Rating:  Summary: READ IT!!....that's all! Review: Without a doubt one of the greatest pieces of fiction (?) literature written in the 20th century! ...Barring perhaps,Tom Robbins' other works (Still Life With Woodpecker and Skinny Legs and All, to name 2!!!), Moore and Gibbons' incomparable WATCHMEN, ATLAS SHRUGGED, and one or 2 other gems (Will Shakespeare had a few good ones...So did Roger Zelazny...ok James Joyce too!!) This book IS LIFE!! ...and without it??? you HAVE no LIFE!!! Smell, sex and immortality!!! If you don'y "get" this book I don't get You!! ..nor do i want to!!!! ...now get off my planet!!! You're taking up space where some extra Tom Robbins novels could be!!!
Rating:  Summary: A salaciously yummy read! Review: N'orleans to Paris - Middle Ages to today - Greek gods to greasy spoon waitresses: this was my first exposure to Robbins back in 1990. I've read it six times since! Not Robbins' best, but perhaps his most fun.
Rating:  Summary: A wonderful out of mind experience spanning over 1000 years Review: This is the very best book Tom Robbins has ever written. It contains the typical element of combining the deepest dark ages with eternal youth and today's Mexican cuisine with a twist of Tequila. Robbins knows how to get your attention and a book in which it is alright to have sympathy for the devil can not be bad, now can it ?
Rating:  Summary: best book i've ever read Review: unless you're completely closed-minded, you will love this complex, beautifully written masterpiece. tom robbins has such a way with words. i've read three of his works thus far and i have yet to find one unoriginal concept. who but tom robbins could come up with something as wonderful as the floral consciousness and make it seem possible at the same time? his other books, such as half asleep in frog pajamas have opened up new avenues of interest for me that i never would have thought to explore if i hadn't read his books. be prepared to be a fan for life after reading this book. it's delightful!
Rating:  Summary: Tom Robbins is a genius! Review: If you have not discovered Tom Robbins yet, RUN don't walk to the bookstore or library. I have read every novel this man has put out and I can't wait for the next one. Jitterbug Perfume is by far the best, though. It's about a king who fears growing old, not because of the usual reasons, but because in his kingdom, the rules require the king to be put to death as soon as he starts to show signs of aging. When King Alobar wakes up with a gray hair in his beard, it's time to move on. He fakes his death with the help of his favorite wife and goes off into the pre-Christian world to find the secret of youth. From ancient Rome to modern New Orleans, he meets a cast of incredible characters and finds the love of his life who follows him through the ages. This is a book I've had to buy a few times, since I've loaned it out to people who loved it as much as I did. That's ok. I don't mind contributing to the best author I've seen in a long time.
Rating:  Summary: Greetings to a good Man Review: Ðéóôåõù, ðùó ôï âéâëéï áõôï åéíáé âáóéêï åöïäéï ãéá êáèå áíáãíùóôç. Õìíïó ãéá ôç æùç? Äåí ãíùñéæù,áëëá óéãïõñá áðáñáéôçôï ãéá ôïí êáèåíá ìáó. É am giving only 4 stars for this book because only the BIBLE can have the most of them. I enjoy it alot. Thanks Tom, keep on doing the good work!!!!
