Mmmm...Beer!

Let me cut right to the chase...
Tom Robbins, one of the best American authors that I've ever read, has seen me through some memorable times in my life. Still Life With Woodpecker helped me kill the seemingly endless and boring hours of manning the front desk of the counseling office during my senior year in High School by guiding my escape deep into the landscape of my pack of Camel cigarettes. I first read Skinny Legs and All while on a dreamy post-graduation vacation my dad took me on through Seattle, Washington; and ever since then, I continued to read it more times than I can count! Jitterbug Perfume came wayyyy out of left field but still, it kept me company at night during my first scary semester away at college. Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates I read and laughed along with right beside my mother as she recovered from yet another of her neck surgeries. Finally, Honey (who is also a fan of his work) and I took turns reading Villa Incognito on the lenai of our sweetest Honeymoon Suite, overlooking the grandeur of Kanapali Beach in Maui (there's still some sand nestled in between the pages). And while I've been sitting here for the past four years (Wild Ducks Flying Backward was more of a travel guide than an actual collection of short stories, in my opnion) impatiently yearning for another hilarious and memorable romp through Robbins' wordsmithing, I now find myself quite content with the fact that he has suddenly written a children's book! About Beer.

For children.

Beer.

This is obviously something only Tom Robbins can get away with!

So he's written this children's book called B is for Beer (naturally) which I have not read because I only just found out about it while reading the Sunday paper this morning. But in reading this in the paper today I also found a great surprise! HE'S COMING TO DENVER THIS WEEK TO PRESENT, READ AND SIGN IT FOR US, HIS EVER-DEVOTED FANS! Don't believe me?! The Tattered Cover Bookstore does not lie!
As the aforementioned Tattered Cover says in the aforehyperlinked link:

Once upon a time (right about now) there was a planet (how about this one?) whose inhabitants consumed thirty-six billion gallons of beer each year (it's a fact, you can Google it). Among those affected, each in his or her own way, by all the bubbles, burps, and foam, was a smart, wide-eyed, adventurous kindergartner named Gracie; her distracted mommy; her insensitive dad; her non-conformist uncle; and a magical, butt-kicking intruder from a world within our world. Populated by the aforementioned characters - and as charming as it may be subversive - B Is for Beer involves readers, young and old, in a surprising, far-reaching investigation into the limits of reality, the transformative powers of children, and, of course, the ultimate meaning of a tall, cold brewski.

Even though I cannot drink it anymore, beer has always been my favorite alcoholic beverage of choice! I've even made a few kegs of this foamy fantasy myself! Speaking of which, my Honey and I are preparing to brew up a batch of my favorite homebrewed ale and then removing the alcohol content from it so that I can drink it, too! Horray!

But I digress..

Since beer is my favorite and Tom Robbins is also a favorite of mine, then it should come as no surprise that my Honey and I will be in line to attend this event on Thursday night! Although we've missed the free 275 tickets the T.C. gave away last week, the good news is that Honey only works about two blocks away from it so as soon as he's off work on Thursday, I'll be there ready and waiting, eager to catch a peek and an earful of this "maverick bestselling author." Horray! If you're in Denver and you, too, are a fan of Mr. Robbins, we would love for you to join us on this adventure! You know how to contact me!

P.S. Yes, he is also the author of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, which had a flim made after it and it flopped beacause the book itself is really no good. Another Roadside Attraction and Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, while just as good as all the rest, neither have memorable moments in my life associated with them.

P.P.S. Robbins inspires me to be a better writer. After reading just a few sentences of his work, my mind begins racing with ideas of my own and such smooth and detailed language as he uses often spills out of my own hands and onto my papers! Since I have begun exploring the writer skills within me, Tom Robbins's apperance at this time feels fortuitous, to say the least!