Customer Reviews

B is for Beer CD

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

For Robbins fans waiting, yearning, for the next great Robbins novel, this is not it. Sorry.

It is, however, exactly what it professes to be. A children's book for grown-ups, and a grown-up book for children. (Which is what I based this review on, vs. comparing it to other Robbins books ... there's no comparison.) The writing is definitely child-like in its tone.

Gracie is practically six-years-old when she develops a curiosity about beer. As Robbins will do, he leads us on a delightful, whimsical discovery about - yes, Beer. The book is filled with Robbins's humor, philosophy, and magical writing.

I had a dumb grin on my face the whole time I was reading the book (less than two hours from start to finish) and I laughed out loud several times.

This tantalizing taste of Robbins's words has definitely left me with a craving for more Robbins. And perhaps a Red Stripe.

As a Tom Robbins fan who has eagerly awaited each of his books since he burst forth with "Another Roadside Attraction" in 1971, I am sorely disappointed. "B Is for Beer" is touted as "A Children's Book for Grown-ups" and "A Grown-up Book for Children." It is neither. At one point I surmised that he had started a book commissioned by the beer industry for people who want to know how beer is made. As the book got more and more boring I decided that could never have been his intent.

If you are a contrarian reader who is powerfully addicted to his writing, go ahead and buy it. I don't know how to warn you so you will save your money. It is just seriously bad writing.

Tom, you charmed us into holding on for four to six years between novels after we learned that it took you that long to release each one with its glorious metaphors, similies and crazy plots. It's been six years since "Villa Incognito" was put to the press in 2003. It is time for another. "Wild Ducks Flying Backwards" in 2005 wasn't even a novel and "B is for Beer" is a watered-down novella about which you say many people warned you "that I couldn't or shouldn't, or wouldn't bloody dare." Okay Tom, you proved that you could get it published. Now it's time to write something that again really scours the far reaches of your imagination and takes us on exotic (and erotic) journeys.

This morality tale is as flat as a Budweiser opened and left in a Seattle backyard for weeks to attract parched raccoons that don't know there are better ways to enjoy brewski.

Tom Robbins is one of my top five favorite authors. Kurt Vonnegut (deceased) , Edward Abbey (deceased) , Carl Sagan (deceased), and Tim Callahan are the other four.
I anxiously awaited this new work by Robbins, and Amazon delivered it to me right after publication, but what a waste of time and paper.
Let me start by saying the novel (more of a novella) is only 125 pages long. If you throw in the 12 point font, double spaces on every line, and quad spacing after every paragraph, this is a very short book and could have been a piece of non-fiction in a magazine.
Forty pages into this inane work, we have learned that the protagonist (a 5 year old girl) is curious about beer, and her curmudgeon uncle will take her to visit a brewery. That's it. One-third of the way through this book, that's all we get.
On the other hand, I am glad it was short and only cost $12.
Come on Tom! I have read Another Roadside Attraction three times! The same with Only Cowgirls Get the Blues, and Still Life with Woodpecker twice. I have read (and have mostly first editions of) all your novels. But this? This is just as bad as Jimmy Buffet's latest piece of work, which was another major disappointment.

I think if I had paid $17.95 for this book I also would have been very disappointed. But if you like Tom Robbins it is a fun little read. Definitely not his best work. If you've never read Tom Robbins don't start with this one.

Just a big tease, with hints of Robbins' whimsical word art. Awaiting his next full-bodied work, hopefully returning to the former glory of Skinny Legs & All. Will have many brewski's to tide me over.

You know that you are officially "confuddled" when you finish a book and sit there clicking back and forth on the star ratings having an inner dialogue with yourself that lasts almost as long as it took you to read half the book... or maybe you have just finished B is for Beer.

A Tom Robbins classic this is not, a semi-interesting tangent, maybe. After reading the first few pages, I briefly considered checking the middle of the book to see if there was a coupon for a 12 pack of beer that would help me through the mystery of all things beer. Finding none, I put the book away for a few days because being the melodramatic I am, a bad Robbins book was just too much.

