Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
by Tom Robbins
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You know that road trip you've always wanted to take? (Maybe you've taken it already and if so, I am jealous of you.) You know that road trip you're always planning, the one where you drive a beat-up, gorgeous, car full of books and old clothes, and mix tapes and takeout containers and random souveneirs of americana, through america, maybe by yourself or maybe with one or a few of the people you love most in the world? And you take polaroids of yourself and your wear ripped up jeans and drive ba...more
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"AMAZING! This book came into my life by chance and I am glad it did. A hilarious and engaging read that also questioned and affirmed pieces of my own life in powerful ways. Apparently this book has been around for a generation, but I think it needs a rebirth - it is still relevant, maybe even moreso now that the "mainstream" has changed.
Some specific points from the novel that I love:
Why are white people always looking for spirituality in other cultures? We have a full, r...more
Some specific points from the novel that I love:
Why are white people always looking for spirituality in other cultures? We have a full, r...more
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recommends it for:
To anyone who just read 5 non-fiction p the wold is ending - humans such - books in a row.
Passage From Book:
This sentence is made of lead ( and a sentence of lead gives a reader an entirely different sensation from one made of magnesium). This sentence is made of yak wool. This sentence is made of sunlight and plums. This sentence is made of ice. This sentence is made from the blood of the poet. This sentence was made in Japan. This sentence glows in the dark. This sentence was born with a caul. This sentence has a crush on Norman Mailer. This sentence is a wino and does...more
This sentence is made of lead ( and a sentence of lead gives a reader an entirely different sensation from one made of magnesium). This sentence is made of yak wool. This sentence is made of sunlight and plums. This sentence is made of ice. This sentence is made from the blood of the poet. This sentence was made in Japan. This sentence glows in the dark. This sentence was born with a caul. This sentence has a crush on Norman Mailer. This sentence is a wino and does...more
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Read in April, 2008
This was my first foray into the world of Tom Robbins and I am devastated that nobody recommended his writing to me sooner. It took me over two weeks to finish this novel, which for me is an obscenely long time, but I took such pleasure in reading sentences out loud and rereading certain passages over and over, that I am truly grateful that I took my time. I'm eager to read more of Robbins' novels.
But back to the book at hand. There is just so much I love about it. The characters - Sissy Han...more
But back to the book at hand. There is just so much I love about it. The characters - Sissy Han...more
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Read in March, 2008
eBook
I suppose one's tolerance for this book, or any other by Mr. Robbins, has a lot to do with how one responds to bullshit. Because, in truth, his most apparent skill is the willingness with which he flings the stuff at his readers.
I can only speak for myself, of course, but I enjoy it. I can't begin to imagine that Robbins actually believes half of what he writes (and if he does, what the hell does it matter anyway?), but I get a kick out of his willingness to throw everything, incl...more
I suppose one's tolerance for this book, or any other by Mr. Robbins, has a lot to do with how one responds to bullshit. Because, in truth, his most apparent skill is the willingness with which he flings the stuff at his readers.
I can only speak for myself, of course, but I enjoy it. I can't begin to imagine that Robbins actually believes half of what he writes (and if he does, what the hell does it matter anyway?), but I get a kick out of his willingness to throw everything, incl...more
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recommends it for:
Everyone !
My all-time, absolute, favorite book ever. The 'stranded-on-a-desert-island-with-only-one-book' favorite. I can read this one over and over.
Hitch-hikers, lesbians, whooping cranes, feminine hygenine products - it has everything. And written in a lyrical manner that begs to be read out loud. (Trust me - I have done this. Parts of this book are poetry.)
I haven't given away as many copies of this as I have 'Good Omens' because I think it doesn't have as broad an appeal. I wish it did....more
Hitch-hikers, lesbians, whooping cranes, feminine hygenine products - it has everything. And written in a lyrical manner that begs to be read out loud. (Trust me - I have done this. Parts of this book are poetry.)
