Sissy Hankshaw, the novel's
protagonist, is a woman born with enormously large thumbs who considers her
mutation a gift. The novel covers various topics, including
free love,
feminism,
drug use,
birds, political rebellion,
animal rights,
body odor, religion, and
yams. Sissy capitalizes on the size of her thumbs by becoming a
hitchhiker and subsequently travels to New York. The character becomes a model for The Countess, a male homosexual tycoon of
menstrual hygiene products. The tycoon introduces Sissy to a staid
Mohawk named Julian Gitche, whom she later marries. In her later travels, she encounters, among many others, a sexually open
cowgirl named Bonanza Jellybean and an itinerant escapee from a
Japanese internment camp happily mislabeled The
Chink, who is presented as a
hermetic mystic and, at one point writes on a cave wall, "I believe in everything; nothing is sacred. I believe in nothing; everything is sacred." and frequently says "Ha Ha Ho Ho and Hee Hee." A flock of
whooping cranes also makes frequent appearances throughout the novel, which includes details of their physical characteristics and
migratory patterns. Robbins also inserts himself into the novel (as a character). ==Film adaptation==