I finally sat down and read the book in a few hours. The story, in a coconut-shell, is at best mediocre. Gracie, a 5 year old (almost 6), has an uncanny obsession for all things beer. She leads us on a pseudo-adventure of... you guess it, all things beer. The books saving graces are the sprinkles of philosophy throughout that are trademark Robbins.

I can only come to this conclusion. Robbins clearly hasn't lost his mojo and I either missed the point or he is having a good laugh either way, cheers.

This was definitely less filling than previous Robbins novels, all of which I've devoured greedily, one right after the other, until I caught up with his writing cycle, and now I wait like all the rest of 'em. This was a fun book, with some of the wonderful turns of phrase that I've come to demand from a Tom Robbins novel, but I wish it was more substantial. (Insert absurdist Guinness metaphor here.) But, as another children's book reminds us, "You get what you get and you don't get upset." I'm just glad he's still writing, and hopefully, there'll be another something new to read in about 6 years.

Some of us are being way too serious on the subject of Tom Robbins' creativity.

He wrote a book about beer. For kids. And totally got away with it. And it doesn't stop there because it turned out to be a great young adult book. It's an exercise in Tom Robbins' distinct style for a ten year old. I think that's pretty cool but I don't think Tom Robbins put that much thought in to where his creatively should go or how he should break down his style for a children's book.

'B is for Beer' is dynamite in a pint size. It's different. It's a little subtle for the usual Robbins escapade. By the end it's not a book about beer. Gees, guys, didn't you think you were missing something by thinking the book was just about making beer?

I enjoyed the relationships between the characters. He broke down the fourth wall to deliver an extra sassy punch. Robbins wrote about a 6-year-old's curiosity well. Hey, he wrote about beer well, too. There's a lot going on in story that isn't expressed in these reviews. Borrow it from the library and have fun.

Please, criticize this book but don't whine about the book you wish Robbins would write. You're crapping on a good little thing here. I cried a little when I finished it. Robbins expresses a mastery of female characters and it's plain as day but just as lovely in this book.

Tom Robbins is perhaps the most solidly strange and whimsical authors of the last few decades. Between a new Christopher Moore Fool: A Noveland a new Robbins this year couldn't be off to a better start. B is for Beer takes Robbins brand of humor in a totally different direction--children's literature, well adult children's literature. The subtitle is A Children's Book for Grown-ups or A Grown-up Book for Children. B is for Beer tells the story of one little girls' infatuation and eventual inebriation with the golden beverage of choice of her Uncle Moe that quickly dives into a fairy tale [told by The Beer Fairy] of the history, creation, and distillation of beer. I found myself chuckling nearly every other page. Here is line I would now consider classic Robbins:

The week passed as slowly as a snowmans gas.

The coup de grace sees Gracie, the little girl, visited by The Beer Fairy to tell her and most importantly show her all she has ever wanted to know about the creation of beer. Gracie also learns a few lessons about perils of drinking, but also the benefits. Although, the topic is a bit adult I could definitely see reading this on to my niece and nephew or lending it to my Father-in-law to do so. I can actually picture him sipping a beer as he would read it to them. The book is rather short (125 pages with a few illustrations), but that was obviously out of intent. This could easily be read in one sitting with a tall glass or 2 to accompany you on the journey. It will leave you salivating for a second round. My favorite Robbins was and still remains Another Roadside Attraction, although B is for Beer is a great addition to the Robbins library. I give B is for Beer 7.5 out of 10 hats.

Knowing that I like beer and humorous works of fiction, this book would seem a perfect match for me. Stylized as a children's book, much of the humor is tongue-in-cheek. If you have ever had to read a mundane children's book, you can certainly appreciate the humor.

Gracie is a somewhat typical American kindergartener. She has a socially distracted mother, an absent father, and a non-conformist uncle. Gracie already knows more about beer than a kindergartener should know. This is where the trouble starts. When disappointments lead Gracie to do the unthinkable, she is whisked away to another world to learn more about ... beer. To a great degree, the book's statements about beer are factual accurate. I was personally impressed by the fact that the author does not dwell on the big three brewing companies and name-drops microbrews. This is pleasing to the beer snob in me.

Please do not be confused by the title or format. Obviously, some reviewers were confused. This is not a children's book. Though absent of some of Robbins's more outrageous humor, it is a very enjoyable read.