Switters is a contradiction for all seasons an anarchist who works for thegovernment a pacifist who carries a gun a vegetarian who sops up ham gravy acyberwhiz ... » 

Switters is a contradiction for all seasons an anarchist who works for thegovernment a pacifist who carries a gun a vegetarian who sops up ham gravy acyberwhiz who hates computers a man who though obsessed with the preservationof innocence is aching to deflower his highschoolage stepsister only tobecome equally enamored of a nun ten years his senior.Yet there is nothing remotely wishywashy about Switters. He doesnt merelypack a pistol. He is a pistol. And as we dog Switterss strangely elevatedheels across four continents in and out of love and danger discovering in theprocess the true Third Secret of Fatima we experience Tom Robbins thatfearless storyteller spiritual renegade and verbal break dancer at the topof his game.On one level this is a fastpaced CIA adventure story with comic overtones onanother its a serious novel of ideas that brings the Big Picture intounexpected focus but perhaps more than anything else Fierce Invalids is asexy celebration of language and life. «