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Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
by Tom Robbins

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8680.Fierce_Invalids_Home_from_Hot_Climates?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1165721158m/8680.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8680.Fierce_Invalids_Home_from_Hot_Climates?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/197.Tom_Robbins">Tom Robbins</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2065983?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 5 of 5 stars I read this book at a very low point in my life. After reading it, I had this dream and it helped change my perspective. I wrote the dream in my journal, and the following retelling is pretty much verbatim from that journal. I was living in Crapus Christi, TX, at the time and that is where the dream is set:
 
 The weather is temperate and sunny. I'm traveling up the Gulf Coast in a gold Ford Explorer. My dad is at the wheel and my mom or sister is in the back seat, along for the ride. The family has moved north, to Springfield, IL, and we've made a trip down here to retrieve a final load of stuff. We are taking one last scenic drive up through Port Aransas and Rockport. Although we are closer to N. Padre Island, the drive is starting to resemble Galveston Island. Lots of little touristy shops. We drive into nice little coastal parks. Mom has some kind of tourist circular and from that we're able to find all the shops giving away free margaritas and free chicken wings. Then we stop at a small book shop. The shop is in an old house on the beach. It is painted sky blue with rainbow-colored trim. Going into the store, I'm astounded to find the shopkeeper/owner is Tom Robbins.
 
 He is very approachable and seems glad to autograph my book when I retrieve it from the car. I accidently bring back a biography about Hunter Thompson. I feel foolish and return to the car. He seems very understanding of my foibles and we seem to hit it off. When I return to the store, he pulls me aside to show me something out the window. On the lawn is something I can only describe as a Doberman pelican! Tom says it is his pet. It is a pelican, but it has black and orangish-brown (or is it brownish-orange?) feathers. The bird has a huge fish in its bill and it is attempting to swallow it whole. Despite its plumage, the thing that strikes me as odd is the fish is partially rotted and I know pelicans are not scavengers. The pelican manages to jam the tarpon down its gullet by maneuvering it top bill to stuff it inside. I was about to turn and express my amazement to Tom, when I rolled over and noted I was about 10 minutes late for rising. My blissful dream day had crashed. Time to rush through a shower and shave.
 
 DAMN!!!
 
 The bottom line is that this book had a profound effect on me. Regardless of what a book is "about," if a book changes you, that book is important and I definitely think "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates" is that kind of book.
 
 Enjoy it and let me know what you think of it.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/63624?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

jackalope's review
rating:
bookshelves: generalstuff
recommended for: anyone

I read this book at a very low point in my life. After reading it, I had this dream and it helped change my perspective. I wrote the dream in my journal, and the following retelling is pretty much verbatim from that journal. I was living in Crapus Christi, TX, at the time and that is where the dream is set:

The weather is temperate and sunny. I'm traveling up the Gulf Coast in a gold Ford Explorer. My dad is at the wheel and my mom or sister is in the back seat, along for the ride. The family has moved north, to Springfield, IL, and we've made a trip down here to retrieve a final load of stuff. We are taking one last scenic drive up through Port Aransas and Rockport. Although we are closer to N. Padre Island, the drive is starting to resemble Galveston Island. Lots of little touristy shops. We drive into nice little coastal parks. Mom has some kind of tourist circular and from that we're able to find all the shops giving away free margaritas and free chicken wings. Then we stop at a...more I read this book at a very low point in my life. After reading it, I had this dream and it helped change my perspective. I wrote the dream in my journal, and the following retelling is pretty much verbatim from that journal. I was living in Crapus Christi, TX, at the time and that is where the dream is set:

The weather is temperate and sunny. I'm traveling up the Gulf Coast in a gold Ford Explorer. My dad is at the wheel and my mom or sister is in the back seat, along for the ride. The family has moved north, to Springfield, IL, and we've made a trip down here to retrieve a final load of stuff. We are taking one last scenic drive up through Port Aransas and Rockport. Although we are closer to N. Padre Island, the drive is starting to resemble Galveston Island. Lots of little touristy shops. We drive into nice little coastal parks. Mom has some kind of tourist circular and from that we're able to find all the shops giving away free margaritas and free chicken wings. Then we stop at a small book shop. The shop is in an old house on the beach. It is painted sky blue with rainbow-colored trim. Going into the store, I'm astounded to find the shopkeeper/owner is Tom Robbins.

He is very approachable and seems glad to autograph my book when I retrieve it from the car. I accidently bring back a biography about Hunter Thompson. I feel foolish and return to the car. He seems very understanding of my foibles and we seem to hit it off. When I return to the store, he pulls me aside to show me something out the window. On the lawn is something I can only describe as a Doberman pelican! Tom says it is his pet. It is a pelican, but it has black and orangish-brown (or is it brownish-orange?) feathers. The bird has a huge fish in its bill and it is attempting to swallow it whole. Despite its plumage, the thing that strikes me as odd is the fish is partially rotted and I know pelicans are not scavengers. The pelican manages to jam the tarpon down its gullet by maneuvering it top bill to stuff it inside. I was about to turn and express my amazement to Tom, when I rolled over and noted I was about 10 minutes late for rising. My blissful dream day had crashed. Time to rush through a shower and shave.

DAMN!!!

The bottom line is that this book had a profound effect on me. Regardless of what a book is "about," if a book changes you, that book is important and I definitely think "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates" is that kind of book.

Enjoy it and let me know what you think of it....less

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