"The sunrise is a strip-tease between night and day." Tom Robbins quote?

April 27, 2009 6:46 PM

"The sunrise is a strip-tease between night and day." Is this a Tom Robbins quote (or similar to one)?

My friend is writing a story and included this line..I seem to remember it from a Tom Robbins book, but can't remember which. It might be original and just in the same style, but he wants to know if he should take it out. Any help is appreciated!

posted by prwnkle02 to Writing & Language (3 answers total)

"Still Life with Woodpecker" is the one most full of sun-vs-moonism, so I'd look there first.

Sorry, not much help.
posted by rokusan at 10:09 PM on April 27, 2009

It sounds as if Robbins could have written it, but it isn't ringing any bells.

I'd suggest leaving it in, especially if it fits with the tone of the rest of the work. If later, someone finds the line in another book it isn't "plagiarism", it is "homage". Copyright of a single sentence from a novel may exist in principle, but would be pretty absurd in practice.
posted by fydfyd at 11:19 PM on April 27, 2009

I'm a huge Tom Robbins fan. I seem to remember in one of his books - I'm guessing it was Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, not sure - there's an extended passage where he pokes fun at Homer and the way he opened every chapter with 'The rosy fingers of dawn stroked the horizon' or so. I can't really remember as I took a break from his books after reading each two or three times.
posted by mannequito at 5:40 AM on April 28, 2009