Skinny Legs and All

Rating:
Summary: Well written, but just TOO MUCH
Review: This is a very creative and very interesting story that will make you think about many aspects of your life in an entirely different manner. When I started this book, each time Tom Robbins had something to say, it would be a clever description. "What an interesting way to write that!!!". By the end of the book, I just wanted him to say it, and quit writing such clever little phrases and metaphors. Everyone should read at least one Tom Robbins book in their life, but I wouldn't reccommend reading two.

Rating:
Summary: Please don't call him wacky (you'd be missing the point)
Review: Tom Robbins takes creative writing to the spiritual. He is themad shaman of the sentence. If you give a damn about color, love,touching, art, the creative process, if you are aware enough to feel the echoes from a time long past when the earth was sacred, when men knew more about female anatomy than harddrives and batting averages, when stars meant something, if you've ever faced the blank, virgin canvas and found out who you were or weren't, if you've ever felt like an alien on Superbowl Sunday then 'Skinny Legs & All' will profoundly move you. It might even change your life. At very least, Tom Robbins will ruin reading for you -- suddenly everything else seems like soggy iceburg lettuce. 'Skinny Legs & All' is the best novel I've ever read. It costs less than a stupid pizza, do yourself a favor. ps I also HIGHLY recommend 'Jitterbug Perfume' (I have to say this because it's the most beautiful book I've ever read and I noticed that someone here gave it a negative recommendation and I just can't keep my mouth shut when I hear someone proclaim the earth to be flat)

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read, Robbins' is an American gem.
Review: Skinny Legs and All is both absurd and wonderously real. It had me laughing out loud one sitting and contemplating international politics the next. Only Tom Robbins could end a novel with the Super Bowl, a belly dancer and a conch shell on the shore of Israel. Ellen Cherry Charles and Boomer Petway are unforgettable. Also recommended: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Jitterbug Perfume Not recommended: Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas

Rating:
Summary: an intricate dance of a novel - seven veils masterfully drop
Review: Not only an Arab and a Jew, but a dirty sock, soup can, spoon, conch shell and painted stick combine to tell -- along with a supporting cast of thousands -- the magical story of the end of the century. As a girl with skinny legs dances until she drops, the characters in this book share startling insights about personal relationships, international relations, and what we human beings really want to see. Tom Robbins manages to make you laugh, cry, worry, and cringe -- amazingly, he teaches some beautiful lessons too

Rating:
Summary: A great story.
Review: This is perhaps one of Robbins' finest works, and is told in classic Tom Robbins fashion. The characters are vivid and engaging, particularly the inanimate ones. In fact, the inanimate characters are the most well developed in the book. Any fan of Tom Robbins will love this book

Rating:
Summary: Inanimate objects come to life in a giant metal turkey!
Review: I love this book and have read it several times. Robbins' sense of the bizarre in typically mundane objects is very entertaining. This is a complex tale of love, loyalty, the philosophy of religions, sexuality and the search for real art

Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: Good read, fun, original, insightful, funny. Seems a bit dated to me, strikes me as very rooted in the eighties. Other than that a good original read.

Sex is the center of the universe. I like that. One truly despicable character- the Reverand Buddy Winkler, a hypocritical Reverand who wants to bring on the end of the world so that Jesus will return. Hilarious and frightening.

Best aspect of this book is the characterization of inanimate objects, spoon, dirty sock, can of beans, etc. Best paragraph in the book is about a dirty sock. Salome's dance is also amazing.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: I have to admit that when I first started reading this book, I almost put it down for good. It was after I fought through the first chapter or two that I realized where the story was headed - and I was hooked. This is definately not your run of the mill novel, you have to appreciate somewhat bizzarre circumstances and suspend your disbelief a bit. In my opinion the characters and the story line do not make this book brilliant. What really makes it shine is the authors vast knowledge and insight into Middle Eastern affairs and religion. Skinny Legs And All is a fun way to broaden your understanding of issues so relevant to our times.

Rating:
Summary: Bad Tom Robbins is still better than most
Review: I've read every book by Tom Robbins and he is easily one of my top five favorite writers. But I'll come right out and say that Skinny Legs falls at the bottom of the barrel. That is not to say it is a bad book. In fact I'd say it is better than the majority of the books on this site; but compared with his other works it is a bit preachy and forced. In a good Tom Robbins book he is able to philosophize and voice his unique insights through his story and his characters, but unfortunatley in Skinny legs he doesn't have that formula down. As the various plotlines merge together it feels forced and contrived. And when he down right stops telling the story and spells out the mystery of the veils, well I thought I was reading something as awful as the Celestine Prophesies. Like my subject heading reads, a bad Tom Robbins is better than most, but for his top works stick with Fierve Invalids, Jitterbug, or Still Life.

Rating:
Summary: Fun read
Review: I realized while reading my past reviews that it looks as if I never like anything at all. So I tried to think of a book that I loved, and this one popped to mind right away. Great characters, lots of interesting exposition that almost never gets tedious. (The stick, sock, can, etc. parts go on a bit too long, and sort of peter out near the end--that's the only reason it's not 5 stars.) I've read it again and again, and discover something new each time. One of my favorites!