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Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates

A Novel

A Novel

By Tom Robbins

By Tom Robbins

By Tom Robbins

By Tom Robbins

By Tom Robbins
Read by Keith Szarabajka

By Tom Robbins
Read by Keith Szarabajka

Best Seller
Paperback $17.00

May 29, 2001 | ISBN 9780553379334

Ebook $13.99

Jun 17, 2003 | ISBN 9780553897906

Audiobook Download $19.95

Jul 05, 2000 | 977 Minutes

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    Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates by Tom Robbins
    Paperback $17.00
    May 29, 2001 | ISBN 9780553379334

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    • Paperback $17.00

      May 29, 2001 | ISBN 9780553379334

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Ebook
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    • Ebook

      Jun 17, 2003 | ISBN 9780553897906

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    About Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates

    “As clever and witty a novel as anyone has written in a long time . . . Robbins takes readers on a wild, delightful ride. . . . A delight from beginning to end.”—Buffalo News

    Switters is a contradiction for all seasons: an anarchist who works for the government; a pacifist who carries a gun; a vegetarian who sops up ham gravy; a cyberwhiz who hates computers; a man who, though obsessed with the preservation of innocence, is aching to deflower his high-school-age stepsister (only to become equally enamored of a nun ten years his senior). Yet there is nothing remotely wishy-washy about Switters. He doesn’t merely pack a pistol. He is a pistol. And as we dog Switters’s strangely elevated heels across four continents, in and out of love and danger, discovering in the process the “true” Third Secret of Fatima, we experience Tom Robbins—that fearless storyteller, spiritual renegade, and verbal break dancer—at the top of his game. On one level this is a fast-paced CIA adventure story with comic overtones; on another it’s a serious novel of ideas that brings the Big Picture into unexpected focus; but perhaps more than anything else, Fierce Invalids is a sexy celebration of language and life.

    Praise for Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates

    “Superb.”—New York Post
     
    “Dangerous? Wicked? Forbidden? You bet. . . . Pour yourself a bowl of chips and dig in.”—Daily News, New York 

    “Robbins is a great writer . . . and definitely a provocative rascal.”—The Tennessean

    “Whoever said truth is stranger than fiction never read a Tom Robbins novel. . . Clever, creative, and witty, Robbins tosses off impassioned observations like handfuls of flower petals.”—San Diego Union-Tribune

    About Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates

    “As clever and witty a novel as anyone has written in a long time . . . Robbins takes readers on a wild, delightful ride. . . . A delight from beginning to end.”—Buffalo News

    Switters is a contradiction for all seasons: an anarchist who works for the government; a pacifist who carries a gun; a vegetarian who sops up ham gravy; a cyberwhiz who hates computers; a man who, though obsessed with the preservation of innocence, is aching to deflower his high-school-age stepsister (only to become equally enamored of a nun ten years his senior). Yet there is nothing remotely wishy-washy about Switters. He doesn’t merely pack a pistol. He is a pistol. And as we dog Switters’s strangely elevated heels across four continents, in and out of love and danger, discovering in the process the “true” Third Secret of Fatima, we experience Tom Robbins—that fearless storyteller, spiritual renegade, and verbal break dancer—at the top of his game. On one level this is a fast-paced CIA adventure story with comic overtones; on another it’s a serious novel of ideas that brings the Big Picture into unexpected focus; but perhaps more than anything else, Fierce Invalids is a sexy celebration of language and life.

    Praise for Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates

    “Superb.”—New York Post
     
    “Dangerous? Wicked? Forbidden? You bet. . . . Pour yourself a bowl of chips and dig in.”—Daily News, New York 

    “Robbins is a great writer . . . and definitely a provocative rascal.”—The Tennessean

    “Whoever said truth is stranger than fiction never read a Tom Robbins novel. . . Clever, creative, and witty, Robbins tosses off impassioned observations like handfuls of flower petals.”—San Diego Union-Tribune

    About Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates

    "Tom Robbins has a grasp on things that dazzles the brain and he’s also a world-class storyteller."
    –Thomas Pynchon

    In Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, his seventh and biggest novel, the wise, witty, always gutsy Tom Robbins brings onstage the most complex and compelling character he has ever created.

