I liked parts of this a lot, but some of the characters (including the narrator) were sooooo long winded. When I was younger I'm sure I would've been ape over this book, but now I feel annoyed that it all sounded like Robbins' own diatribe against death and seriousness. Nearly all the characters talk in the same voice and the message is way too message-y.

At the same time, Robbins has such a fun style and everything is so wacky it's hard not to smile when you're reading this.

And--this is totally random--when I was reading the part about the four elements, I suddenly became really upset about the band Earth, Wind & Fire. What did they have against Water? (According to Wikipedia, it has something to do with the band leader's astrological sign.)

If you're looking for an excuse to take hot baths, have lots of sex, breathe rhythmically, eat hella beets, and live forever, this book is your ticket! ( )

A hormonal, Luciferian comedy of the singularity, infused with a sort of hippy-dippy spiritualism, filtered through a lens of mid-80's pseudoscience, and brought to life with a scattershot approach to verbal acrobatics.

I liked it. ( )

When I first read this book it was the 1980's and I was an almost 30 something dabbling in different philosophies. It became one of my favorites - it's off the wall, deadpan humor was refreshing. But for me, this book has not aged well - what seemed fresh now seems trite, and what seemed adventurous now strikes me as mere escapism. It's still funny as hell in places, and still worth a read if you've never read it. But I must say I wish I'd not picked it up again. Some books are best left as fond memories - this is one of them. ( )

Probably my favorite novel of all time. I like Tom Robbins's other novels but this one has it all: his linguistic pyrotechnics, his wacky characters, a storyline that's both epic and down-to-earth, and his mordant observations about religion, politics, human nature... and the trials and tribulations of taking a longevity potion. ( )

Hmm it seems I am never sure quite where to start with Tom Robbins' books. I will admit though that I do much prefer this one to Still Life with Woodpecker. It had more of a storyline and dare I say it, the almost random musings did seem to actually tie in with the book and become relevant (although they are talked about to DEATH - e.g Beets, Pan, scent ect).
I struggled in the beginning to stay interested and almost decided to give up, but I am glad I continued as the story and characters became more interesting as it went on (although it could definitely do with some heavy handed editing of chapters).
Whilst at times the writing is beautiful, I still find all of his references to sex to be lewd and jarring, I am no prude but his way of talking about sex cheapens it for me and always seems out of place in his novels.

Overall I thought the book was OK. There are a few things I will take away from it (the whole immortality thing) but the rest I will forget and it's not a book I would read again. ( )