Still Life with Woodpecker

Still Life with Woodpecker, Tom Robbins’s third novel, was published in 1980 by Bantam Books. The novel—which includes elements of fantasy, magical realism, absurdism, satire, and philosophy—centers on protagonist Leigh-Cheri Furstenberg-Barcalona, an exiled princess who falls in love with bomber and outlaw Bernard Mickey Wrangle, who is also known as the Woodpecker. As their love story unfolds in the form of a postmodern fairy tale, Robbins explores the animalistic nature of humans in the modern world and subverts the conventions of the bildungsroman as the protagonist grows into immaturity.

This study guide refers to the e-book edition, published in 2003 by Bantam Books.

Content Warning: The source material features depictions of abortion, miscarriage, and domestic terrorism. Additionally, the source material uses outdated and offensive terms for women, Mexican Americans, Arab people, and Black people, which are replicated in this guide only in direct quotes of the source material.

Plot Summary

In the Prologue, an author character addresses the reader. This author has a new electric typewriter and is about to start writing the novel. Throughout the book, this author character will intermittently appear to share his progress and frustrations with the reader.

Princess Leigh-Cheri lives in Seattle with her parents, King Max and Queen Tilli, and their servant, Gulietta. The family is royalty that has been deposed and are now living in exile in the US, supported by the CIA on the condition that they don’t try to return to their homeland. They also have another servant, Chuck, whom they all know is a CIA operative who watches them and reports on their movements.

Leigh-Cheri has only recently moved home—she was attending the University of Washington but was kicked off the cheerleading squad and dropped out of school after having a miscarriage. In addition, she broke up with her boyfriend. Gulietta is the only person in the household who understands Leigh-Cheri’s grief and gives her a pet frog, whom Leigh-Cheri names Prince Charming. Leigh-Cheri is determined to grow up and be mature but doesn’t know what exactly that means.

When she hears about the Geo-Therapy Care Fest to be held in Hawaii, she is excited for the first time since her miscarriage. Her parents decide that she can go with Gulietta as her chaperone. On the plane, she sits in front of Bernard Mickey Wrangle, otherwise known as the Woodpecker, a fugitive with an expertise in bombs, which he used in the past to protest the Vietnam War. He is smuggling dynamite to Hawaii, a task made easier by the fact that Gulietta stole everyone’s attention by trying to bring a live frog onto the airplane. Bernard admires Leigh-Cheri’s red hair and tries to talk to her, but she ignores him.

That night, drunk on tequila, Bernard accidentally blows up a UFO conference instead of the Care Fest grounds, but no one is injured. He believes that no one saw him, but Gulietta did and tells Leigh-Cheri, who places him under citizen’s arrest. She is too young to know who the Woodpecker really is, but when he asks her to have a drink, she agrees.

The next day, Leigh-Cheri is determined to turn him in, but instead meets him at the boat on which he plans to escape. When she arrives, she discovers that his hair, which had been dyed black to avoid the law, is now its original red, just like hers. Bernard and Leigh-Cheri fall in love, and she promises not to turn him in if he promises to claim responsibility for the bombing after his statute of limitations expires. Leigh-Cheri and Gulietta leave Hawaii with Bernard. When they return to Seattle, however, Bernard is forced to obey the dictates of a royal courtship, and it is a disaster. Further, Chuck recognizes Bernard as the Woodpecker, and FBI agents arrive to arrest him.

Leigh-Cheri goes into self-imposed imprisonment in her attic, shaping her environment to exactly replicate Bernard’s cell. She remains there for six months, and other people find out about her actions and decide to copy her. Bernard finds out about this and sends her an angry letter, blaming her for the others’ actions. Leigh-Cheri decides to marry A’ben Fizel, the suitor her parents have chosen. However, she sets specific terms for their engagement. While in her attic prison, Leigh-Cheri became entranced by the only object in her cell, a pack of Camel cigarettes. Her contemplation of the pyramids on the pack’s design sparks a deep interest in pyramidology, and she says she will marry A’ben Fizel on the day that he finishes building a pyramid for her.

Fizel, in the meantime, has put out a watch along the borders of his country for Bernard, who has escaped from prison. A man with Bernard’s passport dies on the Algerian border, and when Leigh-Cheri finds out, she can’t stop crying. After the pyramid is finished, the night before her wedding, Leigh-Cheri goes into the pyramid. She finds Bernard there—he had planned to blow the top of the pyramid off in protest. When some workers report this to Fizel, he seals the pyramid with them inside and tells everyone that she was kidnapped.

Leigh-Cheri and Bernard are trapped in the pyramid for a month, surviving on the cake and champagne intended for her wedding reception. Finally, while Bernard is sleeping, Leigh-Cheri lights the dynamite and protects his body with her own. When Bernard wakes in the hospital, he thinks that Leigh-Cheri is dead; however, she has survived the blast, but is badly burned. They are both deaf. Leigh-Cheri and Bernard return to Seattle, moving back into her family’s house, and live a quiet life together.

The author is relieved that the typewriter finally produces the story but pulls the plug as it begins discussing the novel’s themes in detail.