    Switters is a contradiction for all seasons: an anarchist who works for the government, a pacifist who carries a gun, a vegetarian who sops up ham gravy, a cyberwhiz who hates computers, a robust bon vivant who can be as squeamish as any fop, a man who, though obsessed with the preservation of innocence, is aching to deflower his high-school-age stepsister (only to become equally enamored of a nun ten years his senior).

    Yet there is nothing remotely wishy-washy about Switters. He doesn’t merely pack a pistol. He is a pistol.

    And as we dog Switters’s strangely elevated heels across four continents, in and out of love and danger, Robbins explores, challenges, mocks, and celebrates virtually every major aspect of our mercurial era.

    As many readers well know, to describe a Tom Robbins plot does not begin to describe a Tom Robbins novel. Moreover, the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author, with his love of language, nuance, and surprise, is as opposed to story summations as J.D. Salinger. It is revealing, however, to learn what things Robbins lists as having influenced the writing of Fierce Invalids:

    "This book was inspired by an entry from Bruce Chatwin’s journal, by a CIA agent I met in Southeast Asia, by the mystery surrounding the lost prophecy of the Virgin of Fatima, by the increasing evidence that the interplay of opposites is the engine that runs the universe, and by embroidered memories of old Terry and the Pirates comic books."

    Robbins also has said that throughout the writing of Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates he was guided by the advice of Julia Child: "Learn to handle hot things. Keep your knives sharp. Above all, have a good time."

    Perhaps that is why he has managed to write a provocative, rascally novel that takes no prisoners–and yet is upbeat, romantic, meaningful, adventurous, edifying, and fun.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Listen to a sample from Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates

    Also by Tom Robbins

    Wild Ducks Flying Backward
    Villa Incognito
    Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
    Skinny Legs and All
    Another Roadside Attraction
    See all books by Tom Robbins

    Also by Tom Robbins

    Wild Ducks Flying Backward
    Villa Incognito
    Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
    Skinny Legs and All
    Another Roadside Attraction
    See all books by Tom Robbins

    Also by Tom Robbins

    Wild Ducks Flying Backward
    Villa Incognito
    Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
    Skinny Legs and All
    Another Roadside Attraction
    See all books by Tom Robbins

    About Tom Robbins

    Tom Robbins has been called “a vital natural resource” by the Oregonian, “one of the wildest and most entertaining novelists in the world” by the Financial Times of London, and “the most dangerous writer in the world today” by Fernanda Pivano of Italy’s Corriere… More about Tom Robbins

    About Tom Robbins

    Tom Robbins has been called “a vital natural resource” by the Oregonian, “one of the wildest and most entertaining novelists in the world” by the Financial Times of London, and “the most dangerous writer in the world today” by Fernanda Pivano of Italy’s Corriere… More about Tom Robbins

    About Tom Robbins

    Tom Robbins has been called “a vital natural resource” by the Oregonian, “one of the wildest and most entertaining novelists in the world” by the Financial Times of London, and “the most dangerous writer in the world today” by Fernanda Pivano of Italy’s Corriere… More about Tom Robbins

    Product Details

    Category: Literary Fiction

    Paperback | $17.00
    Published by Bantam
    May 29, 2001 | 464 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8-1/4 | ISBN 9780553379334

    Category: Literary Fiction

    Ebook | $13.99
    Published by Bantam
    Jun 17, 2003 | 464 Pages | ISBN 9780553897906

    Category: Literary Fiction | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $19.95
    Published by Random House Audio
    Jul 05, 2000 | 977 Minutes | ISBN 9780553752786
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    Praise

    “Superb.”—New York Post

    “As clever and witty a novel as anyone has written in a long time . . . The plot is sustained by [Robbins’s] usual virtuoso writing and brilliant flashes of insight. . . . Robbins takes readers on a wild, delightful ride. . . . A delight from beginning to end.”—Buffalo News
    “Dangerous? Wicked? Forbidden? You bet. . . . Pour yourself a bowl of chips and dig in.”—Daily News, New York

    “Robbins is a great writer . . . and definitely a provocative rascal.”—The Tennessean

    “Whoever said truth is stranger than fiction never read a Tom Robbins novel. . . Clever, creative, and witty, Robbins tosses off impassioned observations like handfuls of flower petals.”—San Diego Union-Tribune

    Awards

    Audie Awards WINNER 2001

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