# Tom Robbins' "Villa Incognito"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-robbins-villa-incognito/165986
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 2, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-robbins-villa-incognito/165986 "2003-04-02T16:40:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-robbins-villa-incognito/165986/1 "2003-04-02T16:40:21Z")
So, according to [Amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553803328/qid=1049300815/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/104-7892814-5649518?v=glance&s=books&n=507846#product-details), 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](http://www.rael.org/). 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.
Anyway, what are your thoughts?
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### Author:  [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-robbins-villa-incognito/165986/2 "2003-04-02T16:55:24Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-robbins-villa-incognito/165986/3 "2003-04-02T17:01:15Z")
**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.
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### Author:  [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-robbins-villa-incognito/165986/4 "2003-04-02T17:05:29Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-robbins-villa-incognito/165986/5 "2003-04-02T17:21:20Z")
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](http://www.rain.org/~da5e/trq1102.html) has a few written responses of his.