"Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates" by Tom Robbins is a whimsical and eccentric novel that follows the wheelchair-bound protagonist, Switters, on a globetrotting adventure filled with love, danger, and spiritual exploration. The book delves into themes of contradiction, light and dark coexisting, and the complexities of human nature. With a diverse cast of characters including a pyramid-headed shaman, a matisse model turned nun, rogue CIA agents, and a squawking parrot, Robbins weaves a tale that challenges societal norms and celebrates individuality.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of pedophilia, sexual content with significant age differences, and possible triggering topics around sexuality.
Has Romance?
The book features significant romantic elements, including complex relationships involving both a young stepsister and an older nun.
From The Publisher:
"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
Ratings (9)
Incredible (2) | |
Loved It (2) | |
Liked It (2) | |
It Was OK (2) | |
Did Not Like (1) |
Reader Stats (14):
Read It (9) | |
Want To Read (2) | |
Did Not Finish (2) | |
Not Interested (1) |
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Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates?
About the Author:
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…
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