'VILLA INCOGNITO' | A review Robbins' eighth novel houses delight, sensuality

History, philosophy and sensuality all mesh in this tale of quiet deceptions.
By ROD LOCKWOOD
TOLEDO BLADE
"Villa Incognito" by Tom Robbins (Bantam Doubleday Dell, $24)
The tanuki is a strange creature.
Part raccoon, part dog, part badger and part god -- at least to some -- the animal occupies an exalted place in Eastern folklore as a shape-shifter who steals sake, seduces young women and makes mischief.
The tanuki also is at the center of Tom Robbins' eighth novel, the salacious, thought-provoking, mind-expanding and just a little weird "Villa Incognito." The book seamlessly weaves Vietnam veterans who've been missing in action for three decades, a Laotian circus, the CIA, the Far East and the American Northwest.
As expected from the author of such classic works as "Another Roadside Attraction," "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" and "Jitterbug Perfume," there's plenty of philosophy served up with the twisted plot lines. Now in his mid-60s, Robbins is comparable to T.C. Boyle and Philip Roth, veteran craftsmen whose writing continues to improve and who remain at the top of their career arcs after decades of work.
Tighter style
Robbins is less baroque and showy than in the past, writing with an economy that trims verbiage while still preserving the clich & eacute;-dodging allusions and metaphors that make his work so fresh.
No one writes quite like Robbins, and no one has his knack for knitting together memorable characters and complex plot lines while serving up liberal doses of sensuality, spirituality, politics, philosophy, a little history and a lot of humor.
And tanukis.
"Villa Incognito" starts with a fable as he introduces us to the ornery animal whose role in the book is much like Pan's in "Jitterbug Perfume." Tanuki is able to shape-shift into a human so he can steal sake and seduce young women. Tanuki manages to fall in love, such as it is for an animal that is perpetually in rut, impregnating a woman named Miho, and off we go.
Robbins introduces us to three Vietnam MIAs: the philosophy-spouting Mars Stubblefield; his sidekick, the drug-smuggling, animism-practicing Dern Foley, and Dickie Goldwire, a more gentle soul who serves as the conscience for his compadres. Pilots during the war, they were shot down and taken prisoner before escaping and settling in the highlands of Laos, living lives of hedonistic luxury among the villagers.
Their home, Villa Incognito, is perched on a huge mountain chasm, accessible only by helicopter or a tightrope strung across the gulf, hundreds of feet off the ground, where members of the Fan Nan circus are the only ones who can come and go.
Key to the plot is Lisa Ko, the offspring of Miho and Tanuki, a circus performer with a preternatural sensuality and worldliness. She's Stubblefield's former lover and Goldwire's fianc & eacute;e until, of course, she finds herself pregnant from some sort of supernatural act.
Key themes
Central to the plot is the notion of identity and the extremes some people will go to become something other than what they are. The characters revel in their quiet deceptions, just as Tanuki never feels a bit of guilt when he morphs into a young man to lure a woman into bed.
And, for the record, the tanuki is a real creature, a member of the dog family who is indigenous to several Asian countries, including Japan. He has short legs, a stout build, a bushy tail, and a facial mask similar to a raccoon.