So, according to Amazon.com, Tom Robbins’ newest book should be coming out this month.
Are there any Tom Robbins fans out there who plan to pick it up and read it right away?
Me, I just might wait. I used to rush right out and grab a copy of his latest hardback, but ever since his last two novels (Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas and Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates), I’ve been fairly disappointed.
Usually (beginning, years ago, with Still Life with Woodpecker) I enjoy his creative wording and funny plots; and even though I don’t agree with his somewhat simplistic and, well… silly ideas concerning government, cultures and religions, he normally has such a fun way of writing them that I enjoy the book regardless.
But lately, and with his last two books? Dude, I almost feel as if he’s trying too hard to come across as “counter-culture.” Sure, the second-person viewpoint of Half Asleep was fun, but the whole alien/Bobo thing was just too Raelian. And really, the viewpoint didn’t come across as bold so much as gimmicky.
And, to tell the truth, I was pretty much bored by Fierce Invalids. Of course, that maybe my fault as I don’t care too much for his male protagonists. His females are much more fun to read, for some reason.
This is the first I’ve heard of a new Tom Robbins’ book coming out. I think I’ll wait for it to hit paperback, or for my library to get a copy.
I don’t think I even made it all the way through Fierce Invalids. I just couldn’t get into it, which is a shame because when he’s on, he’s pretty much my favourite writer. Or was, anyway.
Pipeliner: exactly. When he’s on, he’s on. But it seems like he’s so rarely on these days.
I still think he’s worth a paperback buy, of course. And, as a writer, he’s still leaps and bounds ahead of a lot of the other authors out there. Villa Incognito sounds interesting, so I hope it turns out as such.
I heard Tom Robbins read from Still Life with Woodpecker before it was published (and one of the chapters he read from didn’t make the cut into the book, so I got to hear some of his never-published work).
But my point is… he was quick, clever and refreshing. In the Q&A session, a student asked him (in that whiny freshman voice), “Mr. Robbins, of all your books, which is your favorite?” Without mising a beat (I’m sure he’d delivered the line before) he soberly replied, “Gone With The Wind. An early work, but I think it’s held up. Next question?”
I’m crossing my fingers he can once again be that witty in print.
Of all the print interviews with Robbins that I’ve read, he does indeed come across as very, very witty, digs. He speaks, it seems, much like he writes. (Given the articles that I’ve read, that is.)
Dale Kirby’s AFTRLife has a few written responses of his.