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Tom Robbins
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Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life Kindle Edition

by Tom Robbins (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 2,283
Editors' pick Best Biographies & Memoirs
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Internationally bestselling novelist and American icon Tom Robbins' legendary memoir--wild tales of his life and times, both at home and around the globe.

Tom Robbins’ warm, wise, and wonderfully weird novels—including Still Life With Woodpecker, Jitterbug Perfume, and Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates—provide an entryway into the frontier of his singular imagination. Madcap but sincere, pulsating with strong social and philosophical undercurrents, his irreverent classics have introduced countless readers to natural born hitchhiking cowgirls, born-again monkeys, a philosophizing can of beans, exiled royalty, and problematic redheads.

In Tibetan Peach Pie, Robbins turns that unparalleled literary sensibility inward, stitching together stories of his unconventional life, from his Appalachian childhood to his globetrotting adventures —told in his unique voice that combines the sweet and sly, the spiritual and earthy. The grandchild of Baptist preachers, Robbins would become over the course of half a century a poet-interruptus, an air force weatherman, a radio dj, an art-critic-turned-psychedelic-journeyman, a world-famous novelist, and a counter-culture hero, leading a life as unlikely, magical, and bizarre as those of his quixotic characters.

Robbins offers intimate snapshots of Appalachia during the Great Depression, the West Coast during the Sixties psychedelic revolution, international roving before homeland security monitored our travels, and New York publishing when it still relied on trees. Written with the big-hearted comedy and mesmerizing linguistic invention for which he is known, Tibetan Peach Pie is an invitation into the private world of a literary legend.

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  1. Print length
    389 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Ecco
  5. Publication date
    May 27, 2014
  6. File size
    2920 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Insisting that this tome is neither autobiography nor memoir, countercultural icon Robbins (Another Roadside Attraction) covers the significant touchstones of his life. Beginning with his humble origins in a succession of Tidewater towns (Blowing Rock, Urbanna, Kilmarnock, Warsaw), Robbins knew that he wanted to write since before he could write. Always marked by his “funky orientation and anarchic aesthetic,” Robbins has held a lifelong love for the offbeat and for the written word. As a child he won a radio in a raffle and sold it for books. “Nothing the human race has ever created,” he writes, “is more cool than a book.” Humorous anecdotes and high jinks fill these pages as Robbins waxes poetic about the circus life and shares his love for tomatoes, kimchi, numerous women, and his preference for Pepsi over Coke, but it’s not until almost page 200 when his life is forever altered by exposure to LSD and the infinite rabbit holes it has led him to. Now in his eighties (hard to believe), and still a booster for the mind-altering properties of most drugs, Robbins continues to embody Zen coolness and bohemian charm. Famous for his clever turn of a phrase, Robbins, with such nuggets as “Adrenaline shot through me like a crystal meth espresso through a break-dance” and “Shaking his hand was like being forced to grasp the flaccid penis of a hypothermic zombie,” certainly won’t disappoint. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Robbins will be enjoying a six-city author tour and a national print campaign as part of his publisher’s promotional push. --Ben Segedin

Review

Tibetan Peach Pie is a gift to his fans, the story of a man who had the sense to follow where his imagination led...How lucky for his readers that we got to tag along for the ride.

-- "Seattle Times"

Memoir or not, the form suits Robbins's digressive style, philosophical musings, and self-deprecating humor. Each piece stands on its own, but when read side by side they develop into a powerful argument about magic and the necessity of imaginative, interior worlds.

-- "Library Journal (starred review)"

Robbins carries us along a magical wonder tour in this high-flying, Zen koan-like, and cinematic tour of some of the episodes in his journey through space and time...Master storyteller, indeed, Robbins calls us into his tales and with a wink and a nod, never lets us go until we've heard it all.

-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

Insisting that this tome is neither autobiography nor memoir, countercultural icon Robbins covers the significant touchstones of his life...Robbins continues to embody Zen coolness and bohemian charm.

-- "Booklist (starred review)"

[Tibetan Peach Pie] bursts with enough joie de vivre to bewitch even the most present-shock-imprisoned twenty-eight-year-old and to snag the rest of us with Robbins' far-out, feel-good sensibility and trademark helical, world-happy prose.

