Known for his meaty seriocomic novels, Tom Robbins's shorter work has
appeared in publications ranging from Esquire to Harper's, from
Playboy to the New York Times. Collected here for the first time in
paperback, the essays, articles, observations--and even some untypical
country-music lyrics--offer a rare overview of the eclectic sensibility
of an American original.
Whether rocking with the Doors, depoliticizing Picasso's Guernica,
lamenting the angst-ridden state of contemporary literature, or drooling
over tomato sandwiches and a species of womanhood he calls "the genius
waitress," Tom Robbins's briefer writings exhibit the five traits that
perhaps best characterize his novels: an imaginative wit, a cheerfully
brash disregard for convention, a sweetly nasty eroticism, a mystical
but keenly observant eye, and an irrepressible love of language.
Embedded in this primarily journalistic compilation are brand-new short
stories, a sheaf of largely unpublished poems, and an offbeat assessment
of our divided nation. Wherever you open Wild Ducks Flying
Backward*,* you'll encounter the serious playfulness that percolates
from the mind of a self-described "romantic Zen hedonist" and "stray dog
in the banquet halls of culture."
