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Liked It2 of 2 members found this review helpful “Might be his best loved book. |
Didn’t Like It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Written in way too patronizing of a tone.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“I believe this was my introduction to Vonnegut. ”
Robert Owens wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Some of Vonnegut's finest short stories. Harrison Bergeron lingers for me, comes up often in my thoughts about society.”
sharon c wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“English 494: Modern American Fiction - Main characters are Kilgore Trout and Dwayne Hoover. A hilarious novel that can be viewed as a satire on America and it's value system(s). This novel seems to want the reader to examine what we think it means to be an American. Issues that Vonnegut explores are corporate culture, military culture, the "Discovery," the media, and masculinity vs. femininity.”
Wendy Bell wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“My 2nd favorite Vonnegut book, but most consider it the best. In ,line with the others it follows the main character around in numerous events and situations, and how they are dealt with in Vonneguts mind. Longer that Slaughterhouse and more interesting on a whole, this book has many more fun characters and things to pick up on.”
Matthew C wrote this review Tuesday, December 1 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Anarchic, poignant, and hilarious, who else can write like Vonnegut?”
Spencer G wrote this review Wednesday, November 18 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“My first Vonnegut. Absolutely utterly chuffed, everything I wanted it to be. He's already joined the ranks of authors whose back catalogs I fully intend to exhaust.
Martin B wrote this review Thursday, November 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I'm from the EVERYTHING festival.”
“My first Vonnegut book. I remember thinking, as I read it, "You're allowed to do all this AND get published?" Great stuff, but I wish I would have started with his earlier stuff.”
Grant G wrote this review Thursday, October 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Fell off my chair laughing when I read this. Later, it was made into an awful movie. ”
Hester H wrote this review Sunday, October 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I love satire and this is a classic!”
Chip E wrote this review Sunday, October 18 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“Tenia 3 out of 5 stars Kilgore Trout, one of Vonnegut's favorite character,is aging. He finds that a Midwest car dealer is taking his fiction as truth, and he is on a way to find him and explain that he is just a made up chacter. This book is ahead of it's time in the way it looks at pollution, sex, racism and it reminds us how to look at things at the truth.
Author, Author Shelf wrote this review Monday, October 26 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Againstthetide 2 out of 5 stars Ok, Vonnegut fans, I guess I need some help here. I felt like there was supposed to be something hip, cool, interesting, political, creative, groundbreaking about this book.
But, whatever it was, I didn't get it. At all.
The plot (such that it was) revolved around an author, Kilgore Trout, and a car dealer, Dwayne. Dwayne is slowly losing his mind, and upon reading a book by Trout, ends up believing that everyone in the world is a robot, and he is the only person with free will. Which leads to a rather ominous result.
This plot description makes the book sound a LOT more linear than it is. In addition, at the end, the narrator, who is also an author, gets in on the plot. But again, I didn't really get it.
There are also lots of hand drawn pictures, and those were probably some of the more humorous parts of the book. There was also a number of snide comments about capitalism, which in this age of 24/7 snark seemed somewhat tame. And since I'm fairly conservative and definitely pro-capitalism, again, I really couldn't relate.
So, I'm giving two stars just on the basis of sheer creativity and some clever bits of humor, but all in all, I mostly found the book fell flat for me. I was very happy it was brief!
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