-- "Elle"

The first memoir from the idiosyncratic novelist, who claims that if 'it doesn't read like a normal memoir, that may be because I haven't exactly led what most normal people would consider a normal life'...A fitting cap to a sui generis career, equally satisfying in short installments or read straight through.

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

Tibetan Peach Pie is a late, welcome gift from a philosopher-novelist who continues to believe in the transformative qualities of 'novelty, beauty, mischief, and mirth'-qualities apparent on every page of this lively, large-hearted book.

-- "Washington Post"

A rollicking reminiscence of his Appalachian upbringing, his spiral through the psychedelic '60s, and his unconventional path to literary stardom.

-- "O, The Oprah Magazine"

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00FJ376EQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ecco; Reprint edition (May 27, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 27, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2920 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 389 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 2,283

About the author

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Tom Robbins

Tom Robbins

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Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins (born July 22, 1932) is an American author. His best-selling novels are "seriocomedies" (also known as "comedy-drama"), often wildly poetic stories with a strong social and philosophical undercurrent, an irreverent bent, and scenes extrapolated from carefully researched bizarre facts. His novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues was made into a movie in 1993 by Gus Van Sant and stars Uma Thurman, Lorraine Bracco, and Keanu Reeves.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
2,283 global ratings
KEEP SHAKING THE PEACH TREE TOM : )
4 Stars
KEEP SHAKING THE PEACH TREE TOM : )
This was my first TOM ROBBINS read and I was not disappointed; so enamored that I immediately joted down his other publications. I enjoyed his style and his vocabulary is a real treat. I'm a huge Ed Abbey fan and as a survivor of the "60's" thoroughly enjoy a counter culture mindset. My personal acid-test, no pun intended, is whether I wish to read more of an author and TOM fills the bill; his autobio is a page turner ... I don't know how he survived it all; keep shaking the peach tree TOM.
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Top reviews from the United States

Robert N Newman
5.0 out of 5 stars Laughed out loud on most pages
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2023
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Not sure how it took me so long to become aware of and then read this book! I’ve aways loved Robbins’ stories, his highly descriptive and unique way of putting words together like no one else can. I had forgotten how much he makes me laugh and this true life collection of stories which functions as a sort of bio is no exception. Reading this book was not only entertaining, but a reminder for me to have more fun and adventure and to remember to take life a bit less seriously. I have to mention two quick stories of my own. 1) I met the author, briefly at a book signing at a book shop in Pioneer Square, Seattle in the early 80’s when I lived there where he signed my copy of “Jitterbug Perfume”. Cool dude. 2) I took the same signed copy of JP to a Club Med in Cancun, Mexico in ‘85 to reread I liked it so much. I met a woman there the first night who on first glance I decided would be my wife and I decided it would be cool to read the book aloud to her at the beach and maybe it would be an unusual enough ploy to get her to fall in love with me. It worked. Finished the reading on the last day. Coincidentally and fortunately we both lived in Manhattan and flew home same flight! We’ve been married 37 years, have four kids and I’m in the waiting room of Cedars in L.A. waiting for first grandchild as I type this review as I just finished it 10 minutes go. There are so many reasons to read it. 1) it will make you laugh and God knows we need to 2) it’s a most interesting social commentary on many different facets of U.S. culture over the past 80 or so years including, but not limited to, the south, the northwest- Seattle and La Conner, Wa, the 60’s counterculture including the LSD/shroom part, the publishing world, etc. I could not put it down and found myself sharing parts with whoever was around. The author is just too cool, too funny and I am in awe of his ability to seemingly not take life too seriously and to be able to share that with us. I have passed many of his books to my kids and will do same with TPP.
3 people found this helpful
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David Wilder
4.0 out of 5 stars Loved It! Highly recommend reading the rest of Robbins too!
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2015
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This book contains a collection of stories about the American icon and bestselling novelist Tom Robbins. Having spent the past few years reading through Robbins' fictive works, I was excited when I heard that he was releasing a somewhat-less-fictive account of his life in autobiographical/anecdotal form.

