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olicooper's review against another edition
2.0
So, originally picked this up without reading a synopsis or summary. I didn’t realize this is his memoir. I knew I read one of his novels, and just saw a sale tag with a book with Robbins name on the cover. This, is absolutely my fault. However, being me, once I start a book, it’s really hard to not finish it. This wasn’t so bad, but it just didn’t hold my interest throughout.
I would recommend this book only to die-hard Tom Robbins fans that are absolutely interested is a heap of stories that occur throughout his life. There isn’t much tying this all together, and reads rather like a disorganized, scattered, string of stories the drunk at the bar is relaying to make sure you know he is someone special. Don’t get me wrong, he is… it just gets a little tiring and I absolutely don’t care to hear one more Tommy Rotten story (SO many stories involving him with his childhood nickname, goofing off in school, wining a raffle out of sheer want and will, blah blah blah).
Robbins has been involved with a wide array of colorful characters, and tastes a bit of every walk of life. He included stories from growing up in the Depression, being involved with the beatniks, dropping acid before that became a scene; certainly he has had an interesting life. Some tales were memorable, funny, and/or charming: that time him and some buddies invented a cocktail mostly consisting of mayonnaise, the time he takes his first acid trip, the time Alan Ginsberg kissed him, the time he corrected gang members’ misspelling of their graffiti of their own name, etc.
I did love when he was talking about putting on some “happenings,” which essentially amount to performance art pieces. When one thinks of performance art, one may come to the conclusion that the folks putting on the piece take themselves too seriously. Well, Robbins doesn’t. And that makes those stories great. After a performer doesn’t show up, he has to improvise: lighting some money on fire, adding honey to the mixture, and eating it, all to the tune of some old fashioned Americana folk music. And the people love it. It’s controversial! It’s provocative! It’s hilarious… is what it is. He spins this tale, as he just wings all this shit. Never taking it or himself seriously, and the audience is never in on the joke.
Overall, Robbins is a great writer—descriptive writing, fierce wit—and I’d love to take a crack at another of his novels; though, this random collection of various events in his life just doesn’t compel me to devour the pages like I might with his fiction. I mentioned earlier how this reads like the drunk at the bar telling his life story, but I don’t think I’d be opposed to listening to that guy tell one or two of these tales over a beer or two. There is some good stuff in here, I just think you REALLY have to love the guy to want to read (or enjoy) the lot of it.
I would recommend this book only to die-hard Tom Robbins fans that are absolutely interested is a heap of stories that occur throughout his life. There isn’t much tying this all together, and reads rather like a disorganized, scattered, string of stories the drunk at the bar is relaying to make sure you know he is someone special. Don’t get me wrong, he is… it just gets a little tiring and I absolutely don’t care to hear one more Tommy Rotten story (SO many stories involving him with his childhood nickname, goofing off in school, wining a raffle out of sheer want and will, blah blah blah).
Robbins has been involved with a wide array of colorful characters, and tastes a bit of every walk of life. He included stories from growing up in the Depression, being involved with the beatniks, dropping acid before that became a scene; certainly he has had an interesting life. Some tales were memorable, funny, and/or charming: that time him and some buddies invented a cocktail mostly consisting of mayonnaise, the time he takes his first acid trip, the time Alan Ginsberg kissed him, the time he corrected gang members’ misspelling of their graffiti of their own name, etc.
I did love when he was talking about putting on some “happenings,” which essentially amount to performance art pieces. When one thinks of performance art, one may come to the conclusion that the folks putting on the piece take themselves too seriously. Well, Robbins doesn’t. And that makes those stories great. After a performer doesn’t show up, he has to improvise: lighting some money on fire, adding honey to the mixture, and eating it, all to the tune of some old fashioned Americana folk music. And the people love it. It’s controversial! It’s provocative! It’s hilarious… is what it is. He spins this tale, as he just wings all this shit. Never taking it or himself seriously, and the audience is never in on the joke.
Overall, Robbins is a great writer—descriptive writing, fierce wit—and I’d love to take a crack at another of his novels; though, this random collection of various events in his life just doesn’t compel me to devour the pages like I might with his fiction. I mentioned earlier how this reads like the drunk at the bar telling his life story, but I don’t think I’d be opposed to listening to that guy tell one or two of these tales over a beer or two. There is some good stuff in here, I just think you REALLY have to love the guy to want to read (or enjoy) the lot of it.
whtbout2ndbrkfst's review against another edition
3.0
Tom Robbins has an amazing way with words but there’s was just something lacking about this collection of stories. Some were great but a number of them I found to be mediocre, and the sprinkled in misogyny didn’t help. I did enjoy hearing about his writing/publishing process and how different novels came to be.
