Villa Incognito

You know you've stumbled onto something special when the first sentence of a book concerns the scrotal parachuting of fictive Japanese animal ancestors. Recommended to me by my librarian friend who claimed Robbins put the 'fun in anti-fundamentalism', I was delightfully surprised at how thoroughly enjoyable an experience it was to read this novel. Robbins' writing style is sublimely engaging and rather than attempt to narrate the aspects of the book I found so captivating, how about some strung-together adjectives: Irreverent. Absurd. Lyrical. Mythical. Artfully crafted. Insightful. Hilarious. And practically, though not totally, perfect in many ways. Tom Robbins is a total rockstar! I was shocked when I was checking out reviews of VI on the web and found that many people considered this to be their least favorite of his novels. I can't imagine that, but being the first book I've read by Robbins, what do I know? All I do know is that if this is anyone's least favorite, then I am certainly in for a treat when I get to the other ones.

"It has been reported that Tanuki fell from the sky using his scrotum as a parachute." Are there any other authors with the chutzpah to begin a novel in this manner? Are we in the hands of one of the most inventive and annoying talents writing today? Is it possible to fulfill the audacious promise of such a first sentence? The answers to these questions, I believe, are no, yes, and "Define fulfill."Let me begin by copping to the charge of being an inveterate Robbins fan. First I named a car, and then a daughter Amanda, after the heroine of Robbins's 1971 novel, ANOTHER ROADSIDE ATTRACTION. And I've jumped on all of his other wild roller coaster rides, always amused and impressed, but pausing occasionally to wonder whether there's a point. Or rather, which of the many points about spirit, sex and government is meant to be the theme.VILLA INCOGNITO is no exception. It concerns the ancestry of an Asian circus performer named Lisa Ko (hint: the well endowed Tanuki is involved) and the fates of three American MIA's whose secret palace across a misty gorge in the Laos village of Fan Nan Nan gives the novel its name. The Smarty Pants gang, as Mars Albert Stubblefield, Dickie Goldwire and Dern Foley were known in Vietnam, was shot down over Laos in 1973. When they escaped the POW camp, they made their way to the highlands. They liked it so much that they never got around to leaving. The main narrative concerns Foley's capture by the police, and Stubblefield and Goldwire's reaction to it. It seems the three MIA's had been selling raw opium to furnish their palace and feed their concubines, and now Foley has had the bad grace to be arrested with drugs at the airport.Foley's capture in Guam brings Lisa Ko back to Asia from the U.S. to visit her sweetie, Goldwire. It also conjoins Colonel Patt Thomas and a very proper CIA agent, Mayflower Cabot, to try to find the other two MIA's. Upon learning that Mayflower Cabot had three gallstones show up on an ultrasound, Colonel Thomas, who "was suspicious of the gastronomical fortitude of certain white men when confronted with the kind of eats that really counted," tells Cabot, "Three stones is all? Hell, long as one of 'em ain't Keith Richards, you'll be fine."Made you laugh? Buy the book. If not, the disjointed shenanigans of Mars Stubblefield and his gang may inspire a record speed in trajectory of book to wall. Certainly you'll be no match for the high wire that is the only access to the Villa Incognito across the mysterious Fan Nan gorge and the discourse that awaits you there. This novel is a dizzying sandwich of characterization, philosophizing and digression. If you can't stomach a five-hundred-word paean to the wonders of mayonnaise, you won't even notice the bologna nestled underneath. If you're up for it, then praise the Animal Ancestors and pass the biscuits. I for one am still smacking my lips. --- Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman-Nicol

Okay fine, he'll probably never repeat the genius of Jitterbug Perfume. So what. This book rocks! Full of the Robbins wit, wisdome and wackiness we've grown to love. Considerably better than Fierce Invalids, thank goodness, this novel never fails to bring a smile to your face. Beastility, bordellos, borderline psychotics and big tanuki balls abound. A must read whether a fan or not quite yet a fan of Robbins' works. Way to go Tom!

"It has been reported that Tanuki fell from the sky using his scrotum as a parachute," and so starts the tale of the Saki drenched antics of the mythologized Tanuki, which leads the reader on a an amusing adventure. Knock, knock? Who's there? Vietnam Vets who opt to stay in Lao's with a penchant for philosophy, cultivating and dispersing opiates. Knock, knock? Who's there? Three generations of asian woman who um...carry on a magical tradition of sorts..let's say they bloom. Robbins is a master of language and storytelling. The reader goes back and forth from Laos to Seattle. You get a dash of politics, mythology, some 9-11 and the circus, what more could you ask for? It's a quick read and thoroughly enjoyable.