Still Life with Woodpecker

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Summary: this book will keep you reading
Review: In this book you will find out about the moon. How solitary confindment will show you the way of a camel pack and the meaning the little pictire on it. It will tell you about CHOICE. Hmm i was so into this book that sometimes i couldnt fall asleep just telling myself that "one more page" but the one more page turned into 10 pages then 50 then 100. Until on the second day that i started the book i noticed that i finished it. I was overcome with saddness. This is one of those rare books that you read in 2 or 3 days. Hopfully you will let this book fall into your own hands.

Rating:
Summary: Head in the Sand
Review: Although a big fan of Tom Robbins, this book left me wishing that I picked up another one of his books instead. Of course there is the usual interesting research that Robbins includes in all his books, and it certainly isn't devoid of humor or satyre. But I don't think it ever resolves the issues that it addresses through out the book. The connections made between pyramids, love, etc. I thought were very weak and never really carried through. The ending was also a little disappointing, with a kind of Hollywood-esque gift wrapped happy ending. His other books seem to have very strong themes satyring and debating interesting elements of the society in which we live, along with many aspects of who we are as people, and why we behave, or mis-bahve, the way we do. One thing I did not like was the fact the one of the minor characters was a cocaine addict. How does this improve the story in any way? Sorry, but cocaine addiction doesn't bring a smile to my face, and it doesn't seem that there is any other reason for this being included in the book. I would easily recommend "Jitterbug Perfume" and "Half asleep in frog Pajamas" as being great alternatives. Both of those getting 4 or 5 stars.

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Summary: 7 years and counting
Review: I was given this book in 1994 by a dear freind, i have been reading it since then. I cant put it down or i fear i may lose all i have gained from it!

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Summary: A good starting point for someone who hasn't read Robbins
Review: 4.5 stars actually. This book along with "Another Roadside Attraction" makes great introduction to this author. Robbins has a style that people either love or hate. His sometimes page long run on sentences might irritate some, but not this reader. This is one of his funniest novels. His description of Giulietta, the 80 year old. maid going on strike in front of the exiled royal family's home with a sign painted in a language no one passing by would be able to read, wearing nothing more than a pair of oven mits is hysterical. I found myself being able to fly through this novel very quickly. The pace is clear and crisp. My personal Robbins favorite is "Jitterbug Perfume", but that might be a bit too demanding for someone who has yet to experience the crazy world of Tom Robbins. Once one becomes hooked on his odd style, it's difficult not to want to read his entire body of work.

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Summary: More fun than Diablo II. Grab a chair, read in one sitting.
Review: I've heard a lot of scathing reviews, but to be honest you're either going to love the ... outta this or absolutely despise it. If you're a redhead, expect to love it. As usual, Robbins gives us a convoluted and twisted love story amongst other things...but let's face it: we crave his dead-on descriptions of deranged society--after all, they're not -that- far off. Fans of wit, buy it. Buy it now.

Rating:
Summary: Picasso on paper
Review: This book is great. Sure, sure, we have all heard that before. But it is true. There are no better words to describe it than just great. Tom Robbins has a gift for making an audience feel that there is hope after all. He reassures us that life is not just death and taxes. I named this review "Picasso on Paper" because that is what Robbins is, a man ahead of his time. The way he paints the words onto the book is magnificent. The best part about Tom Robbins is his dedication. This book was obviously researched. The historical information on pyramids and the information on the artists that created the camel pack and dollar bill must have been diffucult to obtain. Robbins tells stories of "Whiskey, and Mystics, and Men". With his out-of-this-world plots and his desire to expand the minds of millions, he surely tops himself with Still Life with Woodpecker. Tom Robbins is a romantic. He has a common love-centered theme in all of his books. In this book the question "who knows how to make love stay?" is brought up. To me, that basically is the overall theme of the book. The book is about learning how to make love stay.

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Summary: Random Insanity
Review: I loved Tom Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume, and expected to adore this novel. Instead, I found myself irritated by the thoughtless lust between an immature princess and a pretentious, repulsive bomber. The repeated interludes to describe the color of a typewritter - gosh, who cares? - added even more irrelevancy to the novel. The literary wordplay which so amused me in Jitterbug Perfume seemed both forced and foolish here. The whole book seemed to me more a rambling diary-entry containing everything that happened to flow into the writer's mind than a coherent novel.

Rating:
Summary: One of those books a friend always recomends
Review: I remeber when Nikki said "I have your favorite book" and then wrote the Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins on a piece of paper, and handed it to me. I've never heard of Tom Robbins, and I was intrigued by how she described it to me. About a week later, I got it at a bookstore, and once I started getting into it, I thought "WOW! This is my favorite book!" It's hard to describe this book to people, because it's about so many things and works on many levels. I plowed right through this, and had trouble putting it down during school. Simply put, this is an amazing book, and I'm forever grateful to Nikki for recomending it to me, because now I am obsessed with Tom Robbins!

Rating:
Summary: Another Good Robbins Read
Review: The overriding question Robbins takes on in this effort is the question of what makes love stay, in addition to riffing on the moon, redheads, and other subjects, in typical Robbins' fashion. I read it poolside at the Fiesta Americana near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with margaritas delivered to me in appropriately timed intervals, in the hot, bright Baja sun. I wish I was still reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I have no clue what these people are thinking but this writing style is simply amazing. The chatter is deeply emotional and is anything BUT pointless. Everything they say means something, maybe you just have to be a redhead yourself to understand the truth in it all!