‘Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates’ and How I Survived Three Days Alone in the Wilderness

25 years after its release, Tom Robbins’ penultimate novel remains a delightfully controversial whirlwind, a love letter to the versatility of language, and a wellspring of sanity in fraught times

Photo by Steven Kamenar on Unsplash

It’s safe to say that Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates entered my life under fateful circumstances. As a fresh college drop-out, the book served as the only friend I had during a 72-hour period of isolation in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. Sans even a cellphone, and with only a shoddy pair of tarps for shel…