8 used & new from £3.28
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
The Villa Incognito
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside another edition of this book

The Villa Incognito (Paperback)

by Tom Robbins (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


2 new from £6.25 6 used from £3.28
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (First Printing, Water Damaged) 25 used & new from £0.24
Paperback £9.99 £6.07 22 used & new from £3.14
Hardcover (Large Print) 2 used & new from £4.68
Perfect Paperback 13 used & new from £5.79

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Skinny Legs and All

Skinny Legs and All

by Tom Robbins
4.7 out of 5 stars (25)  £6.93
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates

Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates

by Tom Robbins
4.8 out of 5 stars (16)  £6.90
Another Roadside Attraction

Another Roadside Attraction

by Tom Robbins
4.7 out of 5 stars (22)  £5.99
Wild Ducks Flying Backward

Wild Ducks Flying Backward

by Tom Robbins
£6.99
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas

Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas

by Tom Robbins
4.0 out of 5 stars (26)  £6.96
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: No Exit Press (1 April 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 184243103X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1842431030
  • Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 563,807 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #27 in  Books > Fiction > Cult Authors > Robbins, Tom

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

St Louis Post Dispatch

Ebullient, irreverent, hilarious...ribald fairytale meets Apocalypse Now --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Vanity Fair

Impossibly imaginative --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Villa Incognito
58% buy the item featured on this page:
The Villa Incognito 3.3 out of 5 stars (3)
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
12% buy
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates 4.8 out of 5 stars (16)
£6.90
Skinny Legs and All
11% buy
Skinny Legs and All 4.7 out of 5 stars (25)
£6.93
Jitterbug Perfume
10% buy
Jitterbug Perfume 4.7 out of 5 stars (59)
£6.16
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Robbins made easy, 25 Aug 2005
By A Customer
This review is from: Villa Incognito (Paperback)
Tom Robbins is the absolute master of the mind tickling metaphor and of rolling up philosophy into the guise of a fun, sexy romp. At least usually. In this book, however, it's as though he has lost patience with being too clever or has forgotten that Buddhist life-flow style which allowed it to roll out as an underlying message. Here you'll get the philosophy spelt out by one of the heroes very directly. It's as if Robbins is leaving a simplified decoder for readers who lacked the sensitivity to find the same messages more subtly layered beneath the apparent action in more deeply satisfying previous works (most magnificently Jitterbug Perfume). It's Robbins for beginners - and given the backward forms of formula religious dullardism sweeping the western world he's probably wise to do this - and maybe open a few eyes for whom the 'real' Robbins is simply a whole quantum beyond their experience.

If, on the other hand you were already in tune with the mind-bendingly brilliant thoughts behind Jitterbug Perfume, this is not going to appeal quite as much.... and you might ask for those beetroots over old Tanuki.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A Spiritual Fable with Vivid Epigrams, 4 Jun 2004
By Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: Villa Incognito (Hardcover)
"East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet." Mr. Robbins has taken that premise as a challenge to his ingenuity and he crafts a memorable tale to show the collision of mindsets. I particularly admired his willingness to contrast ancient religious beliefs like animism with the major established creeds. As a result, the story becomes secondary to his educational purpose . . . and that makes the book a weak one from many perspectives.

If you don't want to learn about eastern philosophies, then you will hate this book. It's taking you somewhere where you don't want to go. If you already know a lot about eastern philosophies, you will find this book is much too superficial to be interesting. If you are looking for a good story that keeps moving from page to page, you will probably be disappointed in the slow pace of describing synchronicity . . . which seems to be the author's purpose. If you want to study how to display philosophical issues in a novel, then the book is of average interest to writers and critics. I would suggest looking to Atlas Shrugged as a better way to get the point across . . . by giving the story a driving force and memorable characters.

The story develops from several perspectives, beginning with the spiritual messenger, Tanuki, embodied on earth as a tanuki, an East Asian species of wild dog with a large scrotum. Tanuki begets a child with a human woman, and impresses a seed into the child's palate. The descendant of that child becomes a circus performer who trains, what else, tanukis. From the United States, three aviators find themselves shot down and left behind in Laos. Eventually forgotten, they escape and decide to live the simple life in a mountainous region that evokes memories of James Hilton's Shangri-La in Lost Horizon. Needing to trade for the luxuries they crave, they find ways of turning the local raw materials into wealth. In the course of doing this, they find themselves ethically challenged. The circus comes to their mountain to escape the Communist purges and they meet Tanuki's descendent. Their lives intertwine in synchronous ways that suggest a Divine hand. Then the existence of the aviators is discovered by the United States. What will the authorities do?

To me the best part of the book comes in the beautiful metaphor of the cable strung across the gorge that tightrope walkers use to cross. This thin strand is the physical connection between the Villa Incognito and the "real world." Crossing the gap is safe and even entertaining when east and west combine, but can be fatal when either one takes the trip alone or in the dark.

As I finished the book, I found myself wondering why the author thought that you have to go to the East to experience it daily. Can't you simply use meditation and a changed perspective to bring the East with you in the West? He thinks not . . . but is that right?

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
3.0 out of 5 stars not as good as Still Life of a Woodpecker!, 15 Aug 2009
By E. J. Randell (Cardiff) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
another great Tom Robbins book but slightly below those such as Still Life of a Woodpecker. Great read nonetheless
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject








i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.