7.2 /10 1 Votes
Language English Pages 241 pp Dewey Decimal 813/.54 21 Publisher Bantam Books OCLC 51478089 | 3.6/5 Goodreads Publication date 2003 ISBN 0-553-80332-8 Originally published 2003 Genre Novel Country United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardback & paperback) Similar Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, Fierce Invalids Home fro, Skinny Legs and All, Wild Ducks Flying Backward, Another Roadside Attraction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Villa Incognito is a novel by Tom Robbins published in 2003. The author opens the novel with the line, "It has been reported that Tanuki fell from the sky using his scrotum as a parachute.", as the reader is introduced to a Japanese ancestor spirit, named Tanuki, that is similar in appearance to a badger.
Contents
Characters
Villa Incognito begins with the story of Tanuki, an ancient Japanese badger-like creature who possesses the ability to shapeshift and a penchant for sake and women. Tanuki is a "semi-god" with an unusually large scrotum and is portrayed alongside a beautiful young female character, who continues Tanuki's lineage with the use of a chrysanthemum seed embedded in the roof of her mouth, three American MIAs who deliberately remain in Laos long after the United States (US)' involvement in the Vietnam War has ended, and two sisters, who are related to one of the missing American soldiers.
Plot
Following the arrest of one of the MIAs, for trafficking drugs while dressed as a priest, the novel depicts American life in a post-9/11 context through the involvement of the two sisters.