Jitterbug Perfume (print)

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins (1984). I absolutely adore this book and I think everyone in the world should read it. It is far and away the best book I’ve ever read, and I enjoyed it from start to finish, all the while dreading the finish because it meant I had to leave the characters behind. There is no real way to sum up the plot of this story, other than to say that it’s about a couple who’ve learned the secrets of delaying mortality; who are on a mission to save an immortal.

The characters include an 8th century king, an Indian widdow, one eyed Irish-American who wears a white eye-patch emblazoned with a green shamrock, a professional “nose”, a genius waitress, New Orleans Voodoo Queen and a Jamaican who wears a helmet of swarming bees, each of whom has a keen interest in a very special perfume. The story takes you through Europe, Asia, the US and briefly off to the Astral plane. It’s filled with humour and humourous circumstance and its ultimate message, “lighten up”, is pretty timeless.