Rating: 
Summary: Not a book to buy
Review: I feel I must say that I have purchased ALL this author's other works. However...The main character in this book possesses un-redeemable virtue when we learn, in the first 50 pages, that he lusted after his step-sister when she was 12 years old and he was 31. He keeps her training bra...she is now 16. He engages in sexual acts with her, including an under the table fondling at a family gathering. This is repulsive and inappropriate, and is not a passing fancy for the character, but is returned to again and again. If you want to read about child sexual-abuse, which this is, then try it. I'm just glad I borrowed my copy, and didn't pay for it. As a trained counsellor, I have told others to avoid and not purchase this book. I predict a short life on the lists, especially with women readers.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not Great
Review: Robbins still turns a phrase and twists metaphors like Britney Spears wiggles her belly button. However, this book was like X-mas after you've opened all the presents... you're real happy about the GI Joe, but you really wanted a ten-speed. Still he's funny as all hell and knows his subject inside an out - sure the main character Switters is an annoying, offensive, crash blow-hard. But I laughed. All things considered, a big improvement over his last book (Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas). I would strongly suggest Skinny Legs and All and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues before this one, though.
Rating: 
Summary: "Who, me?"
Review: I go out of my way NOT to think about religion. Tom Robbins offered me no choice! And I thank him for his diatribes, humor, and mostly, humor! Excellent story!!
Rating:
Summary: Wordsmith at Work
Review: After suffering through Jitterbug Perfume, Frog's Pajamas, and Skinny Legs and All, I was thrilled to find Tom Robbins back on track with a delightful romp through widely disparate parts of the world, carrying on his incredible ability with the English language while poking fun at that ability as he skewered the main character Switters. My first introduction to Robbins was Still Life with Woodpecker which I've read over and over. Fierce Invalids comes the closest yet to the mix of comedy and tragedy contained in that novel. I just wish it wasn't so long between books!
Rating: 
Summary: Even Tom Robbins gets the blues
Review: I have read all his books. So, I was keen on reading this one too and I bought the book. But, this book neither sparks my imagination nor excites me with robbins touch. I had to struggle to read. Ultimately, I have given up. I don't know for sure whether I don't understand the book or this book is not his best.
Rating:
Summary: ah well
Review: Maybe Mr Robbin's Guru status has gone to his head...or Im just older....who knows...the edge seems to be gone in this one....nonetheless. I have enjoyed his writing in the past...and as for Switters...gee. He seemed like such a shmuck...but maybe he was supposed to be a shmuck...who knows......I wish I would have bought it in paperback.....
Rating:
Summary: Mind Expanding
Review: I love Tom Robbins novels - and this was no exception! I find his use of language to be so visually compelling that I find myself ravenous while reading. I do not read the Bestseller list, and I find the mainstream boring, boring, boring! Tom Robbins allows me to go to some other world, exotic location and while I am there the suggestions and ideas cause me to look into myself and evaluate my feelings about Catholicism, CIA, Drugs and meditation in the case of "Fierce...". I can relate and yet I am scandalized, demoralized, titallated and all. I think that Jitterbug is still my favorite, but I can't wait to see more of Switters - and judging from the end of this novel we will! So, those of you who wish to laugh and look at the world from a Robbinslike perspective ".....relax", pick your feet up and read "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates". Dig
Rating:
Summary: Remarkable Language, Tired and Derivative Characters & Plot
Review: Tom Robbins was on a roll all the way through Skinny Legs and All. Then came Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, which, although it felt a bit like Mr. Robbins felt that he had to write SOMETHING, still had that old magic about it. Now comes Fierce Invalids. The characters are not only two dimensional and anoying, but one (Masked Beauty) is straight out of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. The plot is ridiculous, but not quite ridiculous enough, and then the ending is--of all things-- astoundingly safe. Now, the man can write, and that talent has not waned a bit since Another Roadside Attraction, but he seems to be only writing because it's his job. This is too bad, because his talent remains remarkable and unmatched. Would that the muse of inspiration would once again fall upon him. I have confidence that she will, but until then, we have to deal with the likes of Switters and Suzy.
Rating:
Summary: A sexy step-sister and feet with no blisters.
Review: I've read all of Tom Robbins' books and this is a great one. If you don't have a warped sense of humor, don't bother. It really gets the wahoo juice flowing.
Rating: 
Summary: Titles are for tadpoles that like onions
Review: I didn't want a title sorry. To me this seems like Another Roadside Attraction (his first book) but improved. I didn't like that book at all. It was nice to see that he'd moved beyond his strong paranoid reaction to Catholicism into a more healthy cynacism. Did I spell that right ? General differences over previous books: 1) Main character was more male then earlier books. The book stayed with one protagonist. 2) The over arching plot was more water tight. I wasn't sure if he changed his writing style or if he used the two snap shots at the beginning of the novel to give himself a point A and B to get between. It was a decent read, though not my favorite. I suppose that would be Jitterbug perfume or Skinny Legs and All. Oddly fitting for me however due to my rainforest/deep sea biology/whatever connections. I found the end a little blah. Not the final page but the pages immediately proceeding that. The best passage was the description of micro machine nauticals. If you are new to this auther pick up a different book, if you are a fan, duh, you are going to read it. And the NYT review about the undergraduates and the "So True! "? Its a bunch of numbed cynacism (there's that word again) from a plastic yoko ono, golf playing, 'nothing is wrong', proctologist reality given by people who couldn't handle a couple simple truths like Elvis pelvic thrusts without arm length gloves.
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