Book Review Revision

There will always people who know, or think they know more than the average person. Often these people gravitate towards a position of authority, take for example the Catholic Church. What if these people only thought they knew what they were talking about though? And what if these select few individuals with authority commanded power, influence, and guidance to thousands, no millions of followers? In the end, would it even be worth proving their dogma wrong? Think of the repercussions, who would benefit in crushing the hopes, and beliefs of these people even though their very existence was a lie? These are the kinds of questions Tom Robbins hopes to address in his novel, Another Roadside Attraction.
It’s interesting how little has changed in the nearly forty years since this novel was written. While Another Roadside Attraction was written in 1971, its implications still reign in as true as ever. The Catholic Church went though a transformation in the late 1960s following the Second Vatican Council. This council sought to modernize the church to more closely conform to the changing morals of the time. In retrospect, very little changed after that, and today we see the Catholic Church reverting back to a more conservative ideology following the nomination of Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger. This cyclical theory is similar to one that drives Another Roadside Attraction. Insert Amanda, John Paul, Marx Marvelous, and Plucky Purcell. Four individuals who hold one of the greatest secrets known to man, while working at a hot dog stand in the Pacific Northwest.
Amanda is a mystic, believing everything happens for a reason. Some outside force, not 'one being’ in the sense of god, but rather a collection of emotions and feelings, guide her. John Paul is a wild man, who understands the natural world and is happily confined to his simple and aesthetic life. Plucky on the other hand is an instigator who wants nothing more than to shake up the system, content with fighting ‘the man’ anyway he can. Then there’s Marx. A realist through and through, believing all things science explains all things in existence. Take these varying attitudes and place them smack in the midst of the counter culture of the late 1960s, early 1970s.
Tom Robbins’s writing style reflects the day-glow attitude of the time, as the reader is repeatedly jumping around from time and place throughout the story. Robbins is also very annoyed. Amanda, Marx, John Paul, and Plucky act like four forces of human will. Each one thinks on their own accord, and each one thinks they are right based on these convictions. The contrast of opinions between the characters is what really drives this story and keeps you interested. The message of anti-establishment, pro-secularism that flourished during the counter culture of the late 1960s has never really gone away, and recently has become prominent again. To me, this is why this book still stands the test of time; we have always and will always questions the origins of man, it’s our nature as human beings. By the end of this novel, the story has risen and fallen several times; taking plot twists this reader would never have anticipated. Each character is shaped by each other’s personal perspective based on the secret they hold, and each becomes more enlightened in the process. They finally become awakened by the fact that no single solution, but rather several usually solve a problem. By the time the conclusion is reached, each character learns why some truths are better left under wraps.