Our next book: Another Roadside Attraction, by Tom Robbins (1971)
Friends and fans of the written word, I have no shame in admitting that I was the first to reply to the e-mail sent by our mutual acquaintence, Mr. Schwartz. I watched as my 'Inbox' text grew bold, and the number 1 appeared in parentheses. "I must reply NOW!" I thought to myself. Hesitation is a distant stranger to my demeanor; I did not read the e-mail and it's invitation to contest. I simply replied to it with the same message that I reply to all my e-mails with: "I win!". Unbeknownst to me at the time, I had won. Who'd of thought? Usually I get a reply from the Nigerian National Bank asking for my checking account and routing number. This time I got a reply asking for a book suggestion. Oh shit!
So, without further ado, I give you our next book: Another Roadside Attraction, by Tom Robbins. I should confess that I'm not nearly as responsible as some of you who have already suggested books. I haven't even read this book, nor have I done much background research on it. Furthermore, I only read the first 50 pages of the last Tom Robbins book that I attempted to read. So why choose "un-tested", and potentially inappropriate material? I offer two reasons in my defense:
First is comedy on a number of levels. On the surface, I simply wanted a fun, light-hearted text. I thought we could relax a little bit after the strange journies of Kafka, the constant threat of zombies and the death of Ultima. I was searching through the works of Mark Twain to satisfy this need, and was trying to choose between two pieces: Roughing It and Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Either of those would have made for an incredible literary experience, but they would require a lot of reading. I'm not referring solely to page number here, or to verbose, run-on sentences like the ones that I'm writing right now. Twain was brilliantly funny, but his humor was often subtle, indirect, and required re-reading paragraphs. It's what I like to refer to as the "Wait, what the fuck?" reaction. So, in lieu of Twain, I have chosen Robbins. I was glancing at the cover to Another Roadside and noticed a comment comparing Tom to Mark Twain. How perfect! A shorter, and perhaps zanier experience awaits us. Some might call it trippy.
The second part of my rationale is a love for non-linear plot lines. Some of the books that have been chosen thus far have shown hints of this style of plot. Moving from one scenario to the next, but not in any particular order, and often dissolving into a dream, or out of context altogether. I've taken this as a sign that our little club might want some more. Therefore, in serious danger of over-doing the "crazy plot" scheme, we will read Another Roadside Attraction.
I wish I could end this note with another, smaller note like "This book changed my life, and I'm certain it will change yours". Unfortunately I can't. This book might even ruin your life. Remember two paragraphs ago, when I gave my first reason for choosing the book as "comedy on a number of levels"? If you read carefully, you noticed that I only cited the "surface" level. The underlying level of "funny" is that we're all in the same boat, and we don't know what to expect. Seriously though, I am so excited to re-read this book; I absolutely love it and I know you will too!
- Robbie
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