Rating:  Summary: la escritura de T.R. revelada Review: "Un viejo proverbio ucraniano sentencia 'Un cuento que empieza con una remolacha termina con el diablo'. Es un riesgo que deberemos tomar" nos dice Tom Robbins desde una especie de prologuito dedicado a éste morado vegetal al comienzo de Jitterbug Perfume, quizás no su mejor o más famosa novela pero en la que se verifica de manera más evidente el particular método de escritura de Robbins. Porque, sépalo el lector, Tom Robbins escribe de a una oración por vez, perfeccionándola hasta quedar satisfecho y recién allí es cuando pasa a la siguiente, sin saber (al menos conscientemente) qué va a pasar luego en la novela, de qué se trata ésta y cómo va a terminar. Cuando uno lee una novela de Tom Robbins técnicamente está leyendo el primer borrador de la misma. Y es ésto lo que hace que sus libros sean una extraña mezcla de temas ligeros y profundos, arranques y desvíos, con erupciones de una herética filosofía New Age hedonística que no se toma en serio a sí misma, reflexiones sobre el lenguaje y el realismo en la literatura salpicados con chistes y retruécanos de diverso calibre, todo encadenado en una sucesión de desconciertos, bromas y engaños hacia el lector y que nos va conduciendo hasta un final inesperado quizás incluso para el mismo autor. Y digámoslo antes de que sea tarde : Salvo Still life with woodpecker, que una editorial mexicana publicase como Naturaleza muerta con pájaro carpintero y de la cual el único ejemplar que quien les escribe vio en su vida estaba en el desaparecido Centro Lincoln, lamentablemente las novelas de Tom Robbins no parecieran haber sido traducidas al castellano (o si lo fueron, resultan absolutamente inconseguibles), así que sólo quien comprenda el inglés podrá disfrutar del apasionantemente irónico universo de un escritor obsesionado con las prácticas pre-cristianas, las tradiciones que se remontan al neolítico y el misterio imposible de resolver del principio femenino del mundo. Advertido el lector traductodependiente, sigamos adelante. Jitterbug Perfume es una novela rara y atrapante, en la que tenemos que llegar casi a la mitad del libro para poder anudar las cuatro historias pseudoparalelas que alternativamente se van sucediendo. Y en todas ellas la mencionada remolacha juega un papel omnipresente pero secundario (salvo a Alobar, el protagonista de la primera historia, a los de las restantes tres misteriosamente alguien les está dejando remolachas en las puertas de sus casas) hasta que, bueno, los cuatro cauces confluyen y la presencia de dicho vegetal se hace clara, evidente y lógica. Todo esto como base vertebral de una novela en la cual la búsqueda de la inmortalidad, el retorno a prácticas paganas y la confección de un perfume perfecto son los temas que sostienen un suspenso irónico salpicado por personajes absurdos y situaciones sainetescas que, como dice la contratapa, "empiezan en los bosques de la antigua Bohemia y no terminan hasta las nueve de la noche de hoy (hora de París)".Decir más sería comenzar a narrar la novela, introducirnos en las historias particulares cada uno de los personajes, revelar tramas, escribir palabra por palabra lo que ya Tom Robbins escribió. Por eso sólo queda recordar que Jitterbug Perfume comienza con una remolacha y preguntarnos si se cumple la otra mitad del proverbio y realmente la historia termina con el diablo. Obviamente, es tarea del lector descubrir si es así o no, no de este comentador que ya arruinó bastantes sorpresas de un libro que se deja atravesar sin escollos y con disfrute, que nos va envolviendo en su mágica y humorística trama y cuando nos queremos dar cuenta ya estamos en la última página protestando porque la diversión se acaba y queremos más. Lo que no es casual que ocurra con un libro que trata sobre lo absurdamente corta que es la existencia humana, para qué negarlo.
Rating:  Summary: read them ALL Review: i'm a big fan of robbins - have been since the day I picked up Skinny Legs and All by chance at the bookstore. I gobbled up each of his books shortly thereafter. This one is fantastic! A must-read, and I think it's one of the best of his books to start with. I'm one of those anal retentive types who hates dog-ears, hates markings in books, etc. - but my Tom Robbins paperbacks are chock full of notes, underlines, dog-ears, and the like. And if you're the sort who collects quotes, you can find one on nearly every page.
Rating:  Summary: A 'pick-me-up' book to keep throughout life. Review: I first read Jitterbug Perfume many years ago - and it has been a life-book ever since! A host of charming and enthralling characters populate this world - and the wit and humour remain vibrant throughout. A definite must!
Rating:  Summary: Adventure that's envied Review: "Jitterbug Perfume" rocked! This was the first Robbins' book that I read. It's a bit long, but the web weaves itself together in the end. The switch off from Paris to New Orleans to Seattle to Alobar's numerous travels keep the reader thirsty. The theories on immortality are excellent. Robbins has blown me away with his wit. I picked it up with a gift certificate, and don't regret it in the least. If you decide to read, then stay true and keep jitterbuggin'.
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