Historical October 1986 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins, 1984; is the looniest, most spaced-out book I have ever read; however, Robbins has a way with words and the chief message is “lighten up.” The plot concerns a married couple, Alabar and Kudra — a former Indian rope maker, who live extended life spans from medieval Bohemia to modern-day America. Their lives, over the centuries, had no purpose other than having a good time.
They say of themselves “our uniqueness doesn’t make the ground softer or give the beet flavor . . . what important thing have we accomplished all these six hundred years?” The heart of their philosophy is odor, with its capacity to stir up memories and longing which they call floral consciousness. Does this remind you of the sixties?
There are many subplots, including a brilliant waitress in Seattle who is searching for the perfect taco. Then there is Danny-Boy Wiggs, the Irish ex-professor from Harvard who is a proselytizer of Psychedelia and is a prototype of Timothy Leary.
All these characters come together as the plot thickens.
This is a cult novel with an ardent following of readers who re-read it all the time and do not care what the critics say.
The message is simple. “It is better to be small, colorful, and sexy, careless and peaceful like the flowers, than large, conservative, repressed, fearful, and aggressive like the thunder lizard.” With all the wacky stuff as well as the crazy puns, you will enjoy the book even if you don’t buy into the underlying philosophy such as lots of sniffing, frequent sex, and “I stink therefore I am.” The companion volume which I have chosen this month is Cult Movies: The Classics, The Sleepers, The Weird, and The Wonderful, by Danny Perry 1981.
One outstanding film that has been playing weekends at the Varsity Theatre for ten years is The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
It was also having an extended run in Iowa when I left a few years back.
The film is always shown at midnight but the fans are the ones to mention since it started out as just another campy movie; however, now there are Rocky Horror fan clubs and Rocky Horror T-shirts, buttons, dolls, magazines, books, and newsletters announcing birthdays of club members. Fans yell back at the screen, throw things at it, and the true cultists recite the dialogue. You are called a “virgin” if you have not seen it and, perhaps before the Varsity is closed, you might want to give it a whirl.
But bring rice to throw at the screen during the wedding scene.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, October 1986.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Source names Cult Movies author Danny Perry; retained as printed for bibliographic review.
Original source: SD_Times1986_10.pdf, printed page(s) 5; PDF page(s) 5.
