62 pages • 2 hours read
Tom RobbinsA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The protagonist of the novel, Leigh-Cheri is a deposed princess who lives with her parents, King Max and Queen Tilli, in a house in Seattle. Her parents note, “she was lovely. Her hair, as straight and red as ironed ketchup rode gravity’s one-way ticket all the way to her waist” (17). Her red hair is her dominant feature and plays an outsized role in Leigh-Cheri’s story, as she connects with Bernard through it and develops her theory of pyramidology with his story of the Red Beards of Argon in mind.
As a princess, Leigh-Cheri represents an outmoded model of civilization, the “old world.” However, Robbins also uses her position as a princess to subvert the traditional representation of princesses as passive and submissive figureheads. She is not interested in being rescued and proves herself A Modern Fairy Tale Princess in her desire to be the hero of her own story.
When the novel begins, Leigh-Cheri is 19 years old and is recovering from a miscarriage that happened while she was cheering at a football game, resulting in her withdrawal from school and a breakup with her boyfriend. Leigh-Cheri moves home with her parents, determined to be more mature, but unsure what that means.
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By Tom Robbins
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