{"product_id":"2940169466126","title":"Wild Ducks Flying Backward: The Short Writings of Tom Robbins","description":"\u003cp\u003eKnown for his meaty seriocomic novelsamp;mdash;expansive works that are simultaneously lowbrow and highbrowamp;mdash;Tom Robbins has also published over the years a number of short pieces, predominantly nonfiction. His travel articles, essays, and tributes to actors, musicians, sex kittens, and thinkers have appeared in publications ranging from \u003ci\u003eEsquire \u003c\/i\u003eto \u003ci\u003eHarper's\u003c\/i\u003e, from \u003ci\u003ePlayboy\u003c\/i\u003e to the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHigh Times\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eLife\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA generous sampling, collected here for the first time and including works as diverse as scholarly art criticism and some decidedly untypical countryamp;mdash;music lyrics, \u003ci\u003eWild Ducks Flying Backward \u003c\/i\u003eoffers a rare sweeping overview of the eclectic sensibility of an American original.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhether he is rocking with the Doors, depoliticizing Picasso's \u003ci\u003eGuernica\u003c\/i\u003e, lamenting the angst-ridden state of contemporary literature, or drooling over tomato sandwiches and a species of womanhood he calls \"the genius waitress,\" Robbins's briefer writings often exhibit the same five traits that perhaps best characterize his novels: an imaginative wit, a cheerfully brash disregard for convention, a sweetly nasty eroticism, a mystical but keenly observant eye, and an irrepressible love of language.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmbedded in this primarily journalistic compilation are a couple of short stories, a sheaf of largely unpublished poems, and an offbeat assessment of our divided nation.  And wherever we open \u003ci\u003eWild Ducks Flying Backward\u003c\/i\u003e, we're apt to encounter examples of the intently serious playfulness that percolates from the mind of a self-described \"romantic Zen hedonist\" and \"stray dog in the banquet halls of culture.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eamp;mdash;From the Hardcover edition.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47114567450864,"sku":"2940169466126","price":14.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940169466126_p0.jpg?v=1763683522","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940169466126","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}