Your favorite Tom Robbins book? (need recommendations)

Still Life With Woodpecker

Thanks!

Jitterbug Perfume!!

Enjoy this amazing article

@Jude :) :)

I second ‘Jitterbug Perfume.’ My second favorite was ‘Skinny Legs and All.’ Both are pretty fun reads.

I loved Fierce Invalids From Hot Climates

My favorite is still Another Roadside Attraction, his first

He’s kind of a jerk though, Robbins. He did a book signing at the bookstore I used to work at in Portland. OR. I was a really big fan and was kind of heartbroken to find him a bit of an ass. He traveled with body guard of sorts and demanded that there be a glass of fresh squeezed carrot juice waiting for him when he arrived at the store. That was one of my jobs that day, to get it for him. I got kind of late notice on the task and searched all over downtown Portland for fresh carrot juice and a glass. I found the juice but the best I could do in the glass department was a coffee cup. He’s wasn’t pleased. :-) I kept that cup for years though.

Still Life With Woodpecker seconded. Fierce Invalids is great as well.

If you like Mr. Robbins, you really should be reading Kurt Vonnegut. Christopher Moore is somewhat similar too, but he’s more hit or miss. Chuck Palahniuk is another of the same ilk, but he’s a little lot more on the crude side.

Skinny Legs is my favorite!

I have not read anything by Tom Robbins, but I very much like the article linked by @linguaphile. I think I’ll put him on my library list.

However, I’m bothered by a jarring gaffe in the essay that I hope was just a transcription error: “if not for no other reason” (third paragraph from the end) should be “if for no other reason.” Before delving into his work, I wish I could be sure that he doesn’t make mistakes like that.

From what I can tell, @Jeruba, having read most of his novels, Mr. Robbins is very eloquent and I assume that to have been a typo or transcription error. Otherwise (and I haven’t read the article yet) it may have been done on purpose – he is rather tongue-in-cheek at times.

The phrase makes no sense as written, @Seelix, so it serves no purpose, humorous or otherwise. To judge from this essay, which is all of his work that I’ve read, he intends his message to be very clear, and his unconventionality does not extend to illogical contortions of grammar. It’s an error, and the only question is whose.

On the strength of the recommendations here, I think I’ll give him a try anyway.

I’m going to go with Still Life With Woodpecker and then Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.

Another vote for Woodpecker, though it’s been 30 years since I read it. I might feel differently in this world of terrorists.

@lillycoyote I’ve had that experience with writers and actors that I’ve met. Some are wonderful, some are unbelievably rude and disappointing. That’s why I love watching The Actors Studio you find out quickly who’s who. I wonder if Tom’s still like that since he’s not churning out much work lately, or is he?—

@Jeruba—if it’s something that Tom wrote, I suspect it’s on purpose, but it might be a mistake of the person who posted the article. The article was originally in GQ magazine. I read another article that Tom will often spend a week or even a month on one page of his book, making sure each word is in its precise place. He’s worth a read, yes, especially for people who enjoy allusions and multilayers.

They’re all good but Another Roadside Attraction is good and was written first. Some say to read them in order. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues is also good as is Villa Incognito and Skinny Legs and All

B Is For Beer