Still Life with Woodpecker (1980) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

• Princess Leigh-Cheri: Protagonist, princess of Furstenberg-Barcalona
• Bernard Mickey Wrangle: "The Woodpecker" - criminal activist
• Gulietta: Servant of the "royal family," speaks no English.
• King Max: Leigh-Cheri's father, exiled king of Furstenberg-Barcalona
• Queen Tilli: Mother of Leigh-Cheri, wife of King Max
• Chuck: Royal driver, gardener, chauffuer, and CIA informant.
• A'ben Fizel: Leigh-Cheri's Arabian fiance.
• Nina Jablonski: The woodpecker's attorney.
• Camel: Add a description of this character.
• Ralph Nader
• Kathleen

Quotes edit see section history

• “The moon invented natural rhythm. Civilization uninvented it.”

• “"Cleanliness is next to godliness" was one slogan of maturity to which Leigh-Cheri could faithfully subscribe - not stopping to consider that if by the last quarter of the twentieth century godliness wasn't next to something more interesting that cleanliness, it might be time to reevaluate our notions of godliness.”

• “Actually, there are two kinds of people in this world: those who believe there are two kinds of people in this world, and those who are smart enough to know better.”

• “Bullshit. Unromantic, unattractive bullshit. Equality is not in regarding different things similarly, equality is in regarding different things differently.”

  Bernard Mickey Wrangle

• “Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature.”

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• Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature.

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• we, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every relationship we enter.

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• We waste time looking for the perfect lover instead of creating the perfect love. Wouldn’t that be the way to make love stay?”

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• Equality is not in regarding different things similarly, equality is in regarding different things differently.”

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• Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words “make” and “stay” become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free.

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• “When we’re incomplete, we’re always searching for somebody to complete us.

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• Who knows how to make love stay? Answer me that and I will tell you whether or not to kill yourself. Answer me that and I will ease your mind about the beginning and the end of time. Answer me that and I will reveal to you the purpose of the moon.

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• There’s a tendency today to absolve individuals of moral responsibility and treat them as victims of social circumstance. You buy that, you pay with your soul. It’s not men who limit women, it’s not straights who limit gays, it’s not whites who limit blacks. What limits people is lack of character. What limits people is that they don’t have the fucking nerve or imagination to star in their own movie, let alone direct it. Yuk.”

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• Society had a crime problem. It hired cops to attack crime. Now society has a cop problem.

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• Funny how we think of romance as always involving two, when the romance of solitude can be ever so much more delicious and intense. Alone, the world offers itself freely to us. To be unmasked, it has no choice.

  Highlighted by 40 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Hawaii
• Algiers
• Seattle
• Mexico
• Lahaina
• United States
• Paris
• Montana

First Sentence edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

List the series to which this book belongs.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Tom Robbins (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Leslie W. LePere (Artist)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Prometheus Award (1982: Best Novel, nominee)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Add a note to help parents select a book for a child.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( R ) › Robbins, Tom
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary