Tom Robbins Biography

Robbins was educated at Washington and Lee University, Richmond Professional Institute, and the University of Washington. He served in the U.S. Air Force, hitchhiked across the United States, and worked as a journalist and art critic. His first two novels became popular only when they were released in paperback editions.

"Another Roadside Attraction" (1971), anchored by extensive research into early Christianity, is about a native of rural Washington who steals the mummy of Jesus Christ. "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" (1976) is the story of a female hitchhiker with enormous thumbs who visits a woman’s spa in South Dakota. Robbins’s later novels include "Still Life with Woodpecker" (1980); "Jitterbug Perfume" (1984), which centres on a medieval king who lives for 1,000 years before becoming a janitor in Albert Einstein’s laboratory; "Skinny Legs and All" (1990), a fantastical novel that follows five inanimate objects on a journey to Jerusalem while exploring the Arab-Israeli conflict and religious fundamentalism, among other political themes; "Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas" (1994); "Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates" (2000), the story of a hedonistic CIA operative who is cursed by a Peruvian shaman to forever keep his feet off the ground lest he die; and "Villa Incognito" (2003)." Wild Ducks Flying Backward" (2005) is a collection of assorted writings that include essays, travelogues, and poems.

In 1997, Robbins won the Bumbershoot Golden Umbrella Award for Lifetime Achievement in the arts that is presented annually by the Bumbershoot arts festival in Seattle.

In 2000, Robbins was named one of the 100 Best Writers of the 20th Century by Writer's Digest magazine, while the legendary Italian critic Fernanda Pivano called Robbins "the most dangerous writer in the world".

In October 2012, Robbins received the 2012 Literary Lifetime Achievement Award from the Library of Virginia. Robbins married Alexa D’Avalon in 1987. The couple does not have any children together but Robbins has three sons from previous marriages.

Bibliography:

Non-Fiction:

• Guy Anderson. (Biography) (1965)
• Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life (2014)

Novels:

• Another Roadside Attraction (1971)
• Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976)
• Still Life with Woodpecker (1980)
• Jitterbug Perfume (1984)
• Skinny Legs and All (1990)
• Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (1994)
• Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates (2000)
• Villa Incognito (2003)

Collection:

• Wild Ducks Flying Backward (2005) — a collection of essays, reviews, and short stories.

Novella:

• B Is for Beer (2009)