Opening, pp. 1-13 Summary

"The beet is the most intense of vegetables" (Today's Special, p. 1). This is the line that opens the whole saga of Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. Beets are different than other vegetables. Beets are not lusty as tomatoes. They are melancholy and can suffer; they can also be guilty, such as the murderer who returns to the scene of the crime. The beet was the favorite of Rasputin. There are different kinds of beets, but it is the red beet that is the subject of concern here.

Seattle is where Priscilla lives in a studio apartment, which is billed as a glamorous place where artists live. Priscilla isn't an artist but a waitress, but it is believed that artists live where they work. This isn't actually true because there isn't enough room. Priscilla enters her apartment after a hard...