Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas

There's never a dull moment with Tom Robbins, and this novel - originally published in 1994 - is no exception. As off-the-wall, irreverent and hilarious as ever, the author hurls his trademark cast of unhinged characters into a smorgasbord of seemingly unconnected sub-plots that hurtle around in defiance of convention. In Seattle, a stockmarket collapse has an ambitious, squeaky-voiced Filipina broker who suffers from low self-esteem staring into the jaws of the Easter weekend from hell. As Gwendolyn ponders her imminent professional demise in addition to her healthy helping of personal issues, she seeks solace in alcohol and the company of colleagues who hate her, meeting Larry Diamond, a mysterious ex-trader who has just returned from Timbuktu and appears to have a major problem with his ego. With thoughts of asparagus running through her prim and addled head, she joins Belford, her ex-lumberjack boyfriend, and their massively overweight chain-smoking tarot-reading friend as they hunt for Andre, Belford's pet monkey, who has done a runner. As you'd expect, Andre is no ordinary creature, but then again neither is Doctor Yamaguchi, a Japanese physician whose 'ninja enema' is rumoured to be the cure for colon cancer, and who is just about to make an important announcement while visiting the United States. Gwen's encounter with Larry forces her to re-examine her somewhat po-faced views on matters of the flesh, and, blushingly, she finds herself starting to enjoy the sensual pleasures of life and its little ambushes. Yet there's more - a muscular North American Indian, an awful lot of stuff about amphibians, and the small matter of African rituals and the Dog Star. Confused? You probably will be, but delighted also, as Tom Robbins marshals everything together into yet another unpredictable tale loaded with humour and written with a flair all of his own. (Kirkus UK)