I did NOT like this book. Couldn't even get into it. Didn't finish. NO stars for this one!

Um, okay. I know people dig on Tom Robbins. And I know that his work was formative for a lot of folks (shit, Dune, which I recently finished reading for the tenth time was formative for me, I've got no pride here). But ever since I decided to read Skinny Legs and All immediately after reading Still Life with Woodpecker, I realised that—to me, at least—one of his books was as good as another.Constant themes: The Mysteries of Womanhood, finding your place with the earth, ever the traveller, damn the man, moon blood, cunts and sexin', Everything is Connected and ain't we quirky.I didn't even skim The Mysterious Island, which I hated with a passion. Yet, I totally started skimming this one about halfway through, because I'd read it before, just with a different coat of paint. ( )

I loved this book. Very easy read with lots of feminist musings. The narration is interesting and I like the moves between following the story line and the short writing on other subjects. Often times the narrator is directly addressing the reader. There is a lot of movement in the writing, which fits nicely into the hitchhiking theme. ( )

A Classic! ( )

Sissy Hankshaw, who was born with extremely large thumbs sees them not as a deformity, but as a way to a more exciting life. I really liked the random chapters that delve into the more straightforward philosophical side of Tom Robbins (i.e. the piano keys chapter). The rest of the book is extremely fast paced and a little complex, but in general I liked it. The controversy surrounding this book and the author made it much more interesting to me, and was one of the reasons I picked up this book.