Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
by Tom Robbins
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Read in August, 2007
“Disaster’s always best when it’s on a grand scale.”
… and the scale certainly is grand in Tom Robbins’ rollicking riot of a novel. It opens with the beginning of a disastrous three-day weekend for one Gwendolyn Mati, a lovingly unlikable stockbroker whose ambitions are sky high and whose perceptions seem hopelessly shallow. It is the night before Good Friday and there has been a disastrous plunge in the stock market that has the whole economy screaming disaster, and Gw...more
… and the scale certainly is grand in Tom Robbins’ rollicking riot of a novel. It opens with the beginning of a disastrous three-day weekend for one Gwendolyn Mati, a lovingly unlikable stockbroker whose ambitions are sky high and whose perceptions seem hopelessly shallow. It is the night before Good Friday and there has been a disastrous plunge in the stock market that has the whole economy screaming disaster, and Gw...more
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Reading Tom Robbins is like reading Hunter S. Thompson. Almost everyone seems to go through that phase at some point, and then eventually that phase ends.
I read every Tom Robbins book up to this one; I've yet to read his latest two (or three, or however many there are). Each of them is fantastic in its own way, although there are some consistencies in his style that are fantastic throughout his books -- his completely mind-blowing use of language in the service of crazy descriptions, analog...more
I read every Tom Robbins book up to this one; I've yet to read his latest two (or three, or however many there are). Each of them is fantastic in its own way, although there are some consistencies in his style that are fantastic throughout his books -- his completely mind-blowing use of language in the service of crazy descriptions, analog...more
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Read in February, 2008
Picked this up because I had down time but was stranded without reading material. But at least I was near the library. I love Tom Robbins but I've been told this is not his best work. I think I might agree. Maybe it's my mood today but if I read one more simile or metaphor I believe will chuck the book at the wall. Too bad, really, because the characters are interesting.
In all Tom Robbins books there is at least one passage that makes me need to go back and read it again, that needs to be do...more
In all Tom Robbins books there is at least one passage that makes me need to go back and read it again, that needs to be do...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
Anyone who hasn't read Skinny Legs and All
"There's trouble enough these days just eluding violence and servicing one's debt." This was my favorite quote from the book, and for a work by Tom Robbins, that isn't saying much. As always, Robbins delivers stylistically - he is the only author I know who can use words like bumbershoot, phantasmagorical, and epiphanic flawlessly - but the book was dissatisfying overall. It was as philosophical and sexual as promised, but not nearly as comical. For me it was a lesser quality version ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
True Tom Robbins fans
"...the macaque continues to shred Popsicle wrappers in the trunk, as if he were employed in the document room of a Republican presient..."
Definitely my favorite line from this, my latest read from Tom Robbins. I want to start by saying that I used to LOVE Tom Robbins. Impeccable word choice, a candid approach to sex and sexuality, social commentary, a touch of the fantastic... what's not to like?
Usually my answer would be NOTHING... I LOVE IT ALL! But that was sadly not the...more
Definitely my favorite line from this, my latest read from Tom Robbins. I want to start by saying that I used to LOVE Tom Robbins. Impeccable word choice, a candid approach to sex and sexuality, social commentary, a touch of the fantastic... what's not to like?
Usually my answer would be NOTHING... I LOVE IT ALL! But that was sadly not the...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
stoned philosophers/people who like to read about vaginas
This was my final attempt to enjoy a Tom Robbins book. I failed.
Unfortunately, it was more of the same from Robbins. Ham-fisted philosophizing, lurid sex, and purple prose. I guess if you were a teenager this would seem very literate and high-minded. Sadly, once you have read actual literature, you realize that this is garbage.
Although Tom tries to be esoteric and witty, it just isn't very good. Yeah, we get it, you know big words. Now try using them constructively instead of peppering...more
Unfortunately, it was more of the same from Robbins. Ham-fisted philosophizing, lurid sex, and purple prose. I guess if you were a teenager this would seem very literate and high-minded. Sadly, once you have read actual literature, you realize that this is garbage.
Although Tom tries to be esoteric and witty, it just isn't very good. Yeah, we get it, you know big words. Now try using them constructively instead of peppering...more
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Read in May, 2008
One star because I recognize that Tom Robbins is very talented. I read this book hoping that I would be able to enjoy the writing style without being distracted, disappointed, and disenchanted with the actual story as was the case with Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. This book only offered more of the same. Rather than being able to enjoy the writing style, I found it increasingly irritating, pedantic, and show-offy because of the message behind it. The only conclusion I could come to after rea...more
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Read in January, 2007
Typical Tom Robbins writing style. An incredible mix of realism, fantasy and a crazy plot with a million sub-plots and fasinating yet believable characters. His characters in this book are incredible especially the female protagonist torn between her life as an investment banker/trader and her aspirations to be something more. Then there's her crazy boyfriend with his pet monkey that trained to steal jewellery! And the obese, fortune teller friend who disappears. The whole introduction of the ar...more
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This was my first venture into the world of Tom Robbins. I picked it up on a whim. I was not dissappointed. I like his quick and witty writing style, peppered with deep thoughts. In the case of this book, I was able to pick up on the science theories in this book. The Dougans of AFrica, who have a unique perspecitive on creationism.
