The oyster was an animal worthy of New Orleans, as mysterious and private and beautiful as the city itself. If one could accept that oysters build their houses out of their lives, one could imagine the same of New Orleans, whose houses were similarly and resolutely shuttered against an outside world that could never be trusted to show proper sensitivity toward the oozing delicacies within.

In 1965 he wrote a column on the arts for Seattle Magazine. He has given readings from his work on four continents performing at festivals in Australia and Mexico and nightclubs in England and Germany. Then he rewrites it again and again examining each word making sure of its perfection finely honing each phrase until it reverberates with the subtle texture of the infinite.

Robbins claims he was born in 1932. Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins (born July 22 1936* *Note: "The discrepancy between Mr.