Fortunately, I was not let down! This book has some great stories about what it was like to grow up in the first half of the 20th century, just a few hours away from where I was born and raised. For those unfamiliar with Robbins' prior works, they can be described as intellectual, hilarious, confusing, psychedelic, weird, wild, philosophical, and unusual tales that include outrageous characters like a hitchhiking cowgirl with enormous thumbs, a conscious and mobile can of beans, and a former football star turned drug dealer who stumbles upon and infiltrates a group of Catholic monks working as hired assassins for the Vatican.

Robbins' own life, detailed in these pages, is oddly similar to some of the more eye-opening portions of the his novels. He weaves together the most entertaining accounts of his life, including his boyhood and adolescence in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina and Virginia, all the way through to his globe-trotting adventures and wicked events from his adult life.

If you have read any Robbins, be it Another Roadside Attraction, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, or my personal favorite, Still Life with Woodpecker, you owe it to yourself to check out Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life. Even folks who aren't privy to Robbins' former works would love this set of raucous tales. I sincerely enjoyed getting a sneak peak into this literary legend's life, and I am confident that you will too.
2 people found this helpful
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Margo
5.0 out of 5 stars So grateful I found this wonderful book! Thanks Tom for the memories!
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2015
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I am such a HUGE Tom Robbins fan! Reading this book was so much fun for me, as it does feel like he is a friend I have had my whole life. Nice to catch up. Felt like I was along for the ride!

It also made me wish I had written and sent the letter I have been thinking to write him since I was about 19 years old. i was flat ready to marry him and have told all of my significant others since (I'm in my 50's now) that when Tom wakes up and figures out he wants me, they are HISTORY pronto! The absolute best compliment I have ever been given was when I was in my 20's and a good friends asked me "when is Tom Robbins going to write a book about you"? Alexa is a lady who has been very blessed to get to share the life with this amazing man.

Reading this book made me love him even more, I am amazed at how many things that he was the first at that are important to my story as well. I loved every single word in the book and love the way he told the stories. The way they twisted around and came from subject to subject but always back to the point. That rocks. A good life well lived Tom, thanks for being my bright light and I do hope you have a few more books in you....I will always be here waiting for you!
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Top reviews from other countries

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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A real treasure trove
Reviewed in Canada on May 24, 2023
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I love Tom Robbins' books and this was a wonderful addition to his work. The nostalgia it invoked when he discussed his childhood, and his insights on imagination made it worth the read alone. Touching and chock full of humour, the book is brimming with quotable material
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Ewald Kappes
5.0 out of 5 stars Authobiographic book by Tom Robbins
Reviewed in Germany on February 16, 2018
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After reading Tom Robbins' novels, I did not quite know what to expect. Tibetan Peach Pie is a collection of authobiographic stories. The book is funny and full of surprises, a real Tom Robbins book.
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B. Isabelle
5.0 out of 5 stars J'adooore
Reviewed in France on June 22, 2018
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Enfin un Tom Robbins après pas mal d'années de silence. Du coup, je relis tous les romans que j'ai gardés. A recommander
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Tim
5.0 out of 5 stars Different, reflective, connective
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 24, 2016
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A very different life Tom has experienced, really good to share in an interesting and clever way. His ability to write in a very unique style I got on with a lot. There were a few bits i found a difficult to follow, I like how open ended some of the parts were. I tend to like journey books, either travel or through people's life. I like how it's not really a biography or memoirs as stated by the author. I would recommend this book to people who like things a bit different, a bit oppersite. Think that this book has inspired me in a odd way. Not sure how, why, or what reason and I am fairly certain it was not what the authors thought about when he wrote it. Good read. Recommend it.
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vanessa giannobi
5.0 out of 5 stars Stupendo
Reviewed in Italy on January 24, 2015
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Lacrimuccia
L'ultimo (temo) libro di un genio. Leggerlo in inglese è un'impresa dura, ma ne vale sicuramente la pena. Molti dei suoi giochi di parole, come usa la musicalità della lingua sono intraducibili

Arrivato perfetto
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