Also, being the science nerd that I am, finding Rupert Sheldrake in a fiction book was quite a treat. Dr. Sheldrake has quite interesting theories of memories in...more
Also, being the science nerd that I am, finding Rupert Sheldrake in a fiction book was quite a treat. Dr. Sheldrake has quite interesting theories of memories in...more
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Read in October, 1999
In case you didn't pick up on it, my "Full Disclosure" shelf is reserved for those books I find embarrassing to post about - for one reason or another. However, if I'm going to make the jump to share what I've read over the past years, I figure I may as well be honest.
This was actually my favorite of the "Tom Robbins" phase. Now, I hate him. It's always the same fucking story with this guy: down-and-out lady meets mystery man who imparts wisdom, solves problems, and th...more
This was actually my favorite of the "Tom Robbins" phase. Now, I hate him. It's always the same fucking story with this guy: down-and-out lady meets mystery man who imparts wisdom, solves problems, and th...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommended to Igor by:
Eric
Another funny, gimmicky but entertaining story from Robbins' gnarly imagination. The stock market crashes and a sexy Phillipino investment banker who spends most of the novel driving around Seattle in her Porsche searching for her slutty overweight friend, meets a mysterious dirty old man named Larry who, uh, changes her life or something.
Choc-a-bloc full of strange, funny and graphic-enough sexual references to keep you on your toes (quite a common theme in the Tom Robbins I've read so far)...more
Choc-a-bloc full of strange, funny and graphic-enough sexual references to keep you on your toes (quite a common theme in the Tom Robbins I've read so far)...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
money grubbers with a sense of humor
Oh, Mr. Robbins, how I love thee! I'm not sure if it's that sex is high brow when highlighted by your hilariously philosophic prose...or maybe you just know how to tell a darn good story. I'm not one for philosophy anyhow. But thank you again for reminding me that there's more to life than the hustle and bustle of everyday. I'll be back for more.
To everyone else--I must admit that I skimmed a few pages when I got caught up in the action. But then I re-read every word, because I just did...more
To everyone else--I must admit that I skimmed a few pages when I got caught up in the action. But then I re-read every word, because I just did...more
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Read in March, 2003
recommends it for:
space aliens on vacation in Seattle
Though I wouldn't necessarily say that this was my favorite Tom Robbins read, I keep returning to it. There is something very charming about the prose, something very sucker-punch about our naive protagonist, something very engaging about the very short time-frame over which the tale plays out. It's a fun read and typical of Robbins in as much as he's trying to turn some taken-for-granted beliefs and turn them upside down; but this one ...more
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Read in January, 1995
This book was a letdown for me, if for no other reason than it came right after Skinny Legs and All which is one of my favorite books of all time...I was chomping at the bit for something new from Tom Robbins...having just practically had a religious experience with his previous book...so, it never really had a chance...unfair, sure...but true...I enjoyed it...it was entertaining and fun...but it was no Skinny Legs and All...which is not all that surprising in retrospect...I should go back now a...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
people who like tom robbins, funny books, amphibians
this was enjoyable, and a very quick read, but didn't quite measure up to either "skinny legs" or "another roadside attraction," both of which i loved pretty much instantly. part of it is that the main character, while interesting and very different from amanda and ellen cherry, was kinda... dislikable? is that a word? she's annoying, and much more realistic than the other two, probably. also with this one, and with "villa incognito," which i'm reading now, there's ...more
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Read in April, 2007
Tom Robbins is a master of language. This book would have been a pleasure to read if only for the feel of the words in my mouth and my amusement and admiration of what Robbins' ingenuity with prose. Lucky for me, however, he used this skill with language to weave a hilarious, outlandish, largely charming story centered on petite stockbroker Gwen Mati. Her eccentric friends, pathetic boyfriend, and obnoxious coworkers flesh out the story. Robbins style is self-aware, almost to the point of be...more
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Read in December, 2006
Tom Robbins is one of those authors who I read and half of my higher mind curls up initially at the impression that the narrative is a vehicle for his half-formed philosophy. But then the counter impression rolls in that it's not a half formed philosophy he's espousing. Actually, he's not espousing anything. He's just playing with ideas, and language and possibilities. So you don't feel obligated to believe or not believe it. You just want to play along, like when you encourage a 4-year old ...more
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Read in June, 2008
Robbin's clever quips and puns (among my favorite being his depiction of a rapscallion as a "hip hop onion") make this meandering and often times spacey novel palpable. While his underlying anti-establishment themes are acceptable, they are delivered through the medium of Gwendolyn Mati - a rather dispicable character drawn by an author who clearly has very little insight into the female psyche. Although I wouldn't be opposed to reading more Robbins, this novel seems to be simply a s...more
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I liked some of the philosophical mumbo jumbo of the book, but I didn't care for any of the characters. That's not necessarily the biggest hurdle in enjoying a Robbins' novel, but in the case of this book, it made it amuch less enjoyable.
If anything he seems to be trying to say, "get me the hell out of this messed up society." The main focus of escaping materialism, whether that is based on consumption or based on empiricism, seems so over-riding, that I felt literally clubbed ove...more
If anything he seems to be trying to say, "get me the hell out of this messed up society." The main focus of escaping materialism, whether that is based on consumption or based on empiricism, seems so over-riding, that I felt literally clubbed ove...more
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This was the first Tom Robbins book I ever read. My sister gave it to me as a birthday gift many years ago. This particular book was about a woman who worked on Wall Street and the interesting characters she meets as she learns to loosen the reigns on her rigid lifestyle. As always this book is filled with meetings between characters that intertwine within the story as if life is a series of random magical happenings. And in Tom Robbins world I can't imagine them not happening. I fell in love wi...more
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