Tom Robbins Books In Order

Publication Order of Beer! Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Akashic Noir Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Tom Robbins is a renowned American writer and novelist. He is famous for writing bestselling comedy-drama stories. Robbins is particularly popular for writing novels like Still Life With Woodpecker, Villa Incognito, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, etc., and several other nonfiction books, short stories, and novellas. In all, he has penned 8 novels, starting from 1971, in addition to the numerous essays and short stories. Robbins’ book, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, was adapted into a film by Gus Van Sant in 1993 that featured Uma Thurman, Keanu Reeves, and Lorraine Bracco in the lead roles. Author Robbins was born as Thomas Edward Robbins on July 22, 1932, in North Carolina. His parents and grandfathers were involved in church activities as Baptist preachers.

Robbins was brought up in Blowing Rock during the initial few years of his life, after which the family relocated to Richmond, Virginia when Robbins was still quite young. After becoming an adult, he used to describe his younger self as a hillbilly. Robbins studied at the Hargrave Military Academy located in Chatham, Virginia. His interest in writing helped him to win the Senior Medal for Essay. Later, he attended the Washington and Lee University to earn a degree in journalism, but dropped out in the sophomore year when his fraternity disciplined him on the grounds of bad behavior. Robbins’s failure in obtaining a letter in the game of basketball also played a role in his dropping out. In 1953, Robbins joined the US Air Force after obtaining a draft notice. He spent his first year in the service in Korea on the post of a meteorologist. For the next two years, Robbins was stationed in Nebraska and was part of the Strategic Air Command’s SWI unit.

After his discharge in 1957, Robbins came back to Richmond and developed an interest in writing poetry. Robbins developed quite a reputation at a local coffee house for his readings. Towards the end of 1957, Robbins enrolled himself at the Richmond Professional Institute, which was later renamed as Virginia Commonwealth University, to study art. Between 1958 and 1959, Robbins served as the columnist and editor of the college newspaper called Proscript. After graduating from the institute, he joined the copy editing staff at Times-Dispatch. In 1962, the author relocated to Seattle for pursuing M.A. at the Washington University. He stayed there for 5 years and worked on the post of art critic at the Seattle Times. At the same time, Robbins was also involved in writing columns in art magazines and hosting radio shows. He has said that it was in Seattle that he discovered his literary voice and has stayed in Seattle on-and-off for the next forty years.

Robbins was approached by Luthor Nichols in 1966, who urged him to write a book based on the art of the Northwest. Instead, he expressed his desire to pen a novel and ended up writing Another Roadside Attraction. He wrote this novel during his stay in South Bend, Washington in 1967. Three years later, he shifted to La Conner in Washington, where he wrote the next 9 books of his career from his home on the Second Street. During the 80s and early 90s, Robbins was mainly involved in writing essays and articles, which were published in the Esquire magazine. He was also a regular contributor to GQ, The NY Times, and Playboy.

The writing style of author Robbins has been praised by many critics. He is said to have the habit of examining every word of his first drafts thoroughly, honing every phrase finely, and making sure that the final drafts are perfect in every sense. Throughout his writing career, Robbins has made appearances in writing festivals and given readings on 4 continents. Among the prestigious awards won by him for his literary work, there are two lifetime achievement awards. The Writers’ Digest magazine has named him among the top 100 writers of the 20th century. As of today, Robbins lives in La Conner with his lovely wife Alexa D’Avalon. He has three sons named Kirk, Fleetwood, and Rip. Robbins has friendships with some well-known personalities like Gus Van Sant, Robert Altman, Alan Rudolph, Timothy Leary, etc. Terence McKenna was also a very good friend of Robbins.

A popular book written by author Tom Robbins is entitled ‘B Is for Beer’. It was released in 2009 by the Ecco publication. Robbins has written this book in the form of a children’s book revolving around beer. It features the lead character in the form of Gracie. The story opens by showing that there was an Earth-like planet, whose inhabitants had the yearly consumption of beer of up to 36 billion gallons. Because of such a high consumption, the inhabitants used to get affected by the burps, foam, and bubbles in their own ways. One of the affected inhabitants was Gracie. She was an adventurous and smart kindergartner. The others included her distracted mother, her insensitive father, a non-conformist paternal uncle, and a butt-kicking, magical intruder who had arrived from an inner world. This book takes the readers into a surprising and far-reaching investigation of children’s transformative powers, reality’s limits, and cold brewski’s ultimate meaning. It was liked by both younger and older readers in many parts of the world.

Another mind-blowing book penned by Robbins is known as ‘Villa Incognito’. It was released in 2003. The story revolves around an ancestral spirit of the Japanese origin called Tanuki. Initially, it is seen that Tanuki falls from the sky in a parachute made from his own scrotum. He possesses shapeshifting abilities and appears like a badger. Tanuki has a penchant for women and is seen alongside a young lady character. He has a large scrotum with an unusual shape. Tanuki’s lineage is continued with the help of the female character alongside him, who embeds a seed of chrysanthemum in her mouth. The novel shows life in America in the post-9/11 setup after two sisters help in arresting an American MIA on the charges of drug trafficking. All the characters are seen playing essential roles in depicting various twists & turns and carrying the story forward. It was also liked a lot just like all the other books of Robbins. The success of this book gave a much-required boost to the literary career of Robbins. After this, he went on to write other successful novels and short stories.

2 Responses to “Tom Robbins”

1. Ernest A socher jr: 1 year ago

   Great,fun, books !! LOVEEM !!

   Reply
2. knowmad: 5 years ago

   mob boss is written by a different tom robbins…

   TOM ROBBINS has covered crime and politics in New York for more than thirty years as a reporter and columnist for the Daily News, New York Observer, and The Village Voice. He now teaches investigative reporting at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

   Reply