Pynchon & mayonnaise? Why?

[Bekah]

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues came out in 1976 and that's when I read it - I was under 30.    I doubt it has withstood the "test of time"   but as a novel "of" the times it was spot on (unless you were a lit major). 

So I followed him into Still Life with Woodpecker (1980) and once again was enchanted.   

Then came Jitterbug Perfume (1984) -  um... it wasn't quite stinky but Robbins had lost his edge - his groove - his balls, I think ...  something.  

Skinny Legs and All (1990) had some funny parts but ... um ... not the old Robbins at all - basically,  it was  pretty dumb. 

Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas  was the last of the Robbins for me.  I'd held out wa-ay past the call of fandom.  Stu-pid.  This is the one I wanted to throw somewhere.  

I was never even tempted again - not even for old times' sake.   It's just too sad. 

Bek


On Aug 30, 2012, at 2:32 PM, malignd at aol.com wrote:

> I can't believe (I don't mean you're lying) that you or Pynchon like this guy.  I loathe his writing, his insufferable cuteness.  He's the literary equivalent of Jeff Koons, except that he didn't marry a porn star (to my knowledge ...).  I can still remember hurling "Cowgirls" -- the one with the Pynchon blurb -- across the room.  (I was young and passionate.)
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bekah <bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net>
> To: Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>
> Cc: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Sent: Thu, Aug 30, 2012 4:41 pm
> Subject: Re: Pynchon & mayonnaise? Why?
> 
> Tom Robbins used to be such a kick -  read everything up to Frogs Pajamas and 
> then it seemed that Robbins was trying just a wee bit too hard to be 
> "irreverent."   
> 
> I read somewhere that Robbins got bored with the books he'd been reading,  so he 
> wrote the book he wanted to read.   (heh)
> 
> Bekah
> 
> On Aug 30, 2012, at 1:27 PM, Mark Kohut wrote:
> 
> > Found out this about Tom Robbins, whom Pynchon blurbed early, right?
> > " He has also hosted an annual mayonnaise tasting, often with more than 20 
> international varieties, at his home in La Conner."
> 
>