Rating: 
Summary: A great and horrible book (it CAN be both, right Tom?)
Review: Tom Robbins' books fall into three categories for me:I. Pure genius (incl. Roadside, Cowgirls, and Jitterbug) II. Respectable flights of fancy (Skinny Legs) III. Lukewarm efforts (Still Life, Frog Pajamas) That's not to say that all in (I) are five-star champions and all in (III) are horrible one-star waste of times. I've never come across a viable reason to give anything Tom's written less than four-stars (on the Amazon.com scale). Fierce Invalids is no exception. It is a third-tier Robbins book, but that makes it better than 99% of the drek out there. It's unique (not "most unique") in the Robbins' oeuvre for one simple reason: a male protagonist. Switters is the literary equivalent of a bipolar disorder: he hates organizations, yet is a member of both the CIA and a convent; he believes in laughter as the road to Nirvana, yet he carries a Beretta with him wherever he goes; he's world-wise and pragmatic, yet spends the last two third of the story confined to a wheelchair due to a shaman's curse. This theme of binary opposition runs rampant through the book, and it gives the reader something tangible to hang on to, something Robbins usually is hesitant to do. Midway through the narrative, I realized that all that I enjoyed about the first half of the book has been destroyed, and I was wondering how Tom would pull it all together in the end (he always does). He does -- although slightly more melodramatic than usual, I was satisfied with the knots he made to tie up the loose ends. As for his most unique (couldn't help myself here, Tom) ability to wield the swords of simile and metaphor, it has never been sharper. My favourite: "Looking at it from another angle, their kiss was like a paper airplane landing on the moon." It's like haiku, that line. For the Tom-completist (of which I am a recent member), pick it up and bask in its glory, cause you may not hear a peep from the old man for another five years. For the Tom-newbie, go back to Roadside, and save this one for another day.
Rating: 
Summary: Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom
Review: Hate to say it. I REALLY hate to say it. I did not like this book. I couldn't get into it. I really wanted to, I normally LOVE Tom Robbins and was so excited to find he had written a new book. But the characters are not as vibrant as the others. What happened to characters like Gwen and Larry from Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas? (My personal favorite Robbins novel.) Frankly I made it 100 pages in and put it down. I never got interested and it just didn't hold my attention. Such a shame...
Rating: 
Summary: He's the punniest...he's the Allah of alliteration!
Review: I am a Genesis Freak (been to concerts from every tour since the Tower Theater), a fan of Frank Herbert (I've been reading them all right up to House Atreides) and I am David James Duncan's most avid reader (I have not read that "sisterhood" book). Needless to say, I do indeed like Tom Robbins... My favorite book (I remember reading the whole thing out loud on shrooms one night in San Diego...) is Jitterbug Perfume. Ever since the disertation on Catholisism in ARA, I have made a genuine effort to follow this man's perspective. And now, we come to Fierce... I am currently 1/3rd the way through and I am reading this one like I read The Brothers K. Especially so after I read (in Tom's own words) that he wrote the damn thing in longhand on pads of legal paper AND at times spending days on just one sentence! It is easy to be critical and easier yet to be complimentary. Seven books after the fact, Robbins has gone beyond peaking, beyond "hitting the wall" and in fact is now on to a whole new level of writing which I hope I live long enough to experience. Read this book if you remain ignorant to the reality that lies beyond the veil. Ignore this book if you are comfortable with that illusion and like being ignorant.
Rating: 
Summary: You can't teach an old Tom Robbins a new trick
Review: It says 3 stars, but I'm inclined towards generosity where Mr. Robbins is concerned, and it's more like 3 1/2. Tom Robbins is up to his old tricks again. Mysticism, loopy plotlines, painful puns, and plenty of old friend anal sex. The only difference I can see here is that for the first time in my memory the main character isn't a woman, but a drug-taking zen-master ex-CIA agent named Switters. I won't give away the plot. It's vintage Tom Robbins, and irrelavent to boot, but if you loved his previous works, you'll love this too. But I can't help but feel that it's all getting perhaps a little old hat. Don't get me wrong! I read this cover to cover in a matter of days and laughed and got turned on in all the right places, I think. But the fact of the matter is Mr. Robbins got scooped by real events in this book. A fair part of it concerns the missing third prophecy given to peasant girls in Fatima, Portugal in 1917 by the Virgin Mary. In any other year, this would be a dueced corker of a plotline, but unfortunately only a few weeks before Mr. Robbin's book appeared, the Pope revealed the actual third prophecy and rendered TR's amusing speculation moot. Plus didn't George Harrison call his haircut Arthur? Robbins identifies him as Ringo. I hope he's right, for his sake, because there's little more unforgivable than a half-[stepping] Beatle fan.
