This book arrived at my door with my friend in it's hand. Or something to that effect. Still Life was my first venture into the world of Tom Robbins, and I have to say I enjoyed it. His writing style reminded me of a slightly more polished, slightly vulgar Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. That is to say, certain things were uncomfortable, but fluent enough to be amusing rather than offensive... though I feel he lacks the sort of bumbling charm that Vonnegut seems to keep in his pockets.
Still Life was nearly a fractured fairytale. Our main character happens to be a princess with a pet frog. She falls in love with a self-proclaimed outlaw who's got a passion for making things go "boom boom". And on and on, in that fashion for approximately 277 pages.
The description on the book cover calls it "sort of a love story that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes." That sentence is likely the first thing you'll read from the tangible object of the book (aside from the title, of course), the first thing you'll forget about it, and the first thing to make sense once you've finished.
I find little use in trying to describe the narrative, as I think it should just be read, but let me give another thumbs up to the word play employed by Robbins. His wit is rather charming. At the moment, I feel like I'm making this novel out to be something less-than-desirable. Disregard any such notion. 4.5 stars
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