And what do you think, Mr. Robbins?

No, I had no idea what the title meant when I picked up this book from the local library. And no, I was not a long time fan of the author when I heard of his death and found that I had two of his paperbacks ready to go: “Another Roadside Attraction” (his first novel), and “Jitterbug Perfume” (catchy titles, I think). But I knew his name. I had seen the books and I knew that someone was actually insane enough to make a film out of his “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,” a film starring Uma Thurman as a hitchhiker with a very generous length of thumb (no, it was not a hit). And I stayed away from them all. My feeling was that Mr. Tom Robbins belonged to that interesting clique of writers from the late sixties that once had the ear of the zeitgeist, but soon lost it when people realized that they had nothing else to say (reviewing the remainder pile of the local bookstores has become an unmerciful duty). There was no place in my life for books on hippies, the counterculture that failed, and the false promise of psychedelics.

But, he had passed away.

He had the ear of people that I still respected.

And I had time to look at something brief.

Something short and simple.

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You are what you think you eat. – Ray Kroc (Piece written for Esquire, 1983)

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I use that quote to prove that he was not just a dinosaur of a different age. He really did understand the American scene and this collection of short pieces became a very close friend as I worked my way through the summer.

The chapters are divided up into “Travel Articles”, “Tributes”, “Stories”, “Poems & Lyrics”, “Musings & Critiques”, and “Responses”. And I had a problem deciding which section I loved the most.

I will include three more quotes for you to make a choice:

There were craters and slumps, stacks and slides, alkali lakes and sand dunes, gorges and passes, fossil beds, dust devils, and enormous ragged buttes that could have been cruise ships for honeymooning trolls. (Canyon of the Vaginas)

And then this:

It must be really irritating to have come of age in the 1980's or 90's to find your decade - your very own historical moment - persistently overshadowed by The Decade That Will Not Die, the ten years that have stolen the show of the twentieth century and hogged the cultural limelight for as long as you can recall. (The Sixties)

And finally…

Our great human adventure is the evolution of consciousness. We are in this life to enlarge the soul, liberate the spirit, and light up the brain.

How many writers of fiction do you think are committed to that? (Is the Writer Obligated to Use His/Her Medium as an Instrument for Social Betterment?)

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A writer who passes up any opportunity to refresh his language is not a writer you can expect to meet in Heaven.– Author’s Note (on the final page)

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I did have a feeling that this book was a way for the writer to have the last laugh (it was published in 2005, making it near enough to his last work to be a sendoff). The final section does have the whiff of a man who wants to put his affairs in order while reviewing all the lessons learned in this life. And I loved the ride.

Okay, usually I try to give you some biographical information about the writer as I breakdown what to expect from their work, but Tom Robbins deserves to be a surprise for those of you who, just like me, knew the name and not the work.

I am staring down my copy of “Another Roadside Attraction” as I read this, and I expect all the side trips, drug use, ridiculous lyrics and poetry, assessments of figures in the hoi polloi and that vivid vocabulary to be all over its pages.

This is going to be a very exciting ride.

Wanna join me?

*

From the epigraph page (says it all):

“Your true guide drinks from an undammed stream.” – Rumi

“Never enter a house that does not have furniture music.” – Erik Satie

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Thank you for reading!

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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