Novel Ideas: Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

Hey guys! I’m not personally updating this week, but don’t worry, we still have a new book for you. The Little Rebellion has recently acquired a new writer and she is entering onto the scene as a guest writer in Novel Ideas, although her own upcoming personal blog will focus on music. The music blog is untitled as of yet, but keep checking back in the blog category of TLR to enrich your world with new music as well as new books, new food, and health tips.

The new writer is Sarah Pereira, a 2nd year transfer student here at SUNY New Paltz, and I think you will appreciate her suggestions, beginning with this one:

Picking your favorite author is like picking your favorite color; your decision is solely dependent on your current mood.  If you’re looking to crack down on a murder mystery, then I would have to direct you toward a Dan Brown book. Want to snuggle into the couch and engulf yourself in a love story so intense that even death won’t tear the characters apart? Then I will give you one name: Audrey Niffenegger. However, if you feel like diving into a story involving a red-headed princess and a camel smoking outlaw, then Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins is just the book for you.

Robbins’ style is crude, witty, and addicting. He’s insightful like Kurt Vonnegut, yet comical like the opinionated Chuck Klosterman; the balance between the two makes all of Robbins’ books page turners. Still Life with Woodpecker was given to me as a gift many years ago, before I even heard of Robbins as a writer, and it’s this story that made me fall in love with his work.

The book is based on a twisted love story between a princess named Leigh-Cheri and a man called Bernard Mickey Wrangler, otherwise known as The Outlaw. The story takes place on the way to the beautiful paradise of Hawaii. The Princess is flying there to attend a Geo-Therapy Care Fest seminar, and the outlaw is flying there to blow it up. The two meet, fall in love, and eventually get thrown into jail. When the outlaw gets caught and imprisoned, the Princess gives herself the same punishment that her dynamite-throwing lover receives. Within the walls of their prison, they grow together, yet apart, by means of a pack of camel cigarettes.

This novel is a spell-binding story of love, life, and the everlasting question of whether redheads are from outer space. All of Robbins’ novels answer profound questions while maintaining wild humor, and Still Life with Woodpecker is no exception. So if you’re in the mood for a love story, or learning how to make a bomb, then go out to your local bookstore and give Tom Robbins a little bit of your paycheck; you won’t regret it.

-Sarah Pereira

Thanks for reading! – KC Tveit.

P.S. Stay posted for the upcoming music blog and all other TLR news and features!!

Sarah Pereira

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