writing a bit too much, or miss my jitterbug perfume.

>>By dawidek (Monday, 16 Feb 2004 05:51)

I used to call Robbins my favorite author and I still have a lot of respect for him. But I do believe that Skinny Legs and All has been the ACME of his career. Fierce and Frog Pajamas seemed to fall well short of the mark set by Skinny Legs. I have not yet read Villa and will look forward to it with an open mind.

>>By erlybird (Thursday, 19 Feb 2004 18:51)

I have read all of his books up to 3 or 4 times. I am addicted. someone please help me, give me a few suggestions of other writers that will hold my attention the way Robbins has. Skinny Legs is my fave, or maybe jitterbug. i love his style and wit and the effort of research so evident in his tales.

>>By lalaloveyou (Wednesday, 7 Apr 2004 23:37)

Please read Yann Martel's Life of Pi. Then you'll see other contemporary writers can spin a good story, and one with spiritual depth too.

>>By Noudjali (Thursday, 8 Apr 2004 17:15)

In Villa Incoginto, there's a scene where the captured MIA, and his two guards where held up in a hotel in Laos or somewhere. (It's been a while since i've read the book, so bare with me as I stuggle through the names).
They were waiting for call from a rogue CIA agent, who ended up skipping out when he heard about who else was involved in operation, one Mayflower Cabott Fitzgerald.
I apologize in advance if i have the name wrong, but the names aren't the point. The rogue agent was said to have fled with his two wives, a french woman and an american.

Here's the kicker.

I was wondering if anyone was thinking what I was thinking about who the rogue agent is. I think it was a cameo from a charater in one of he previous books

Wahoo!

>>By bar-il-e-literate (Tuesday, 13 Apr 2004 19:00)

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