Mine is most definitely Skinny Legs and All.
The animated inanimate objects, the religious revelations, the upside-down world seeing artist, the AIRSTREAM, YAY!
I can read it over and over and never cease to be amazed!
The animated inanimate objects, the religious revelations, the upside-down world seeing artist, the AIRSTREAM, YAY!
I can read it over and over and never cease to be amazed!
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Portland
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Tue, October 14, 2003 - 8:53 PMjitterbug perfume is my favorite! Anything about beets, immortality, perfume, pan, and a waitress is very cool to me. I'm reading it for the fourth time right now -
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Thu, July 21, 2005 - 4:30 PMI'd have to agree also... Pan was my favorite character... a perfect hedonist for TR's stories :D
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Tue, October 14, 2003 - 10:00 PMI hgave to agree with you, definitely my favorite!! I suspect growing up with a Muslim mother and Jewish father had to help, but I loved the things the story made me think about. Jitterbug Perfume and Still Life would be my other favorites. I have to admit Half Asleep and Fierce Invalids were a little less to my liking. -
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Tue, October 21, 2003 - 3:42 AMjitterbug perfume, then still life with woodpecker, then even cowgirls. stinky immortal sex, redhead outlaw princess sex, lesbian cowgirl high hitchhiking sex. yum.....
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Mon, October 27, 2003 - 5:43 PMI have a theory that 95% of people's favorite is the first TR book they read. Mine was/is Still Life with Woodpecker. -
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Sun, November 2, 2003 - 12:53 AMGuess i'm in the 5% left over. Read Still Life first, but Jitterbug would have to be my favorite. Skinny Legs a close second.
I simply love the treatment of immortality and other topics. I need to re-read all of them again soon... it's been several years. -
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Tue, November 18, 2003 - 8:50 PM"I have a theory that 95% of people's favorite is the first TR book they read. Mine was/is Still Life with Woodpecker. "
thats my first/favorite so far although i havent read them all yet....i wasnt too into another roadside attraction...
skinny legs and all is a close second -
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Fri, November 21, 2003 - 11:09 AMthe first TR book i read was jitterbug perfume and i initially liked it more than the next 3 i read (roadside attract, woodpecker, & frog pajamas)but as time went on i think my 1st TR book bias wore off..now 5 years later, the one that i still embrace the most is another roadside attraction. i've enjoyed them all immensely, but ARA certainly takes the cake.
my order is like this (of the ones i've read)
1. roadside 2. Fierce Invalids 3. Jitterbug 4. Woodpecker 5. Skinny legs 6. cowgirls 7. frog pajamas
i have yet to read villa incognito...is it good? i'm not sure why i haven't gotten around to reading it yet.
Lisa, i swear i'm not following you from tribe to tribe! -
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Unsu...
Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Fri, November 21, 2003 - 7:19 PMtie between even cowgirls get the blues (when are they going to release this opn DVD!!) and of course, still life with woodpecker.
sometime when I actaulyl have time Im going to reread skinny legs. I remember it taking me several tries before I actually got into it.
one book I just couldn't find myself caring about was half asleep...Im not exactly sure why but I read it as fast I could just to have it be over.
yet tom robbins is still my fave author
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Mon, June 20, 2005 - 4:10 PMI just read Villa Incognito last year, and I was disappointed by it...seemed like a good premise, but it felt like TR got lazy and just wrapped it all up too quickly and sloppily. It seemed like it could have been twice as long and more fleshed-out...makes me wonder if he was under some sort of publishing deadline.
When I'm in more cynical moods, I think it reads like it was written by a TR ghostwriter who is a huge TR fan...it has all the classic TR features: Mystical/mythical animal, check. Beautiful, enigmatic female protagonist, check. Historical/sociological survey course, check. This
last aspect was the weakest bit, though, as though he just went off his personal knowledge and didn't do much research. -
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Thu, June 23, 2005 - 8:46 AM>I just read Villa Incognito last year, and I was disappointed by it...
I was the first time I read it as well, for many of the same reasons. However, any book that includes a major charachter with a clown fetish can't be that bad.
So, here's my list:
First read: Still Life - recommended to me (a redophile) by a friend (a redhead). NOT my favorite any more - I'd have to rank it 3rd least favorite, actually, but still - the worst TR book is better than the best John Grisham book, or anything on TV.
