Jitterbug Perfume

Jitterbug Perfume is an epic written by Tom Robbins. It's a very different type of epic that i'm use to reading about. Instead of the classic hero Robbins uses a coward of death king, Alobar. This book is a very interesting book that has many twist and many mind opening adventures.

The book starts off in the middle ages of Europe with a man named Alobar. Alobar is a king in the beginning of the story but runs away from his kingdom to avoid death. He goes to another village but ends up fleeing the town to avoid death once again. Once Alobar flees the second town he meets Pan who tells him to travel east in search of the bandaloop. The bandaloop is some weird settlement of people in caves who practice immortality. When Alobar gets there he learns the ways to become immortal, and eventually leaves and travels back west. While traveling he meets a girl named Kudra. Kudra is unhappy with her life because she's in a fixed marriage and doesnt like it. So she travels with Alobar.

While all of the mess with Alobar is going on there are three other stories going on. One is a story of a kind've messy confused waitress/chemist named Priscilla who lives in a small apartment in Seatle and is trying to have a breakthrough in perfumery. The second is a story of a perfumer by the name of Madam Duvailer who owns a small perfumery in New Orleans. The Third is about the Lefever family. They are a family that owns a large highly respected perfumery in Paris. All of these stories come in kind've like chapters all through the book, and eventually tie together in the end.

Once Alobar meets Kudra he teaches her the bandaloop methods of immortality, and they travel all over the Europe and parts of Asia together. While traveling Alobar reacquaints himself with Pan and Pan travels with them. They can never stay in one city long because people start getting suspicious on why they never age. So they just travel from city to city when finally Kudra says they should go to Paris and open an incense shop. Everything was going good in Paris except for Pans strong odor that brings suspicion to them. So Kudra starts to try to find a perfume that will cover Pans odor. While trying to make this perfume Kudra becomes a little obssesed with it. She can find all the perfect ingrediants just not the base note, and that drives her mad. When one day she comes up with the idea of dematerialization and convinces Alobar to try it with her. When they try it she dematerialiates but Alobar does not. Somehow then Alobar gets the idea that if he can find the right base note for the perfume and finish it that it will help Kudra find her way back to earth.

The book starts to get really crazy after that part. Many twist and surprises happen. Alobar ends finding the base note to the perfume. On the way to the New World Pan throws the bottle of perfume over board, and Alobar ends up in jail in the modern time. All of this is starting to come into the other stories in the book as it progresses.

In the end all of the stories come together in the theme of the perfume. They all want to market on the perfume and figure out a way to even out the money. Kudra re-materializes and her and Alobar reunite again.

This book was the most intresting epic i've ever read. the twists Tom Robbins uses are unlike any other. The only bad thing abou the book is how sometimes Tom goes into really long boring tangents that are irrelevent to the story and butt in at climatic times. Though many of the tangents are instresting and you can learn stuff from them, they go off topic and I didn't particularley like them. Other than that the book is amazing. I would recomend this book to anyone. It's the best book i've read in awhile.