Jitterbug Perfume: A Novel

Amazing book jacket and book in excellent condition for used book. I really appreciate it was even better than advertised, unusual these days. I am excited to be the new owner of this book. It's one of my favorite epic tales!

Tom Robbins is such a clever, witty, good writer that almost he writes will be worth reading, fun to read, and compelling.....I found the story of the aging King and his women, intertwined with the chapters about the perfumeries in New Orleans and in New York, and the Lesbian scientist waitress and friends in Seattle.....Though I did not consider the 'controlling symbol' of the beets exceptionally artfully handled, it was none the less compelling and unifying throughout......I was especially compelled by the chapters NEW ORLEANS, with Madame Devalier and her assistant V'lu and such exquisite details as 'Papa's fat' which referred to a method of extracting the purest, most subtle, most exquisite aroma essences from flower petals......Her Papa's secret method of extraction made Madame Devalier the envy of (and therefore greatly sough after) by all perfumeriers, even in New York and Paris !!!!!!! However, I believe the real strength of the novel, JITTERBUG PERFUME, to be Roggins writing style, and worth restating: clever, witty, compelling: I simply could not wait for the next chapter NEW ORLEANS !!!!!!! This was my first delve into the writings of Robbins......I will be back !!!! Any suggestions about the better of Robbins novels that I should read next.......yogi, tucson desert, in early Spring.........ayogendra@yahoo.com

Tom Robbins (not to be confused with Tony Robbins) is “one of the wildest and most entertaining novelists in the world”, according to the Financial Times of London. “He is the most dangerous writer in the world today”, according to Italy’s Corriere della Sera. And he is the most interesting novelist I came across in 2014. I haven’t heard of him prior to November 2014, which I admit with more than a bit of embarrassment. I’ve just finished reading his novel “Jitterbug Perfume”. Until about three quarters through the book, I thought several times that this is the best book I’ve ever read. I have thought the same of at least another one or two dozen books before. Obviously, they can’t all be the best book. Only one book can be the best one. I really should correct my thinking. How about this? The first three quarters of “Jitterbug Perfume” represent the best philosophical novel of the literary fiction genre that I am inclined to think I have ever read. That makes it a bit more specific and leaves me with a slightly ajar backdoor, which I can use to escape, should I change my mind at some time in the future. The book is about mortality and immortality. The plot is told in several parallel stories that converge in the second half of the novel. A bit like another book that I came across recently, “The Mysterious Man”. Although, I hasten to add, “The Mysterious Man” is brilliant, but not quite as brilliant as “Jitterbug Perfume”. I only mention it because I know the author and I thought he could do with a bit of advertising. Back to “Jitterbug Perfume”. There is a king who ruled his kingdom many centuries ago. They had a rule in that kingdom. Whenever a king displays grey hair and when his sexual proficiencies decline, he is to be permanently removed from this world and replaced by a younger king. So far, all kings have accepted that fate without arguing, but not this king. His name is Alobar. Death is not for him, he decides, not now and not forever. What a revolutionary thought. He is of the opinion: “to achieve the marvelous, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought.” Then there are the parallel plots. They take place in today’s time: in Paris, Seattle and New Orleans. They have a lot to do with beautiful and interesting women and perfume. I should add, in Alobar’s time – well, at the beginning of his time (I won’t tell you more about his quest for immortality) – daily showers and hygiene were not yet invented. When Alobar was still a king, the god people believed in was Pan. And Pan, as we all know, or, if we don’t know, as Wikipedia tells us, “Pan is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs.” He stinks. You could smell him from miles away. And it was pretty much the same with the population in the Alobar’s kingdom. Alobar meets a woman who is different in many ways, but especially as far as her scent is concerned. She washes herself regularly and she knows a bit about perfume. – And this is where you get an inkling that the various plots are going to converge at some stage. Perfume, you could say, is the link. The search for immortality is the power behind the link. The last quarter of the book, I found less interesting. Still interesting enough to keep reading, but somehow I felt, what the novel really had to say, certainly from a philosophical perspective, I had read earlier on. Which turned out to be the case. Towards the very end, the various plots merged beautifully. I enjoyed this novel, my first novel by Tom Robbins, and I am certain I will read a few more by him.

