Villa Incognito (original 2003; edition 2004)

I wouldn't say this book displayed less of Robbin's talent for satiric fantasy than some of his earlier work. It's simply (I suspect) that we've become accustomed to his longer works (Cowgirls), and this is a return to the economy of his much earlier work, Still Life With Woodpecker. The book shines with Robbin's language, reflections on philosophy science and history, and flights of imagination. Plot and character are really secondary, but carry the story forward well enough. Call it a novella, rather than a novel, and it becomes a much more satisfying read. ( )

I stopped reading Tom Robbins in the 90s. What had enraptured me about him in my teens and twenties seemed to have dried up and gone flakey, but I remembered with much love my time spent with Woodpecker and Sissy, among others. It was just chance someone loaned me this book (far too many months go) and at last I've read it.

What a lark! Oh, I'm sure some would talk about the depth and philosophy, the commentary and truth and whatnot, but that's not what I like. I like the fanciful shaping of events, the hopping from this odd vantage point to that. I like the lightness of it. I like the fun.

What was it about? Tanuki and tanukis, America, experiments, and running from the Gods of Bullshit. It's about taking disaster in one's hands to move on and falling into deep gorges. It's about endless knock-knock jokes, Southeast Asia, walking on a wire, going missing on purpose, love, appetite, and chrysanthemums. I may have just spoiled the whole book right there, but read it anyway. ( )

I haven't read Tom Robbins for a number of years and when I saw this book in the local used bookstore, I bought it. The first part was the typical Robbins book with weird characters, disjointed story, and strange random thoughts added -- all good points.

About halfway through the book began to falter. The end was a bit of a disappointment because hings fit together, but much too neatly considering the first half.

If this is typical of his more recent work (last 20 years), I'll stick with reading his older books. Definitely not his best work. ( )

Salvation Army, 11/11/11, $2.00

This was not my favourite Tom Robbins book by a long shot. Although there were sections that I found rather enjoyable, as a whole, as it did with other reviewers, this fell rather flat with me. It felt very disjointed and this caused me to take a lot longer to finish reading it than it should have. ( )