Favorite: Skinny Legs and All. The dance of the seven veils vs. Super Bowl conflict is brilliant, and the dance itself is so magical it's amazing that it can be conveyed by mere words. It also has what I think is the most intriguing charachter - Turn Around Norman. What ever happened to him?
Second: And close at that, is Cowgirls. My favorite charachter in any book ever is in it; the Chink. How could it be otherwise?
Third: Again, close. Half Asleep. Some readers don't like that Gwen doesn't get it, but me, I like that. Some people DON'T get it, maybe because they can't, maybe 'cause they're scared. But life continues to be weird and fun despite such folk. Love it.
The rest: Fierce Invalids (can't help but love Switters), then Jitterbug Perfume (I love Pan, and Bingo Pajama, and Huxley Ann), Still Life, Villa Incognito, then Roadside Attraction (it was just missing something. Not sure what, but something).
Hmm. Rereading this post I'll have to start a new thread on Charachters........
Otter
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Thu, July 1, 2004 - 12:58 PMThere may be something to that theory. The first book I read was Fierce Invalids and I connected to it so strongly. His irreverent world view was right on and hilarious. I definately still consider it my favorite even though I have read all of his books now.
I guess my order would be:
1. Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
2. Another Roadside Attraction (mushrooms, flea circus and a hot dog stand made me want to start my own!)
3. Still Life with Woodpecker
4. Jitterbug Perfume
5. Skinny Legs and All
6. Even Cowgirls get the Blues
7. Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
8. Villa Incognito
What am I missing?
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Fri, November 21, 2003 - 11:03 PMI'd have to agree. The first one I read was "Jitterbug Perfume", and it's still my favorite. All the themes of the book just fit so perfectly with my mindset at the time. Tom Robbins was and still is somehow able to look into my head and see how I feel about things, and then put it down on paper. If he was the preacher, honey, I'd go to church every damn Sunday! -
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Fri, November 21, 2003 - 11:11 PMi read skinny legs and all right before i started this semester of classes and lucky for me tom talked a bunch of stuff related to my world civ classs.....great timing and helped me get an A -
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Wed, December 3, 2003 - 7:27 PMMine is Still Life, and yes, it was the first TR book I read. -
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Unsu...
Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Thu, December 4, 2003 - 4:31 PMJitterbug perfume was y far my favorite though not my first. I enjoyed it because many of the themes were topics I was exploring at the time. Named my first ferret Bingo Pajama from that book.
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Thu, July 1, 2004 - 1:06 PMMine's absolutely Another Roadside Attraction. Plucky's find rocks my world, and I love it. -
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Thu, July 1, 2004 - 3:37 PMI have a counter theory. Rather the the first TR book I read being my fave. Its the last, I just re-read Another Roadside Attraction and it was like finding a long forgotten friend. Right now its my fave but I bet that will change with my next re-read. I do have to say that I have not been able to really get into Half Asleep, or Fierce Invalids, and I worry that for me TR's output is lessening in personal resonance if not quality. -
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Unsu...
Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Fri, July 2, 2004 - 4:10 AMMy favorite book is Cowgirls, and yeah, it was the first one I read. (I can't seem to get into Half Asleep, or Fierce Invalids either).
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Mon, June 20, 2005 - 3:21 PMi can say all his books mesmerized me to new heights,,,still life was my first and for some time my fave,,but each one does it for me...i d have to say my least favorite would be half asleep...it was strong on theories which i liekd but didnt have as much mystical vibe as the others for me...and i was pleasantly surprised by fierce invalids it took me where ineeded to go...
all are classic and can be read multiple times..hes kind of the david lynch of writing...(a lot sweeter tho)
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Mon, June 20, 2005 - 4:03 PMHalf Asleep in Frog Pajamas is my runaway favorite, Still Life with Woodpecker and Skinny Legs and All are tied for second.
What I loved about HAIFP: It's set in Seattle, and his descriptions of the city and its environs are always vivid and accurate, the fact that it all takes place over the course of a 3-day weekend. I am sure there are other reasons, but I would need to re-read it to recall them. :) -
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Tue, June 21, 2005 - 2:43 PMI absolutely refuse to pick one favorite. Each one changed me differently. It's like trying to pick the favorite prism on a kaleidascope.
