Where To Start With Tom Robbins
Imaginative storyteller and bestselling author Tom Robbins died February 9, 2025 at the age of 92. His first few novels, beginning with his debut Another Roadside Attraction in 1971, were embraced by counterculture youth and helped brand him a hippie novelist with a cult following. The themes of his later books outgrew this framing though they continued to be marked by offbeat and humorous characters and storylines and a mix of fantasy, surrealism, and philosophy.
If you’ve yet to enter the playful and eccentric literary world of Tom Robbins, all eight of his novels are available to borrow from the Library as well as his memoir, a collection of short writing, and a novella, B is for Beer, a "children's book for grown-ups" and a "grown-up book for children" (later adapted into a musical by singer/songwriter Ben Lee.)
Novels
Another Roadside Attraction (1971)
A clairvoyant girl enthralled by the mysterious beauty of butterflies marries the son of Congo missionaries, and the newlyweds set up a roadside zoo.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976)
Champion hitchhiker Sissy Hankshaw, braless and free, makes her way across the confused and paranoid America of the 1970s, gathering knowledge and experience, friends and suitors, and all sorts of unusual acquaintances.
Still Life with Woodpecker (1980)
A love story that takes place inside a pack of cigarettes reveals the moon's purpose, differentiates between outlaws and criminals, and presents portraits of powerful Arabs, exiled royalty, and pregnant cheerleaders.
Jitterbug Perfume (1984)
This philosophical epic, with a large cast of characters, addresses the fervent desire of the human race to overcome the tyranny of aging and physical death.
Skinny Legs and All (1990)
When an Arab and a Jew open a restaurant across the street from the U.N., a host of tragic and triumphant characters descend on the strange establishment.
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (1994)
After the stock market crashes on the Thursday before Easter, an ambitious but ineffectual young stockbroker faces a mind-blowing, destiny-altering weekend of scheming to escape blame and coping with a mysterious stranger.
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates (2000)
Switters, an anarchist pacifist who works for the government and carries a gun, chases after his teenage stepsister, only to become madly enamored of a nun a decade older than him.
Villa Incognito (2003)
American MIAs choose to remain missing after the end of the Vietnam War, while four generations of women share a unique link to a mysterious figure from Japanese folklore.
Novella
B is for Beer (2009)
The story of an adventurous kindergartner named Gracie, her distracted parents, and a magical alien from another world relates how each one is affected by beer.
Essays & Stories
Wild Ducks Flying Backward: The Short Writings (2005)
An anthology of writings features both nonfiction essays and short stories that cover such topics as art critiques, poetry, country song lyrics, odes to redheads, kissing, Diane Keaton, tomato sandwiches, and the Doors.
Memoir
Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life (2014)
Shares stories from the author's unconventional life, from his Appalachian childhood to his adventures around the world, that is as unlikely, magical, and bizarre as those of his quixotic characters.
Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.