Tom Robbins novel about the middle east, art, inaninate objects, and the dance of the seven veils.
Also, printed source on the difference between being "naked" and being "nekkid"

update -- october 2008 -- Once you're sick of Tom Robbins, all Tom Robbins storylines wind up sounding incredibly dumb.

In addition to several frequently horny humans, the main characters include a Spoon, a Dirty Sock, a Can o' Beans, a Painted Stick and a Conch Shell. Part of the plot involves the five supposedly inanimate objects attempt to get to the Holy Land.

One of the most absurd aspects of the plot involves a collaboration between fundamentalist Christians in America and Orthodox Jews in Israel to blow up the Dome of the Rock in order to bring about the Second Coming. Much to my surprise, Robbins didn't make that part up: such an attempt occurred in the early Eighties.