First read-Another Road.Attraction.
Current fav's to re-read: Fierce Invalids.
Not impressed-Half Asleep.
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Thu, September 15, 2005 - 12:06 AMalright, i'm just shocked at what people are saying about frogs pajama's. it was my first, and i really loved it. first book i ever read twice.
but my fav. is still Jitterbug. its that whole live forever thing. and... the smell thing. oh ya... and just the visuals of Marti Gras. its been like 3 years since i read it, and i STILL remember that sh*#t. and thats a big deal with my *cronic forgetfulness.
I was LESS THAN impressed by Cow Girls. i only read it through cuz it was Tom Robbins and well... like sex- bad Tom Robbins is still Tom Robbins... ok thats drastic. it wasn't bad. just not- the others.
now which one of us geeks wants to take a tally for the vote of favorite/ least fav. TR books from this thread? lol.
t.
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Mon, September 26, 2005 - 12:11 PMwow tough call tho id have to say still life..it was my first and i instantly clicked with it...the moon and the twisted love tale bathed in dark humor...ya!~ ive also read this one the most times,,,
tho i really relate to prisicilla in jitterbug and of course switters in fierce invalids...and yay for inanimate objects having huge vibrational frequencies(skinny legs) and lets not forget my favorite jesus tale another roadsude,,, so tho i pick woodpecker for nostagia its hard to truly pick just one...
true robbins geek:)
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Sat, October 29, 2005 - 11:14 PMTo me, Cowgirls has to take the cake. It was not so much the context of the novel as the circumstances under which it was read, or heard rather.
You see, It was my first T.R. novel. And I listened to it as a book-on-tape while I was making my great adventurous move from Florida to California in 1996. I took the entire month of April to make this move. I wanted to see the country, absorb its various aromas and cultures, and generally cleanse myself of the redneck mulletude of the South.
And so, Cowgirls was the perfect fit for the enchantment that I experienced in the American Southwest. It was a perfect marriage: like cigarettes and coffee, peyote and Taoism, alcoholism and Republican stupidity.
My eyes were opened on many different levels when I moved out west, both by this wonderful novel and by the move itself. I listened to several other books on tape during this journey. But Cowgirls definitely took the crown in the annals of my memory.
I will always treasure this book. It led me to reading almost all of the other TR novels. The choicest one that I read in print was "Skinny Legs and All" because I felt it went to the greatest depth of all. It was certainly a big help to me in emancipating myself of the angst and bondage of Catholicism once and for all.
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Re: Fave TR Book--Why?
Wed, November 2, 2005 - 12:39 PMhmmm....that's hard...fave book is probably Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (which was the first one I read)...I think the reason I loved it was that the female lead starts out as such a hopeless snobby bitch but by the end her whole outlook has changed...plus I love/hate the cliffhanger ending...
favorite scene from a TR book: The first 100 pages of Fierce Invalids
favorite characters: Princess Leigh-Cherie, Amanda, Spike, and the chink
favorite quote: "There are two kinds of people in this world; those who think there are two kinds of people and those who are smart enough to know better"
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Thanks everyone!
Tue, July 18, 2006 - 12:21 PMHi everyone,
I just found this tribe last night to look at what people's favorite TR books are, so I could pick up some more good reading. After checking out everyone's posts, not being able to narrow it down, I decided to just get the rest. (Joy!)
My favorite is Another Roadside Attraction (I love the Amanda Character), followed closely by Still Life with Woodpecker. I think I read Half Asleep in Frogs Pajamas first (must have been ten years ago), and wasn't that into it. Thankfully a friend of mine lent me a copy and strongly urged me to read Another Roadside Attraction, which rocked my world.
I just ordered the following from Alibris, they were $3 a piece plus shipping!!
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates
Skinny Legs and All
Jitterbug Perfume
Can't wait to see them on my doorstep!! Now the tough choice will be what to read first... guess I'll just go with whatever gets here first :) Thanks again!
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Re: Thanks everyone!
Wed, July 19, 2006 - 5:57 PMfavorite book: definately fierce invalids. it's the most recent addition to my collection. tanukis was very post-9/11. i thought that one was a short response to the naive globality of invalids but that's why i liked invalids: very pre-post-9/11; in other words, clintonesque, the good ol days. nuns guns and drugs.
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