Skip to Main Content (Press Enter) Toggle side nav

Wild Ducks Flying Backward

By Tom Robbins

By Tom Robbins

By Tom Robbins

By Tom Robbins

By Tom Robbins
Read by Tom Robbins and Debra Winger

By Tom Robbins
Read by Tom Robbins and Debra Winger

Best Seller
Paperback $17.00

Aug 29, 2006 | ISBN 9780553383539

Ebook $13.99

Aug 29, 2006 | ISBN 9780553902945

Audiobook Download $14.98

Aug 30, 2005 | 455 Minutes

All Formats
+
    Wild Ducks Flying Backward by Tom Robbins
    Paperback $17.00
    Aug 29, 2006 | ISBN 9780553383539

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (2) +

    Paperback
    –

    • Paperback $17.00

      Aug 29, 2006 | ISBN 9780553383539

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook

      Aug 29, 2006 | ISBN 9780553902945

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Audio
    +

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About Wild Ducks Flying Backward

    Known for his meaty seriocomic novels, Tom Robbins’s shorter work has appeared in publications ranging from Esquire to Harper’s, from Playboy to the New York Times. Collected here for the first time in paperback, the essays, articles, observations—and even some untypical country-music lyrics—offer a rare overview of the eclectic sensibility of an American original.

    Whether 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,” Tom Robbins’s briefer writings exhibit the 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 Embedded in this primarily journalistic compilation are brand-new short stories, a sheaf of largely unpublished poems, and an offbeat assessment of our divided nation. Wherever you open Wild Ducks Flying Backward, you’ll encounter the serious playfulness that percolates from the mind of a self-described “romantic Zen hedonist” and “stray dog in the banquet halls of culture.”

    About Wild Ducks Flying Backward

    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 off-beat 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.”

    About Wild Ducks Flying Backward

    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 off-beat 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.”

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Also by Tom Robbins

    Villa Incognito
    Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates
    Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
    Skinny Legs and All
    Another Roadside Attraction
    See all books by Tom Robbins

    Also by Tom Robbins

    Villa Incognito
    Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates
    Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
    Skinny Legs and All
    Another Roadside Attraction
    See all books by Tom Robbins

    Also by Tom Robbins

    Villa Incognito
    Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates
    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 Collections | Arts & Entertainment Biographies & Memoirs | Literary Figure Biographies & Memoirs | Humor

    Paperback | $17.00
    Published by Bantam
    Aug 29, 2006 | 272 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 | ISBN 9780553383539

    Category: Literary Collections | Arts & Entertainment Biographies & Memoirs | Literary Figure Biographies & Memoirs | Humor

    Ebook | $13.99
    Published by Bantam
    Aug 29, 2006 | 272 Pages | ISBN 9780553902945

    Category: Literary Collections | Arts & Entertainment Biographies & Memoirs | Literary Figure Biographies & Memoirs | Humor | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $14.98
    Published by Random House Audio
    Aug 30, 2005 | 455 Minutes | ISBN 9780739321768

    Inspired by Your Browsing History

    Buy other books like Wild Ducks Flying Backward

    ‹ ›
    When I Was Old
    When I Was Old
    Georges Simenon
    A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun
    A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun
    Angela Jackson
    The Poems of Marianne Moore
    The Poems of Marianne Moore
    Marianne Moore
    Writing and Wrestling with the Heart
    Writing and Wrestling with the Heart
    Jan Karon
    Drivers at the Short-Time Motel
    Drivers at the Short-Time Motel
    Eugene Gloria
    The Voice That Is Great Within Us
    The Voice That Is Great Within Us
    Hayden Carruth
    The Buddhist Third Class Junkmail Oracle
    The Buddhist Third Class Junkmail Oracle
    D.A. Levy
    Her Mother's Daughter
    Her Mother’s Daughter
    Linda Carroll
    A Street in Bronzeville
    A Street in Bronzeville
    The Goodness of St. Rocque
    The Goodness of St. Rocque
    Alice Dunbar-Nelson
    Loose Woman and Woman Hollering Creek
    Loose Woman and Woman Hollering Creek
    Sandra Cisneros
    Mother Millett
    Mother Millett
    Kate Millett
    For All of Us, One Today
    For All of Us, One Today
    Richard Blanco
    Selected Letters of Langston Hughes
    Selected Letters of Langston Hughes
    Langston Hughes
    The Journals of Sylvia Plath
    The Journals of Sylvia Plath
    Sylvia Plath
    Always Alwaysland
    Always Alwaysland
    Stanley Moss
    Kentucky Straight
    Kentucky Straight
    Chris Offutt
    Born With A Tooth
    Born With A Tooth
    Joseph Boyden
    Poems and Songs
    Poems and Songs
    Leonard Cohen
    How to Love a Country
    How to Love a Country
    Richard Blanco
    Getting Stoned with Savages
    Getting Stoned with Savages
    J. Maarten Troost
    Life Work
    Life Work
    Donald Hall
    Interview with Anne Rice
    Interview with Anne Rice
    Michael Riley and Anne Rice
    Father and Son
    Father and Son
    Langston Hughes
    Archy and Mehitabel
    Archy and Mehitabel
    Don Marquis
    The Reasons I Won't Be Coming
    The Reasons I Won’t Be Coming
    Elliot Perlman
    Staying Put
    Staying Put
    Scott Russell Sanders
    Thirst
    Thirst
    Mary Oliver
    Book of Sketches
    Book of Sketches
    Jack Kerouac
    Whites
    Whites
    Norman Rush
    The Art of the Wasted Day
    The Art of the Wasted Day
    Patricia Hampl
    We Speak Your Names
    We Speak Your Names
    Pearl Cleage

    Praise

    “A single sentence from Robbins is worth the price of admission.” –Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)

    “Hilarious.”—New York Times Book Review

    “A treat. Robbins is fearless, original, mind-expanding and funny as hell.”—San Diego Union-Tribune

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
    Get the latest updates from Tom Robbins
    And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
    And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
    By clicking SIGN UP, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
    Dismiss
    Thanks!
    Something awesome is on its way.
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read
    Today's Top Books

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?
    An online magazine for today’s home cook

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook