Villa Skinny Frog Girls Perfume

[IrishEyes]

If you figure out what all of the words in the title of this thread have in common, you'll get some REP from the author of this post. The first person that can tell me will get the points.

[CraigD]

They’re all found in Tom Robbins’s recent novel “Villa Incogneto”?

If I’m right, Google should get the props, not me – While I’ve read and loved several Robbins novels, especially “Even Cowgirls”, I’ve not read this one.

[CraigD]

... what I would really like to know is whatever happened to Tom DeHaven.

He wrote a brilliant novel before or around the turn of the 1980s, "Freaks Amore", that was very much in the Robbins vein, then seemed to fade into total obscurity. An author by the same name, perhaps the same person, now seems known for wild young adult fiction, but I can find no connection to his 20+ year old novel. Web searches seems to turn up mostly Italian porn (?!), nothing at all about a novel involving mass mutations, telepathy, microwave ovens, hallucinogenic fish eggs, space travel, and, yes, pornographic employment involving all of the above.

[IrishEyes]

Well, you're kinda right, Craig. They are all words from titles of Robbin's novels...
And I adore him as well. I'm reading "Villa Incognito" (as well as about 4 other non-related books) right now, and am enjoying it. He is one of the few writers that I absolutely MUST put down. Normally, I simply inhale books. I mean that I can literally read two regular-sized novels a day without any major problems, and still manage to do the daily house stuff, including the homeschooling. I think my ultimate job would be as a book reviewer, or possibly as an editor. But I digress.
I simply will not allow myself to consume a Robbins novel in the same fashion. I must savor it. I must enjoy it. I must take the time to breathe between each new side-splitting metaphor. So it usually takes me at least a week to read one of his books. And that really is way too fast still! There should be a 10 sentence limit at a time, for fear of overdose.
Anyhow, you get the points, man. Have you read Jitterbug Perfume yet?

[CraigD]

Originally Posted by IrishEyes

Normally, I simply inhale books. I mean that I can literally read two regular-sized novels a day without any major problems, and still manage to do the daily house stuff, including the homeschooling

Impressive. Even at my max, I never quite reached your reading rate. These days, I read 40-70 novel’s worth of fiction a year, much of it short.

Have you read Jitterbug Perfume yet?

No, but I likely will soon. I really need to catch up on Robbins and a lot of other old favorite writers - I haven't read him in decades!

Since around 1997, my choice of books has been restricted by a desire to read as much in electronic edition as possible. Since mainstream publishers tend to overcharge obscenely for e-books (a Robbins e-novel costs about $9, not a lot more, inflation adjusted, than it cost in its original trade paperback), I’ve tended to read a lot of e-only, self-e-published, Creative Commons licensing, etc. writers, many very obscure, many very poor, a few obscure but wonderful.

[Buffy]

Originally Posted by IrishEyes

Well, you're kinda right, Craig. They are all words from titles of Robbin's novels...

Boy, is *that* all, Irish? You got me all worked up for the last two days, having seen Craig's response, I was wracking my brain for some secret alternative meaning.

I neet to catch up on Tom Robbins too. Even Cowgirls was my bible in high school...

Big Thumbed,
Buffy

[IrishEyes]

Originally Posted by Buffy

I neet to catch up on Tom Robbins too. Even Cowgirls was my bible in high school...

That's the only one they've made a movie of so far. Frankly, I find that too bad. Though it was very good, I think he has written some better stuff.
I've read everything by him except 'Fierce Invalids'. I took it with me to pensacola earlier this summer, intending for it to be my slooooooow beach book. However, on the second day, we got a fierce summer thunderstorm, and it caught the brunt of it. I still haven't replaced it. Instead, I bought "Villa Incognito".
I finished that one last week. As for a review...
If you LOVE stuff by him, you won't be disappointed. However, it was not one of my favorites. I felt like the story was left unfinished, and too many questions went unanswered. Normally, I enjoy a book that lets me fill in the blanks. however, with his books, there are just so many blanks, and some of them just can't be filled except by him, at least to my satisfaction. So, not a bad read at all, well worth the time, but it wasn't my favorite by him.
As you may have noticed, I adored "Jitterbug Perfume". "Still Life With Woodpecker" is also at the top of my list. "Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas" was amazing. Those are probably my top three. But then again, "Skinny Legs" was quite good as well.
Hmmm. maybe I need to re-read them all and come up with something more definitive, eh?

Happy reading!!
Irish