Abstract:
Basically, the purpose of this paper is to show that stylistically, thematically, and perhaps artistically, the fiction of Tom Robbins deserves to be considered in the same class as that of more celebrated contemporary authors such as John Barth, Jorge Luis Borges, and Vladimir Nabokov. To do this, I first provide an overview of the major stylistic and thematic patterns that critics have noted in a certain category of contemporary fiction. Then I evaluate two Tom Robbins novels, Another Roadside Attraction and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, paying special attention to the ways in which the styles and themes of these novels correspond to those that critics have as associated with other contemporary fiction.Because these novels are recent, they have yet to receive the critical attention that I think their literary merits deserve and will eventually get; and this paper is not intended to be an exhaustive examination of those merits. However, it will, hopefully, provide some fundamental insights into the nature of Robbins' artistic concerns and demonstrate how those concerns are closely allied to those of a major group of important contemporary authors.