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Very disappointing. Thought this was a novel by Tom Robbins but it's just a collection of past magazine articles etc.
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Wild Ducks Flying Backward
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Known for his meaty seriocomic novels, Tom Robbins’s shorter work has appeared in publications ranging from Esquire to Harper’s , from Playboy to the New York Times . Collected here for the first time in paperback, the essays, articles, observations—and even some untypical country-music lyrics—offer a rare overview of the eclectic sensibility of an American original.
Whether rocking with the Doors, depoliticizing Picasso’s Guernica, lamenting the angst-ridden state of contemporary literature, or drooling over tomato sandwiches and a species of womanhood he calls “the genius waitress,” Tom Robbins’s briefer writings exhibit the five traits that perhaps best characterize his an imaginative wit, a cheerfully brash disregard for convention, a sweetly nasty eroticism, a mystical but keenly observant eye, and an irrepressible love of language. Embedded in this primarily journalistic compilation are brand-new short stories, a sheaf of largely unpublished poems, and an offbeat assessment of our divided nation. Wherever you open Wild Ducks Flying Backward , you’ll encounter the serious playfulness that percolates from the mind of a self-described “romantic Zen hedonist” and “stray dog in the banquet halls of culture.”
Whether rocking with the Doors, depoliticizing Picasso’s Guernica, lamenting the angst-ridden state of contemporary literature, or drooling over tomato sandwiches and a species of womanhood he calls “the genius waitress,” Tom Robbins’s briefer writings exhibit the five traits that perhaps best characterize his an imaginative wit, a cheerfully brash disregard for convention, a sweetly nasty eroticism, a mystical but keenly observant eye, and an irrepressible love of language. Embedded in this primarily journalistic compilation are brand-new short stories, a sheaf of largely unpublished poems, and an offbeat assessment of our divided nation. Wherever you open Wild Ducks Flying Backward , you’ll encounter the serious playfulness that percolates from the mind of a self-described “romantic Zen hedonist” and “stray dog in the banquet halls of culture.”
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,2005
This edition
- Format
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272 pages, Paperback
- Published
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August 29, 2006 by Random House Publishing Group
- ISBN
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9780553383539
- ASIN
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0553383531
- Language
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English
About the author
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Thomas Eugene Robbins was an American novelist. His most notable works are "seriocomedies" (also known as "comedy dramas"). Robbins lived in La Conner, Washington from 1970, where he wrote nine of his books. His 1976 novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues was adapted into the 1993 film version by Gus Van Sant. His last work, published in 2014, was Tibetan Peach Pie, a self-declared "un-memoir".
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Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
41(41%)
4 stars
31(31%)
3 stars
28(28%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
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100 reviews All reviews
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Hedonistic to middling. Hit and Zen.
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“[…] It’s particularly significant at a time when the population is threatened by a potentially deadly epidemic of mythological origin. The plague to which I refer is not AIDS but millennialism.”
Been reading this at work and storing it in my little cubby. Enjoyed! I think Tom Robbins is a fantastic writer.
The genius in some of his articles here is brilliant.
Been reading this at work and storing it in my little cubby. Enjoyed! I think Tom Robbins is a fantastic writer.
The genius in some of his articles here is brilliant.
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Tom Robbins never wrote a bad book
LOVED this book. I have been rigorously laughing out loud through a goodly portion of this book and trying (very trying-to my husband) to explain my hilarity -as he's attempting his own novel illluminations (both puns intended), burrowing into his own book! Read this book-just sit back with no preconceptions and let Tom Robbins take you on several trips of his imagination. It's like riding a roller coaster. Sometimes you don't know what to think. Other times you are snorting, because you are laughing so hard. Sometimes I was sobered by the complexity of Mr Robbins mind and Ethics. This book is FUN-with traces of philosophy, psychology, absurdity, politics, and even includes a discourse of the personalities of letters of the alphabet! Have fun!
LOVED this book. I have been rigorously laughing out loud through a goodly portion of this book and trying (very trying-to my husband) to explain my hilarity -as he's attempting his own novel illluminations (both puns intended), burrowing into his own book! Read this book-just sit back with no preconceptions and let Tom Robbins take you on several trips of his imagination. It's like riding a roller coaster. Sometimes you don't know what to think. Other times you are snorting, because you are laughing so hard. Sometimes I was sobered by the complexity of Mr Robbins mind and Ethics. This book is FUN-with traces of philosophy, psychology, absurdity, politics, and even includes a discourse of the personalities of letters of the alphabet! Have fun!
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Read this book’s introduction. If this doesn’t compel you to read it, I definitely can’t.
That said, this is not a Tom Robbins novel - and thus cannot and is not to be compared with Robbins’ novels. As happens with almost all collections of essays/short stories etc., some I loved, some I liked, some not so much. Overall, Robbins does not disappoint even in a collection of essays, tributes and critiques. His imagination is fathomless and wild, his love of language unparalleled, and his witty, sarcastic and/or nastily erotic remarks on oh so many different subjects made me smile and sometimes even laugh under my mask while reading on the tube.