I haven't given away as many copies of this as I have 'Good Omens' because I think it doesn't have as broad an appeal. I wish it did....more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
Everyone- just to prove my point
Tim Robbins is an ASS. He is a creative literary genius and he throws it in your face all throughout this book. You will walk away from this novel not only because it is gross, (or because you have pieces of Tim Robbin's genius on your face), but also because you wont be able to figure out why someone so apparently gifted would write about this trivial crap. It will stump you for days, and on the fifth day you will realize that TR is just what he appears to be...a gifted and obscenely talented A...more
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5 comments
Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
women one and all
I think this book can be best summarized by quickly scanning the list of reviews; people love it or they loathe it.
Me? I loved it.
I'll admit that I might be biased in favor of this book simply because I have a fairly unusual set of opposable digits myself. You see, first and foremost, this is a story about thumbs. Well, its is a story about thumbs, cowgirls, body odor, literary theory, feminism, epiphanies, dirty old men, the end of time, sex, psychoanalysis and liberation. But it's...more
Me? I loved it.
I'll admit that I might be biased in favor of this book simply because I have a fairly unusual set of opposable digits myself. You see, first and foremost, this is a story about thumbs. Well, its is a story about thumbs, cowgirls, body odor, literary theory, feminism, epiphanies, dirty old men, the end of time, sex, psychoanalysis and liberation. But it's...more
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recommends it for:
everyone
this is my favorite book. i say that about everything, but this one is really the favorite.
it's the story about this woman, sissy hankshaw, who was born with huge thumbs. she can't do buttons and stuff but she's amazing at hitchhiking. so she runs away from home and hitchhikes. she doesn't go anywhere in particular or hang out long, she just hitchhikes around all the time.
she has adventures and it's fun. she meets a cowgirl named bonanza jellybean who rants at one point all about how it...more
it's the story about this woman, sissy hankshaw, who was born with huge thumbs. she can't do buttons and stuff but she's amazing at hitchhiking. so she runs away from home and hitchhikes. she doesn't go anywhere in particular or hang out long, she just hitchhikes around all the time.
she has adventures and it's fun. she meets a cowgirl named bonanza jellybean who rants at one point all about how it...more
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Okay so overall I did like this book, but I am not giving it more then these two stars. You know why? Because I have a problem with a man that writes about lesbians who then interjects himself sexually into the story at the end and has the lesbians hook up with men. Fuck you Tom Robbins! You took a giant shit in the middle of perfectly good and delicious pie. You ruined it. Otherwise the story would have been awesome. I felt so cheated at the end. Another reason I don't like you is because back ...more
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recommends it for:
Anyone who enjoys reading and laughing!
I first read this book when I was 15 years old. Up till that point, reading was burdensome and boring task. Richard, my academic mentor, gave me Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, and everything changed. Reading, from that moment on, became a favorite passtime. Tom Robbins is still one of my favorite authors, and although Cowgirls is not my favorite novel of his, it is a fantabulous experience. Robbins plays magical games with words, not to mention fact and fiction. He continuously rips up new, and ap...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
Anyone who wants to get 100 pages in and give up in despair
Bah. Many people won't find this review helpful. I do care about that, but not enough to change my review, because I feel it encompasses my feelings for this book quite fully. Here it is:
I had to choose between continuing to read ECGTB or staring at the back of the airplane seat in front of me.
I chose the back of the seat.
Repeatedly.
I'd read a section, and think to myself "This is shit!" and put it down to stare at the seat in front of me. Then I would think to myself ...more
I had to choose between continuing to read ECGTB or staring at the back of the airplane seat in front of me.
I chose the back of the seat.
Repeatedly.
I'd read a section, and think to myself "This is shit!" and put it down to stare at the seat in front of me. Then I would think to myself ...more
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Read in May, 2008
Three stars is really too many for this book; I didn't exactly like it. But, two stars didn't seem enough; it's not a bad book. It's just so annoying. I liked other Tom Robbins books in the past, but I don't remember them being so strident and didactic.
For every bizarre, rambling, over-educated and sublimely apt description, there are several that are bizarre, rambling, over-educated and inapt. Also, it frequently gives the childish impression of being vulgar for vulgarity's sake.
