Your opinion on Tom Robbins?

[blackpriester]

I'd like to hear what you guys think about him, specifically about "Jitterbug Perfume". All comments welcome.

[hgc]

When I was a teenager, and vinished reading all of Vonnegut and was searching for something new, I tried out Still Life with Woodpecker. I didn't like it, so I never read anything else of his.

I also didn't like the movie version of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, but Gus Van Sant gets the blame for that.

[BillyTK]

Originally posted by blackpriester
I'd like to hear what you guys think about him, specifically about "Jitterbug Perfume". All comments welcome.
Jitterbug Perfume was the first of Robbins's books I ever read. At the time it wasn't even the kind of fiction I'd usually read, and it had wandered by some happy accident into the SF section of the library. I only got it out because of the cover design, but I absolutely loved it; the characters, the scope of the book, the prose-style, everything. But sadly I never quite got the same kick from any of his books, which seemed formulaic in comparison. I think you can only read one of his books, and if you are, then Jitterbug Perfume would be the one I recommend.

[epepke]

Originally posted by hgc
I also didn't like the movie version of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, but Gus Van Sant gets the blame for that.

The movie was much worse than the book, which was still not very good.

[thrombus29]

I think his best is "Another Roadside Attraction", his most complex that I have read. I love that book.

I was kinda disapointed by Cowgirls and Jitterbug perfume, I think it was because I liked roadside attraction so much.

How are some of the others?

[Cleopatra]

I adored Still Life with a Woodpecker but I was madly in love when I read it.

I have the same question with the hero though:" How can we make Love last for ever?":)

I have read "Jitterbug perfume" as well and I liked it. It's not a masterpiece but it's a pleasant book.

Robbins has a thing with lesbians though.

[epepke]

Originally posted by Cleopatra
Robbins has a thing with lesbians though.

It was the 1980s. Every Serious Work Of Fiction™ had to have lesbians in it.

[epepke]

I've been thinking about this, and I'm in a bad mood, so I have to say...

For every author that gets published, there are at least a hundred that didn't, and some of them are just as good as the ones who succeeded. Tom Robiins just got lucky, or he knew whom to blow, or something, and what he wrote happened to be the kind of hing that They™ liked at the time. But ultimately it doesn't mean squat.

[Bikewer]

Both my wife and I love Robbins. Wacky, disorganized, freeform, irreverent...hehe. Great stuff.

If you like Robbins, you'll probably like Morrow. Towing Jehovah...great stuff.

[varwoche]

Originally posted by blackpriester
I'd like to hear what you guys think about him, specifically about "Jitterbug Perfume". All comments welcome.
Love it, a gem of a guilty pleasure. I'm a sucker for stories involving immortality.

[blackpriester]

Thanx guys for all the informed opinions.
My wife appreciates it a lot :).

Best ones,
- m.