Still Life with Woodpecker | 
|  | | | Title: | Still Life with Woodpecker | | Author: | Tom Robbins | | Publisher: | Bantam | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | 01 April, 1990 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0553348973 / 9780553348972 | | List Price: | $14.00 | | You Save: | $2.80 | | Amazon Price: | $11.20 | |
 This book is also available, brand-new, from 3rd-party marketplace sellers at Amazon.com, from $6.25. |
The HTML code below can be pasted onto your web-site, your MySpace page, or blog - or any number of similar places - to create a link to this page: If, instead of a text link, you'd like to create a link to this page which will display the book cover, if it's available, then the code below will do exactly that:
Check for the same book at these other US book sites:
• [ Abebooks ] • [ Alibris ] • [ Barnes & Noble ] • [ Half.com ] • [ Powells ] … or check UK bookstores
| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
Still Life with Woodpecker is sort of a love story that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes. It reveals the purpose of the moon, explains the difference between criminals and outlaws, examines the conflict between social activism and romantic individualism, and paints a portrait of contemporary society that includes powerful Arabs, exiled royalty, and pregnant cheerleaders. It also deals with the problem of redheads.
| Other Items You May Enjoy:
Browse Books From These Related Subjects:
Customer Reviews:
• A Love Story With Sauce 03 October, 2007
Every Tom Robbins novel is a fantastic journey with psychedelic whorl sauce. This novel will surprise readers who have navigated his novels with multiple converging stories and stretched fantasy. This is almost a regular novel from the Robbins set.
The novel has one story, of all things, a love story, with several overtly named and referenced themes the author invites the audience to analyze. This is a romantic novel (huh!) with a very traditional love story. I'm talking Romeo and Juliet stuff here. Is he baiting us? Is there something more to what he has directly pointed out? Maybe this time the story is told in his thoughts of object-ism, pyramid power, the moon and redheads (which is great) rather than his typical inviting challenge to follow the story in the characters. In this case, the story is a straightforward journey and the thematic discussions are the spot that requires effort. And by effort, I don't mean the Stairmaster or studying algebra, I mean allowing your mind to stretch out to meet Tom Robbins point to point.
As usual the characters in the story don't "fit the description"; an idealist princess and an outlaw; their actions intense and their purpose dubious which immediately makes it better than a "normal" book. I was challenged to dig the thematic definitions as deeply as I normally do the stories. Maybe I missed the connection between the characters and the themes that gives the book another layer. It is nice however, to see a different curve to a Robbins tale. For a regular Robbins reader the novel does have those things we love including the fantastic internal monologues that define the characters, the gluttonous descriptions of everyday objects (the Camel cigarette pack) and his incredible ability to concoct a story with a broken mold. For my tastes however, I enjoy dissecting a fantastic story more than I like trying to guess at someone else's conclusions on symbology and love.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1WKH7H8XCSQXO
• Never Too Late To Have A Happy Childhood 02 June, 2008
What a crazy-amazing book. Robbins is a force to be reckoned with. I enjoyed his genius views on the moon, love, birth control, dynamite, redheads, pyramids, etc. You just have to read him, he can not be summed up.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1NN7HG2PVE9GY
• Sheer Genius 04 February, 2008
Tom Robbins has described an unusual writing process, painstakingly crafting each sentence to perfection before moving on to the next. His literary artistry shows. Like Robbins' other work, Still Life with Woodpecker is filled with hilarious, surreal wordplay that is as much a joy to read as is the playful plotline of the story itself. An unlikely love story between two fiery redheads, the idealistic princess Leigh-Cheri (Robbins favors strong female characters) and the lovable mad bomber Bernard, the novel creates a new take on the author's recurring themes of mysticism and the conflict between the mythical sun (order, authoritarianism, dullness) and moon (creativity, femininity, and passion). Other philosophical themes make their appearance, including the conflict between social activism and romantic individualism.
Whether in terms of plot, word craft, or philosophy, Still Life with Woodpecker is a literary delight.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1XBYZX09V1OB4
• For Robbins Go Elsewhere... 09 June, 2008
Certainly a far cry from Tom Robbins' better works, this book is greatly disappointing for multiple reasons. First of all, while part of the book tries to function as a critique of dogma, Robbins' makes an attempt through his own personal narrative voice or through the voice of the archetypal characters to indoctrinate his readers into his own personal values. These not-too-well-thought-out values consist of the common to mainstream backlash against feminism, to mind-boggling statements that African Americans are responsible for their own suffering in present-day society.
If that is not enough, he writes a main character, Princess Leigh-Cheri who epitomizes the common mistakes that occur when a misogynist writes a female character. Not only does she embody objecthood in the way she is described and characterized, but she is also easily persuaded by the male protagonist. A common trope of the novel that occurs over and over involves her expressing a belief, the male protagonist refutes it with his own beliefs, and then she giggles and kisses him for his great ideas. It leaves the reader feeling as though something in the text is missing - and that is convincing dialog as well as a convincing female protagonist.
In short, if you are looking for another Tom Robins book to read, or are looking to start reading one, try Jitterbug Perfume, which has a much more interesting plot, better characters, and less poorly argued political backlash.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3N5D0JOULDJ2P
• My Introduction To Robbins 04 May, 2008
I recieved this book on my seventeenth birthday from my girlfriend at the time. It was the first Robbins book I ever read and it got me hooked on him, his quirks, style, and insight. For the next two years I was on a Robbins kick. There were some I didn't like along the way, but there'll always be a spot in my heart for this book.
A King's ticking heart, the Queen's idiolect, a Pricess' growth from niave youth... plus fun recipes for bombs (ingredients include playing cards and Fruit Loops cereal) which may or may not work... I've not yet played around. Its a strange book with strange characters and a stranger inner-conversation about the sublimenal designs of a cigarette package. There's also the metatextual critique of a typewriter... and how it would be better if it were red.
You'd have to read it to understand.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A10W40DOIE1EOP
|