Rating:
Summary: Can you say Long-Winded?
Review: Tom, Tom, Tom. What happened? Your other books started off and got moving. This one languishes in the South American Jungle like so much slowly decaying vegetation. Switters is about as uninspiring a character as any first year english major might crap out after staying up all night with a pot of java. Where is the brillance that starts 'Still Life with Woodpecker?' Where are characters that I can care about like Bonanza Jellybean or the Chink? I'm a hundred pages into it, and have yet to read anything that gives me hope. I'll finish slugging through the book because I find it hard to believe that Tom Robbins could put out complete crap, but I'm going to have to take a couple of six packs with me to make it through.
Rating:
Summary: Robbins Hysterial and Touching Assault on Our Psyche Continu
Review: Robbins is a MASTER of language. Every page of Fierce crackles, every paragraph sizzles, and every sentence strikes out. If you're never read Robbins, be prepared for original characters, an unusal gift for language and metaphor, and plot that...doesn't begin to describe the STORY. If you have read Robbins before, the same wit and storytelling ability shines through like a flashlight in our midnight. He points a finger at our culture's hypocritical taboos and beliefs but with a soft touch shows our best sides. Switters, the main character, is unparalled in depth and contradiction, the man who holds innocence aloft while wanting to take his young step-sister's virginity, who hates violence but carries a Berretta, and who believes in justice yet works for the CIA. Gel your hair down and be prepared to be carried around the world in Robbins latest novel.
Rating:
Summary: Four stars only by comparison
Review: I have gobbled up, drunk in grand gulps and even sucked deliriously on the words with which Tom Robbins graces our world. Fierce Invalids... being the latest journey Mr. Robbins describes was certainly not lacking in dilectible bits of yummy prose. Do not be dissuaded by Mr. Robbins' change in style (similar to Half Asleep in Frog's Pajamas) he explores a character in Fierce Invalids... that demands, rather undemandingly, to be learned from and loved. Switter's message is timely and any lover of Tom Robbins should enjoy this bumpy, technicolor ride. I give this book only four stars, not because it is in any way an inferior work as works of fiction go, simply because Jitterbug Perfume is still holding the five star spot in my heart. Thrill me again Mr. Robbins, I'll be reading.
Rating:
Summary: FREE BEER!
Review: Hey Tom!Whenever you find yourself in the San Francisco Bay Area, email me so I can buy you a beer or three. You rule, man. -A taxi driver from Northern California where the girls are warm
Rating:
Summary: Another fun read
Review: Tom Robbins is one of those authors who has moments of brillance in his prose and moments where he becomes mundane and repetative. I have read all of his titles and this compares with Still Life With Woodpecker in having the wonderful moments outweigh the boring. he is unique in his style and I cannot think of another contemporary author who is as entertaing to read. I saw one other review suggesting a more viligent editor and I thin this is a great idea. However, one cannot go to far astray when purchasing this title. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Invalids
Review: I've read all of Tom Robbins' books and I would have to say that this one is the worst. The main character, Switters, is extremely annoying and immature. The plot is slow moving and dull. The worst thing in this book is how the characters act as if they more evolved and intellegent than everyone else even though they don't seem to be able to get out of their own way. I got the feeling that this book was written by a tired and complacent man wishing desperately to sound brilliant. I was very excited to read this long awaited book but now I wish I had hadn't. Fierce Invalids didn't educate, illuminate, and entertain like previous books. If someone has told you that you would enjoy reading Tom Robbins they were not talking about this book. I suggest Skinny Legs and All, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, or Jitterbug Perfume.
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