melledotca's review against another edition
4.0
Mostly minus a star due to the frustration of knowing there are SO MANY MORE stories...
discoball_z's review against another edition
3.0
While I loved the colorful stories, I think sometimes it's best you don't read memoirs or autobiographies about writers that you love. A few things that he wrote left kind of a bad taste in my mouth. Some opinions I could have gone without knowing I guess.
karenreads1000s's review against another edition
3.0
I'm so glad I read one of Mr. Robbins fiction books before this autobiography. I would have been quite confused and probably frustrated without that understanding. It seems, though he knew he wanted to be a writer from a young age, he didn't come to fiction writing until later than most. His life is a bit unstructured for my taste and his travels mostly seem more dangerous than adventurous, but to each their own.
marie_gg's review against another edition
3.0
http://mariesbookgarden.blogspot.com/2015/11/tibetan-peach-pie.html
If you've ever read Tom Robbins, you're well familiar with his gallivanting across the field of language and experience. This book, which he insists is not a memoir, is no different.
It's a series of hilarious essays on a variety of topics. Robbins' stories of his childhood growing up in Appalachia, through his growing-up years and colorful relationships, are highly entertaining. Drugs, of course, made things more colorful!
This book made me want to go back and re-read some of the novels that made such an impression on me in my 20s...Jitterbug Perfume, Another Roadside Attraction, and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Robbins is now in his 80s, but his voice and perspective (not to mention his author photo!) still seem to be in his 30s. Now he lives in quaint La Conner, Washington, a delightful spot. Wouldn't it be fun to go see him at a reading?
"A True Account of an Imaginative Life" of Tommy Rotten describes this book well.
If you've ever read Tom Robbins, you're well familiar with his gallivanting across the field of language and experience. This book, which he insists is not a memoir, is no different.
It's a series of hilarious essays on a variety of topics. Robbins' stories of his childhood growing up in Appalachia, through his growing-up years and colorful relationships, are highly entertaining. Drugs, of course, made things more colorful!
This book made me want to go back and re-read some of the novels that made such an impression on me in my 20s...Jitterbug Perfume, Another Roadside Attraction, and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Robbins is now in his 80s, but his voice and perspective (not to mention his author photo!) still seem to be in his 30s. Now he lives in quaint La Conner, Washington, a delightful spot. Wouldn't it be fun to go see him at a reading?
"A True Account of an Imaginative Life" of Tommy Rotten describes this book well.
nleetester's review against another edition
4.0
I love, love, love this guy's writing. This is just a compilation of life antecdotes, nothing fancy or profound, from childhood to the service and beyond. He's kooky and nutty and out there in the best possible way. Fun to read.
juliana_aldous's review against another edition
4.0
I've been playing a game lately that when I walk into a local library to pick up a book I have on hold I also randomly choose a letter and a number. I then go to both the fiction and biography section start at the beginning of that letter on the shelves (this time it was O) and then count out that number and then pick up the book it lands on to take home and try. I figure it might give me the chance to discover someone or something that I wouldn't have picked up on my own. I don't remember the number but there aren't a lot of "O"s in biography section in the Newcastle Library so that is how I landed in the R section and on Tom Robbin's memoir, Tibetan Peach Pie.
And I'm glad I did. My only exposure to Tom Robbins has been shelving his books in the eighties at Waldenbooks. I wasn't really the counter-culture type and the covers didn't appeal to me.
I was surprised and delighted to learn that he lives here in the region--up in La Connor and that he did a stint at our newspapers as a local reporter. And I fell for his description of Seattle and its greenness as well as his descriptions of the counter-culture that I didn't give a fig about when I was twenty but now at 49 I can appreciate.
And despite my reservations--he is exactly the kind of writer I enjoy--wonderful prose with a poke in the eye humor. So I purchased a copy of Still Life With Woodpecker despite the fact that I've never liked the cover.
And I'm glad I did. My only exposure to Tom Robbins has been shelving his books in the eighties at Waldenbooks. I wasn't really the counter-culture type and the covers didn't appeal to me.
I was surprised and delighted to learn that he lives here in the region--up in La Connor and that he did a stint at our newspapers as a local reporter. And I fell for his description of Seattle and its greenness as well as his descriptions of the counter-culture that I didn't give a fig about when I was twenty but now at 49 I can appreciate.
And despite my reservations--he is exactly the kind of writer I enjoy--wonderful prose with a poke in the eye humor. So I purchased a copy of Still Life With Woodpecker despite the fact that I've never liked the cover.
aishaaj's review against another edition
4.0
3.5, rounded up. Definitely made me chuckle out loud several times, but I didn't learn anything substantial (except maybe that LSD sounds fun).
gabidmgomes's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0