Rating: 
Summary: This is a forum for REVIEWS NOT for airing your displeasure
Review: This forum is for reviewing books..... not for political debate.
StillLife with Woodpecker is one of the greatest books ever
written.. and the authors political or social views should not
be attacked here. I reckon the person who doesnt like Robbins stance on the war..would also disagree with his position on the
legalisation of Marijuana. So... pls unless you have an opinion on the book... keep your opinions to yourself!i definately recommend any book by Tom Robbins.. the man is brillant when sat in front of a typewriter (or PC).
Rating: 
Summary: Tom Robbins in the Seattle weekly, why I won't buy this book
Review: Another unpatriotic ingrate! Here's a word from the author. Here's what he had to say in the Seattle Weekly newspaper:
Tom Robbins is due to release his eighth novel, Villa Incognito, in April:
Quite probably the worst thing about the inevitable and totally unjustifiable war with Iraq is that there's no chance the U.S. might lose it. America is a young country, and intellectually, emotionally, and physically, it has been exhibiting all the characteristics of an adolescent bully, a pubescent punk who's too big for his britches and too strong for his age. Someday, perhaps, we may grow out of our mindless, pimple-faced arrogance, but in the meantime, it might do us a ton of good to have our butts kicked. Unfortunately, like most of the targets we pick on, Iraq is much too weak to give us the thrashing our continuously overbearing behavior deserves, while Saddam is even less deserving of victory than Bush. Don't get me wrong-I don't want American soldiers killed. But I don't want Iraqis killed, either. I'm just not one of those people who believes that American lives are more valuable than the lives of others.
Rating: 
Summary: a rather strange book...
Review: I'm not really sure what to make of "Still Life With Woodpecker". On one level it is a comedic love story between, if you can imagine, an exiled princess and a terrorist. On another level it is a surreal, existential pile of nonsense. Beyond this the author regularly pauses the story with vignettes of his philosophy on life, love, and all that stuff. Does it all work? No, not for this reader. Well actually I do like the author's sense of humour, and the love story is deranged yet charming at the same time. However unfortunately the author interjects some immature and vulgar elements, especially concerning sex and the female anatomy. And all this existential blathering almost ruins the entire book. Thankfully the cute ending salvages it ... almost. Bottom line: a very weird book. In this case 'weird' doesn't mean 'good'.
Rating:
Summary: Love story
Review: As weird as it sounds, it's a love story. Unconventional, sure. Bizarre and twisted? You decide. If you've heard about this book from friends that said it's weird, you wouldn't like it, etc.....then you should defintely buy this one and read it. It will change the way you look at love, life, convention, a pack of cigarettes, where to find the answers to life, and dynamite. And if you have a "Question Authority" bumper sticker, or even USED to own one....then you'll most likely enjoy this one.
Rating:
Summary: Robbins at his best
Review: a must read for redheads - and for anyone needing to know "how to make love stay" delightful, fully developed personalities who capture our love - and our admiration. Adventerous - humorous - amorous - what else is there.
Rating:
Summary: Still Life With Woodpecker
Review: GOD I LOVE THIS BOOK!
Rating: 
Summary: Monumental
Review: I first read this book several years ago and I have never been the same since. It is chock full of bizarre metaphor and interludes of the strangest information on the workings of the world. This was the first Robbins book I'd ever read and I was blown out of the water. I left this book a crazily carefree, heedless person with a new sense of emotional decadence. If are not open to a weird and unpredictable awakening of the self, leave this book well alone.
Rating:
Summary: I Worship the Goddess (but only on good days)
Review: Still Life with Woodpecker - Tom Robbins - Review by CreamyBlood .... Woodpecker is about what I've always known, even twenty years later, still relevant and totally true. Perhaps I just learned it, or gradually understood aspects of it, and Tom Robbins explained it all in terms we can all understand. We're all learning it, even in 2002. Or not. I'm halfways through 'skinny legs and all', and I'm laughing more than thinking, or is that the other way around? No, I just heard the news in the background, I think I heard a shot! I must be on the right track.... If you wanna laugh your guts out and you've got a brain that is a little newer than the skull they just found from Seven Million Years ago, then read it. Love it. Get another perspective on how beautiful/tragic the human condition is. Just make sure you laugh, because that's the only way to live.. Heck, I might even read this one again in awhile. Humans are Hilarious!!!!!! CreamyBlood
Rating:
Summary: A Heady Romp
Review: `Still Life' is a romp; quick, funny and feisty, It has my favorite Robbinsian CIA burlesque, i.e. agent showing up as the Roto Rooter man. He gets further digs in to 'The Agency ' as they misinterpret everything they hear and engage in oversurveillance of the wrong people.(Sounds pretty right-on for 1980) Robbins predicted, with that tentative serio-comic way that breaks into your psyche, that the US wouldn't think twice about invading a Midddle Eastern country that stopped sending us barrels of oil. Oooh yeah!
He pursues the plot with several themes; among them, 12 famous redheads- ( I would have put Malcolm X, but agree with the rest,) the outlaw personality, (Robbins no doubt sees himself that way,) the power of non-beings, in this case pyramids, and Camel cigarette packs. There's plenty of, heady, uninhibited and 'true-love' sex. There are even a group of extraterrestrials attending a Green Party convention with the heroine's sex idol, Ralph Nader, the main speaker.
People log in as ecstatic by this book, and that is understandable. It is hardly light, but it is light spirited. Sufficiently so, to keep the dense themes, peppy. As always, the only 'absolute' as per the philosophy of the author, is to command the reader to participate in the delight that is freely available in the world, and drink in the ecstasy that shall be unveiled to those who will engage. The dance will be in time to the moon, which is the only 'natural rhythm.'
He closes the book with the admonition that its never too late to have a happy childhood.
If you like Robbins, you'll enjoy this book, if you haven't tasted his fare, this is a good place to start.
Rating:
Summary: it's my bible.
Review: Have you ever read a book that months later you still apply to daily living? It's one of those books.
Also it's got one of those ending that leaves you silent for an hour or so.
It has great characters and brillant writing that pops off the page leaving a trail of vibrant words in it's wake.
It's so funny sometimes you pee a little (i'm kidding of course)
But it's so real at the same time that it's entirely fiction.... one big trip-- one that you should take.
| 