Particularly loved the “Lost in Translation”, “Till Lunch do is part”, “What is art and if we know what art is, what is politics?”, “Are you ready for the new urban fragrances?”, “What is the function of metaphor?”, “Are you a realist?”, “Slipper Sipping”, “Kissing”, as well as his tributes to the Doors, Leonard Cohen, Thomas Pynchon and Debra Winger.
That said, this is not a Tom Robbins novel - and thus cannot and is not to be compared with Robbins’ novels. As happens with almost all collections of essays/short stories etc., some I loved, some I liked, some not so much. Overall, Robbins does not disappoint even in a collection of essays, tributes and critiques. His imagination is fathomless and wild, his love of language unparalleled, and his witty, sarcastic and/or nastily erotic remarks on oh so many different subjects made me smile and sometimes even laugh under my mask while reading on the tube.
Particularly loved the “Lost in Translation”, “Till Lunch do is part”, “What is art and if we know what art is, what is politics?”, “Are you ready for the new urban fragrances?”, “What is the function of metaphor?”, “Are you a realist?”, “Slipper Sipping”, “Kissing”, as well as his tributes to the Doors, Leonard Cohen, Thomas Pynchon and Debra Winger.
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DNF at 60%. The descriptive writing of Robbins is still good, but I don't know if it's just his short writings or if his novels would be so strikingly sexist and pretentious if I read them again now. I'm much less likely to after trying to force my way through this book, though.
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"Ο σκοπός μας είναι να εξελισσομαστε συνειδητά και σκόπιμα προς μια πιο σοφή, πιο απελευθερωμενη και πιο φωτεινή κατάσταση υπαρξης. Να επιστρέψουμε στην Εδέμ, να συμφιλιωθουμε με το φίδι και να στήσουμε τους υπολογιστές μας ανάμεσα σε άγριες μηλιές. "
Αυτό είναι ένα από τα πολλά αποφθέγματα που περιλαμβάνονται μέσα στο βιβλίο αυτό από αυτον τον τρελό τύπο που δυσκολεύεσαι να τον καταλάβεις, αλλά δε μπορείς να σταματήσεις να τον διαβάζεις.
Νομιζω πως αυτό το βιβλίο είναι η καλύτερη δυνατή εισαγωγή για κάποιον που δεν έχει ξαναδιαβάσει Ρόμπινς. Περιέχει μέσα άρθρα του που δημοσιεύτηκαν σε εφημερίδες και περιοδικά, σχετικά με τις άπειρες και εξαιρετικά απίθανες ταξιδιωτικές του εμπειρίες, τα αγαπημένα του καλλιτεχνικά και όχι μόνο πρόσωπα που τον επηρέασαν, ανέκδοτα ποιήματα, ακόμη και μια ιδέα για σενάριο ταινίας!!
Είναι με λίγα λόγια ο, τι πρέπει για να μπει κανείς στην περίεργη ιδιοσυγκρασια του Ρόμπινς και να πάρει μια γεύση από το τι σημαίνει να ζεις στο μυαλό του. Απολαυστικό. 3.5 ⭐
Αυτό είναι ένα από τα πολλά αποφθέγματα που περιλαμβάνονται μέσα στο βιβλίο αυτό από αυτον τον τρελό τύπο που δυσκολεύεσαι να τον καταλάβεις, αλλά δε μπορείς να σταματήσεις να τον διαβάζεις.
Νομιζω πως αυτό το βιβλίο είναι η καλύτερη δυνατή εισαγωγή για κάποιον που δεν έχει ξαναδιαβάσει Ρόμπινς. Περιέχει μέσα άρθρα του που δημοσιεύτηκαν σε εφημερίδες και περιοδικά, σχετικά με τις άπειρες και εξαιρετικά απίθανες ταξιδιωτικές του εμπειρίες, τα αγαπημένα του καλλιτεχνικά και όχι μόνο πρόσωπα που τον επηρέασαν, ανέκδοτα ποιήματα, ακόμη και μια ιδέα για σενάριο ταινίας!!
Είναι με λίγα λόγια ο, τι πρέπει για να μπει κανείς στην περίεργη ιδιοσυγκρασια του Ρόμπινς και να πάρει μια γεύση από το τι σημαίνει να ζεις στο μυαλό του. Απολαυστικό. 3.5 ⭐
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Delightful word-play, as always, but my appreciation of many of these essays/musings/exaltations was hampered by not knowing who or what Robbins wrote about. "Slipper Sipping," "Kissing," and "Write About One of Your Favorite Things" were preferred. Two stories in particular reminded me of friends. Too many good lines bookmarked in this one to bother retyping here.
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