Light and lively

This is one of THE great books in the English language. It is about a love that lasts a thousand years, the search for immortality, of course perfume... and, oh yes, not to be forgotten...beets. I have, in my search for the ultimate book, my search for the wisdom for the ages, (the perfect taco)searched far and wide; Quantum Physics, philosophy, religion... I have cast my net wide and thought I had left no stone unturned. Most have left me empty. Who could have guessed I should have been turning over beets? Mr. Robbins has shared with us mere mortals, a work that had me underlining quotes on almost every page, a work in which I can only hope I have allowed it's wisdom into my soul as a fragrance expands to fill ones lungs. For those less interested in "Literature", Jitterbug Perfume could be considered a "rom com" because the romance oozes from this work like the blood of its favorite vegetable. The humor is thick as the fragrance of its favorite perfume, winking at you like some ancient sojourner with tongue firmly in cheek, yet dispensing such nuggets of wisdom as only time and experience could accumulate. The language is delicious, it pours from the pages like a thick Louisiana gumbo unconstrained by the levees of an indolent corps of engineers. My only complaint is that near the end, the story slows...no car chases or epic battles for control of the titular scent which wafts thru the narrative like a carrot before the cart, but perhaps that is a metaphor as well, that encumbered as we are by our instant gratification culture, our religious pedantic political machine, the military industrial complex which governs our economy and excuse for empire, that perhaps instead, we should just all smell the flowers and dance to our life, health, and loves. May Tom Robbins live a thousand years!

_Jitterbug Perfume_ is Tom Robbins' droll, absurdist, and often hallucinatory vision of man's continual quest for eternal youth and immortality. Wiggs Dannyboy, a Timothy Leary-like man (with an Irish brogue which keeps fading in and out) theorizes that humans have evolved from the brutish reptile, to the higher level mammal, to finally the highest plane of all: flower loving creatures, motivated by their olifactory powers, who no longer believe in violence and war. He hypothesizes that people with the greatest longevity have, among other traits, abolished death and dying from their lexicon. He also gives strong credence to the restorative powers of flowers and other odors. Dannyboy utilizes as his paragon Alobar, a former king, whom he meets while both of them are serving time in prison. Both Alobar and his equally youthful wife, Kudra, have already been living a thousand years and both, in their earlier years, escaped execution: King Alobar due to showing signs of aging and Kudra, narrowingly escaping ritual burning because of the death of her first husband. A Parisian perfumer and a New Orleans perfume retailer hope to recreate the scintillating, elusive, and soon to prove very significant odor of the few drops of perfume (formulated by Kudra many years before) still remaining in an ancient and exotic bottle that was recently retrieved from the sea, and which had the likeness of Pan, the Greek God of the woodlands and the flocks on it. Tom Robbins works on a vast canvas. The novel begins in Europe during the Dark Ages, then journeys to India, then back to Bohemia. The contemporary sections of the book transport the reader to Paris and New Orleans and back. The author deftly recounts the various myths and legends of ancient times related to love, sex, longevity, and the negative impact of religious influences. Pan figures strongly throughout the book, although Pan has been slowly fading from existence due to the public's loss of interest in him. In the old days Pan had an allegedly stimulating sexual affect on those he passed by while serenading them on his flute. The final irony is that although Pan eventually fades altogether in the modern world, his influence still remains strong, as does the desire to enhance one's youthfulness and sexual attraction.

I read this book. It is ok but I felt let down at the end of the book. The story jumps back and forward in time. Some parts of the book are really good. The sex scenes are from a very male viewpoint (how men would like it to be) there was no love or heart in the sex scenes just base instinctual type descriptions no love or absolute beauty. The book is ok, but I was very disappointed with it. Very swadhisthana chakra energy to this book (if you're into yoga).

Beautifully written. A romp with fantastically eloquent creatures and people like you and me. In the end, you find yourself questioning the purpose of life. Thought provoking, laugh out loud funny, and poignant... stop what you are doing and read this!

Habe dieses Buch gebraucht gekauft für 30€, nachdem ich es auf Deutsch gelesen habe, musste ich einfach das amerikanische Original lesen. Habe zu meinem Schrecken feststellen müssen, dass es nicht nur die Erstausgabe war (was ich bereits vermutet habe), sondern auch noch eine vom Autoren Handsignierte!!! So kreischen bloß die Frauen in der Zalando-Werbung.... dachte ich. Ne, ich kann das auch... bei meinem Lieblingsbuch. :)

This is one of my favorite Tom Robbins' books, his way with words, the colorful characters and their story, the timeline. I lent my original copy out years ago and am looking forward to re-reading it.

One of my favourite books ever. I gave my original copy away to a good friend and was so happy that you have it in stock. Thank you. Good things come from giving when it is truly giving.

Story, style, humour. All the ingredients for a good time and some thought provoking reading. Check out other books by Tom.

Un libro che e' riuscito a stupirmi, a portarmi un'ondata di freschezza. Scritto con un'intelligente ironia, che mi ha divertito, pur affrontando tematiche esistenziali apparentemente poco adatte allo scherzo. Uno scrittore stupefacente e ardito. Felice di averlo scoperto