Wild Ducks Flying Backward: The Short Writings of Tom Robbins

Wild Ducks Flying Backward is an eclectic sampling of travel articles, essays, short stories, a movie treatment, poetry, song lyrics, tributes, opinion pieces and responses to requests from magazines for writing on various issues. I was immediately impressed by Robbins' creativity and the diverse subject matter he is willing to address in his writing. His use of language and his descriptive power and imagination are indescribable. In these samplings he comes over as a man with a delightfully wicked sense of humor. He also impresses his readers with his scholarly criticism. He is astute and a mature observer of human nature. He has the gift of being able to peel back the layers to show us man and character in his nakedness. I got the feeling that what I see is what I get with this author. Working out what I see is at times fun, confusing, awe inspiring, daunting and over whelming. Robbins makes me want to write more and play with words and images like never before. I particularly enjoyed the travel articles. I laughed out loud reading the "Canyon of the Vaginas" written about a trip to a remote canyon in Nevada full of vagina petroglyphs. Robbins used the essay as a spring board for a discussion on the feminine and sexual power. There were times when the book lagged and my attention wandered. This was mostly during the extensive section of tributes. His piece on "The Doors" written following his first attendance at one of their concerts, although less developed in writing style, was interesting to me because of the picture he paints of the culture at that time. His tribute to Joseph Campbell was interesting for the same reasons. I enjoyed his tribute to Diane Keaton. Clearly this is a woman he admires and lusts after. The writing was prosaic and sensual. His tribute to Leonard Cohen took me back to my teens, and I relived the feelings of identification and depression at that time. Robbins points out the true genius of Cohen and the depth of his poetry. I want to go back and listen to all those records again, get my guitar out (save us all!) and sing! We all know that a college town presents its own brand of waiters and waitresses. In his essay "The Genius Waitress," Robbins imagines his way and ours into the thoughts, dreams, perceptions and disappointments of such a character. A section of the book is comprised of responses to questions asked for various publications. When asked to write about one of his favorite things Robbins wrote about the letter "Z". This essay was amazingly imaginative and the fact that he chose a letter of the alphabet to write about shows his playful and non-conformist mind. Robbins shares his love for language and writing in a series of essays including one in response to the question; what is the Function of Metaphor? He continues to provide food for thought for the reader and writer in such essays as: What Do You Think Writer's Block Is and Have You Ever Had It? With What Fictional Chara

My favorite author of all times. I wish he could come out with a new book every week. Oh well. I just have to read them over and over.

Tom Robbins is the cult God of literature. Funny, sexy, real!! It was interesting to read his short prose. The piece on Leonard Cohen was perfect and Debra Winger just got way cooler.

Tom juices every word coaxing the meaning out of it. Words Love Tom. As do I. Great for the head.

....the world would be less fun without him. Like most of his fans, I only wish he released books more frequently. I found this collection of non-fiction totally winning. It may not be "Cowgirls" or "Still Life", but then it wasn't meant to be. Like his best fiction though, Robbins will give you some laughs while you're reading, and some things to think about when you put the book down.