This book contains a collection of stories about the American icon and bestselling novelist Tom Robbins. Having spent the past few years reading through Robbins' fictive works, I was excited when I heard that he was releasing a somewhat-less-fictive account of his life in autobiographical/anecdotal form.
Fortunately, I was not let down! This book has some great stories about what it was like to grow up in the first half of the 20th century, just a few hours away from where I was born and raised. For those unfamiliar with Robbins' prior works, they can be described as intellectual, hilarious, confusing, psychedelic, weird, wild, philosophical, and unusual tales that include outrageous characters like a hitchhiking cowgirl with enormous thumbs, a conscious and mobile can of beans, and a former football star turned drug dealer who stumbles upon and infiltrates a group of Catholic monks working as hired assassins for the Vatican.
Robbins' own life, detailed in these pages, is oddly similar to some of the more eye-opening portions of the his novels. He weaves together the most entertaining accounts of his life, including his boyhood and adolescence in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina and Virginia, all the way through to his globe-trotting adventures and wicked events from his adult life.
If you have read any Robbins, be it Another Roadside Attraction, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, or my personal favorite, Still Life with Woodpecker, you owe it to yourself to check out Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life. Even folks who aren't privy to Robbins' former works would love this set of raucous tales. I sincerely enjoyed getting a sneak peak into this literary legend's life, and I am confident that you will too.
4/5 stars. 384 pages.