Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
Switters is a contradiction for all seasons: an anarchist who works for the government; a pacifist who carries a gun; a vegetarian who sops up ham gravy; a cyberwhiz who hates computers; a man who, though obsessed with the preservation of innocence, is aching to deflower his high-school-age...
show more
Switters is a contradiction for all seasons: an anarchist who works for the government; a pacifist who carries a gun; a vegetarian who sops up ham gravy; a cyberwhiz who hates computers; a man who, though obsessed with the preservation of innocence, is aching to deflower his high-school-age stepsister (only to become equally enamored of a nun ten years his senior). Yet there is nothing remotely wishy-washy about Switters. He doesn’t merely pack a pistol. He is a pistol. And as we dog Switters’s strangely elevated heels across four continents, in and out of love and danger, discovering in the process the “true” Third Secret of Fatima, we experience Tom Robbins—that fearless storyteller, spiritual renegade, and verbal break dancer—at the top of his game. On one level this is a fast-paced CIA adventure story with comic overtones; on another it’s a serious novel of ideas that brings the Big Picture into unexpected focus; but perhaps more than anything else, Fierce Invalids is a sexy celebration of language and life.
show less
Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780553379334 (055337933X)
ASIN: 055337933X
Publish date: May 29th 2001
Publisher: Bantam
Pages no: 445
Edition language: English
I haven't been able to finish a Robbins since Still Life. But I keep trying. I begin to forget why.
FINALLY finished.You know, sometimes Tom Robbins' writing is just too damn' quirky to stand. Like, quirky interspersed with deep. Every. Single. Book. Apparently I wasn't much in the mood for it lately, since it took the better part of a month to get thru it.
this guy's interesting. he brings up so many important topics throughout the novel. his quirkiness is welcome here, not over the top, like i thought it was in even cowgirls get the blues. obviously i'm not thrilled with his treatment of pedophilia, but other than that this book was great fun.
Some of Tom Robbins's more recent novels are just too bizarre to enjoy as a whole, but he always makes statements that ring true about certain parts of society. Often he says things no one else has the guts to say. This book was no exception in that regard, although I didn't like the plot or main c...