Rating: 
Summary: my favorite book ever
Review: I love this book so much I have to read it at least once a year. I've enjoyed all of Tom Robbins' other books, but this is by far my favorite. If I ever go through a slump of not reading, I can pull this book out and be back in the mood. The different plotlines are woven together so well, that even though I may think at the end of a section "oh, I wanted more about Alobar and Kudra now" I am immediately caught up in whichever character's story has taken over. You see very early on how all the characters are linked, and the way the whole thing unfolds never gets old for me. I find this book to be hilarious, imaginative, thought-provoking, inspirational, and very hopeful. I know that every re-read will end with a smile and a sense of fulfillment. I have recommended this book to every person who has ever asked me about something to read. In fact, I buy every thrift store copy I ever come across (and I can never believe that someone got rid of this book), so I have extra copies around to give to people who haven't read it. Jitterbug Perfume makes me happy every time I read it so I feel compelled to share the experience with everyone else! Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: The 1st Robbins book you read is usually your favorite...
Review: and this book is not an exception for me. Living in Seattle I had always heard of Tom Robbins, but I never read him. That all changed one fateful day in 1989 while I was meandering the fiction stacks at the downtown public library. "Jitterbug Perfume" was the only Robbins book on the shelf. I look back on that week of reading my first Robbbins novel with fondness.It starts in the present day, then flashes back to medieval Europe and King Alobar. Alobar discovers the secret to everlasting life, and we follow him and his wife Kudra on their many adventures. They meet Pan in Arcadia and take him with them to Paris where the flashback ends and we are in the 20th century looking for the recipe of Kudra's perfume. Trust me, the plot is entertaining, and reading Robbins' prose is a pleasure. I have read all of them and my number two choice of his is "Skinny Legs and All". I loved Can O Beans and Spoon. I like it when Robbins leaves reality and delves into the realm of fantasy. These two books have the most elements of fantasy, but they never leave reality completely. What an imagination he has! And they way he turns a phrase and spins a metaphor leaves lovers of language well sated. My third favorite book of his is "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues". The Chink is a wonderful character and I really enjoyed his philosphy of life. I won't tell you what it is because you should read it for yourself. It is the most hedonistic of his novels. All of his books are wonderful; but this is the first one I read and it will alway be near and dear to my heart. So choose wisely: you will always be partial to the first Robbins novel that you read. Actually, you can't make a wrong choice because they are all entertaining and imaginative with phrases spun like no other author I have ever read. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Mythical, biblical, spiritual and downright [attractive]
Review: I read this novel the first time in my late teens and discovered a compelling and complex story intricately crafted in many layers, heaped, one upon the other. A few years later, I used the book for a paper on the biblical and mythological foundations of English literature. The story is overflowing with overt and covert references to things spiritual, religious and mythological, covering ground from ancient India, Egypt, Greece and Rome to modern day. (My "unorthodox" book selection did bemuse my elderly male professor, used to papers on Shakespeare or Milton, but nonetheless pulled off an A-minus.) It is, as the editorial description says, an epic saga and touches on many topics including spirituality, nature, true love, the best [physical relations], everlasting life and the importance of the humble beet. (Ah yes, the beet - that large, reddish purple root vegetable, staining the lips and the tips of fingers with its deep, life affirming and luscious redness...) (...) Yes. Well. It is rather difficult to explain how beets fit into the equation, so I suggest you consider reading the book and then you'll understand completely. ;-)
Rating:
Summary: Love the name!
Review: I wasn't sure what he meant when a friend of mine suggested I was the type of person who could get into the novels of Tom Robbins. I had never heard of him. This was about 13 years ago. My taste in literature seemed to be heavily influenced by my husband. A huge science fiction fan. I read "Jitterbug Perfume" first and loved it from beginning to end. Lavished with characters and beautiful sounding far away places. I loved the parts with the greek god Pan in them. Sometimes I found myself laughing out loud. Oblivious to the rest of the world around me. This is a richly woven erotic tale. True, Robbins is not everyones cup of tea. So much the better. If you like his work you're okay in my book. Buy this one and expand your horizons a bit.It just may change the way you view your world.
Rating: 
Summary: "Magnolia" would be a good comparison (ironically enough)
Review: Albeit this is my first Tom Robbins novel, and I did enjoy the romp through history and learned a lot about botanicals, but about midway through the book, I found myself asking "What IS this all about?" The book is funny, bawdy, well thought out with intersting philosphies throughout, and Robbins IS a master of wordplay and unique metaphors. But like P.T. Anderson's mess of a film "Magnolia", it weaves a lot of grand IDEAS without having that much of a concrete plot. Either Robbin's editor pared it down to the point where major sections of the book are missing, or Robbins himself couldn't pull it off. The last fifty pages or so are where the plot "comes together in the end", but in my opinion, it needs to be more. Too little, too late for what otherwise could be a true epic of a novel, with little explanation of character's motivations in some parts (who is the Jamaican jasmine dealer supposed to be, and WHY is he there?), or too obtuse to get (I still don't see what the point of the perfume which ties the story together is other than to cover up the scent of Pan, whom a major character throughout the first 2/3 of the novel is dropped by the wayside for the rest). Funny, clever, but not the grand tome it intends to be.
Rating: 
Summary: Rubbish
Review: One star because I finished the book. Perhaps I am lucky to have read good fiction? This book is rubbish. The language use and style are terrible. The story/content is incoherent - even on it's own terms - BAD inference and grasp of anything conceptually complex. Rubbish.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfume of human life.
Review: A master in recreating the language, Tom Robbins, wrote a very beautiful novel that smells like a cultural fusion. Didactic at times, feels like he is trying to teach us how to view life. The best part in the book is Dr Dannyboy's theory on the evolution of the human conscience. Interesting theories about afterlife arising from merged ideas and philosophies of the world's religions. Much better than his previous novel "Still life with woodpecker".
Rating:
Summary: A way of life
Review: Very nice the way he melds fantasy and fiction; he does it so well in fact that I almost want to try the methods described in the book. Sounds like a cool life to me. If only I could smell that perfume...
Rating:
Summary: I love this book!
Review: I'm sorry if I don't wax all eloquent and stuff about all the stuff I love in this book, so I guess nobody will find my review helpful. that's okay. you won't hurt my feelings. I still love this book. It's all about his words and the order he puts them in. it makes me wish I could speak as beautifully as he does. but I'm just a birdygirl.
Rating:
Summary: Read it while you're still young
Review: It has been many, many years since I read JP. Through all of my adult life since then, I have been haunted by the life I might have lived, by the genius waitress, by a life without time or the daily distractions that fill the space between now and tonight. Robbin's opens all of us to the wonders of simply living. For those of you who are young, busy, and ambitious, find the time to read JP before it becomes just one more regret.
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