RIP, Tom Robbins

[MelissaBaby]

https://dnyuz.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Tom-Robbins-Whose-Comic-Novels-Drew-a-Cult-Following-Dies-750x375.jpg

"Rules such as "Write what you know," and "Show, don't tell," while doubtlessly grounded in good sense, can be ignored with impunity by any novelist nimble enough to get away with it. There is, in fact, only one rule in writing fiction: Whatever works, works." -T.R.

 

[JGittes]

Tom Robbins, Richard Brautigan, Jack Kerouac, and Robert Prisig were staples of my late teens and early twenties. Thinking of them now takes me back a half-century. They reflected the late '60s and early '70s, and now they're all dead. At least Prisig and Robbins had good, long lives.

I can still quote one of Brautigan's opening paragraphs from memory.

"In watermelon sugar the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar. I'll tell you about it because I am here and you are distant."

I can't think of a better reason to write.

 

[AlexBailey]

RIP Marx Marvelous.

Tom taught me to expect more from inanimate objects, to consider the treble, mid, and bass notes of a foggy night, and that a clock that can’t keep a regular rhythm is never really off.

He-he, ha-ha, ho-ho.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Tom Robbins, Richard Brautigan, Jack Kerouac, and Robert Prisig were staples of my late teens and early twenties. Thinking of them now takes me back a half-century. They reflected the late '60s and early '70s, and now they're all dead. At least Prisig and Robbins had good, long lives.

I can still quote one of Brautigan's opening paragraphs from memory.

"In watermelon sugar the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar. I'll tell you about it because I am here and you are distant."

I can't think of a better reason to write.

Some of my very oldest books are Richard Brautigan's - I think I have a complete set.

I remember reading Trout Fishing in America, and my dad asking, what's that about?

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas will always be one of my favorite book titles. A pretty good book as well.

 

[AlexBailey]

Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas will always be one of my favorite book titles. A pretty good book as well.

Also one of the few novels written in 2nd person.

 

[JGittes]

Some of my very oldest books are Richard Brautigan's - I think I have a complete set.

I remember reading Trout Fishing in America, and my dad asking, what's that about?

I just went upstairs to check, and I have most of his novels and a couple of his poetry books. Honestly, the novels are more poetry than novels.

I have to say that regarding female characters, Robbins, Brautigan, and Kerouac haven't aged well (I can't recall how Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance characterized women). The best one can say is they represented their time and location. The writing and imagery are fantastic, though.