The s...more
For every bizarre, rambling, over-educated and sublimely apt description, there are several that are bizarre, rambling, over-educated and inapt. Also, it frequently gives the childish impression of being vulgar for vulgarity's sake.
The s...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
Someone with a lot of time on their hands
You need to be able to concentrate on this novel when you read it. I tried to read it while working, and it stretched over many months from like April-June because I couldn't get into it. It was not really the type of novel to read at the gym, while on a cardio machine, because you have to concentrate on the idiosyncrasies of the characters, the depth of the author's writing, and the literary merit of it all. Once I was about one hundred pages in and it really started to get good, things clicked...more
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Read in October, 2007
I am a fool for Tom. I've deliberately stretched out his body of work over a period of several years to prolong the loveliness of reading him. Reading one of his novels maybe doesn't make me feel like I've fallen in love, but like I have a raging, sqirming crush on someone.
That being said, this particular book falls into a few of Robbins' cute traps. The characters are wonderful, but don't quite get under your skin. His goal was to have the reader hanging on every mood and phrase issued by t...more
That being said, this particular book falls into a few of Robbins' cute traps. The characters are wonderful, but don't quite get under your skin. His goal was to have the reader hanging on every mood and phrase issued by t...more
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recommends it for:
twerpy teenage girls who need to become women.
As a girl with unnaturally large thumbs, I feel somehow connected to this book. It's too bad, really, that I didn't read it until I was officially in my 30's.
This would be great reading for the second tween stage, not the trapped between child and teenager, but the trapped between teenager and adult. Arguably the most difficult period in a female's life. It's fun, it's defiant, it's well written, and it makes you think about standing up for yourself, being different, and being proud o...more
This would be great reading for the second tween stage, not the trapped between child and teenager, but the trapped between teenager and adult. Arguably the most difficult period in a female's life. It's fun, it's defiant, it's well written, and it makes you think about standing up for yourself, being different, and being proud o...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
high schoolers
I wish I'd read this when I was younger and more impressionable. Perhaps Robbins' tangential whimsy, tying seemingly disparate subjects together into a now all-too-familiar "this is the world, man," stoner philosophy, would have struck a chord with my burgeoning taste for counter-culture and moderate rebellion. I'd have oohed and ahhed over the exotic Americana, daydreamed about finding my own Rubber Rose Ranch, and taken stands where others shrugged and assumed formation (Well, I gu...more
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Read in March, 2008
I revisited this book with some misgivings. I read this book so many times my original copy fell apart. It was so heavily underlined and annotated that the original text was hard to make out. I was a teenager, in love with words and possibilities. I'm middle-aged now, still in love with words but more closed off, more apt to sneer at ingenuousness and hope. I was hesitant to open the new copy of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.
I needn't have worried. Though some of it is undeniably dated, the co...more
I needn't have worried. Though some of it is undeniably dated, the co...more
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Read in January, 1997
WEIRD!!! I read this during my "I'm so alternative" phase in early college. I have to say that I was mildly entertained but also pretty confused. In other words, reading this book is very similar to being on drugs. From what I recall, the main character has a giant oversized thumb that she uses to hitchhike, and, um, I think she sleeps with a Yoda-like guru or something? I still think about this book from time to time, though, when I hear about people rebuilding after a major eart...more
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Read in July, 2007
Its a very cute, sometimes thoughtful, story. I'm having trouble siding with the heroin. I appreciate the authors interjections maybe more than I should. A few sentences I enjoy...
“This sentence is made from the blood of a poet. This sentence is made in Japan. This sentence is a wino and doesn’t care who knows it. Like many italic sentences, this one has Mafia connections. This sentence is a double cancer with a Pisces ring. This sentence suffered a split infinitive—and survived. The ...more
“This sentence is made from the blood of a poet. This sentence is made in Japan. This sentence is a wino and doesn’t care who knows it. Like many italic sentences, this one has Mafia connections. This sentence is a double cancer with a Pisces ring. This sentence suffered a split infinitive—and survived. The ...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.65 (6364 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.64 (5406 ratings) number of reviews: 375popular shelves
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quote
"I believe in nothing, everything is sacred. I believe in everything, nothing is sacred. - Tom Robbins"
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