Wild Ducks Flying Backward: The Short Writings of Tom Robbins
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Narrated by Debra Winger
3.5/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Known for his meaty seriocomic novels—expansive works that are simultaneously lowbrow and highbrow—Tom Robbins has also published over the years a number of short pieces, predominantly nonfiction. His travel articles, essays, and tributes to actors, musicians, sex kittens, and thinkers have appeared in publications ranging from Esquire to Harper's, from Playboy to the New York Times, High Times, and Life.
A generous sampling, collected here for the first time and including works as diverse as scholarly art criticism and some decidedly untypical country—music lyrics, Wild Ducks Flying Backward offers a rare sweeping overview of the eclectic sensibility of an American original.
Whether he is rocking with the Doors, depoliticizing Picasso's Guernica, lamenting the angst-ridden state of contemporary literature, or drooling over tomato sandwiches and a species of womanhood he calls "the genius waitress," Robbins's briefer writings often exhibit the same five traits that perhaps best characterize his novels: an imaginative wit, a cheerfully brash disregard for convention, a sweetly nasty eroticism, a mystical but keenly observant eye, and an irrepressible love of language.
Embedded in this primarily journalistic compilation are a couple of short stories, a sheaf of largely unpublished poems, and an offbeat assessment of our divided nation. And wherever we open Wild Ducks Flying Backward, we're apt to encounter examples of the intently serious playfulness that percolates from the mind of a self-described "romantic Zen hedonist" and "stray dog in the banquet halls of culture."
—From the Hardcover edition.
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Reviews for Wild Ducks Flying Backward
184 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5enjoyed most of his writings with the exception of his poetry!?
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5"Wild Ducks Flying Backwards" is a collection of short writings by Tom Robbins, organized by the purpose of each piece. Some sections were brilliant, such as the travel writings and the critiques. Here Robbins is at his best -- playful, irreverent, but always thoughtful. Some sections fell very flat, like the poetry and short fiction section. This felt like a collection of notes he had made instead of finished pieces. I'd say the brilliant balances out the banal and this book comes out ... meh.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tom Robbins needs to clone himself. I would've paid the same price for just the "Responses" section. Hilarious and feel-goody.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5entertaining read. i liked that the book spans several decades. there are pieces that were written as long ago as 1967 like the Doors tribute. there are pieces from all sorts of publications, from the new york times to esquire and there are -naturally- several different writing styles. which is amusing since for the readers of his novels -like me- there seems to be just good old tom robbins, but there is tom robbins traveler and tom robins artforum writer and tom robbins terence mckenna aficionado. one of the poems made me laugh a lot, it's called triplets and the last part goes:I stopped by Satan's house.I just happened to be in the neighborhood.Satan came downstairs in a Raiders Jacket.(...)
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I guess I wasn't in the right frame of mind. Author has great use of words and can twist a wonderful phrase but the subject matter was nothing I could really sink my teeth into.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After loving Tom Robbins' books for so many years, it was great to learn more about him as a person. This is a great collection.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5loved it, he talks about music, film, writing, life, everything. his travel essays were my favorites. all with the robbins wit and style.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5absolutely fantastic. i haven't read a tom robbins that i haven't loved. the genius waitress is supurb.