|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
by Kurt Vonnegut
|
by Kurt Vonnegut
|
by Kurt Vonnegut
|
by Kurt Vonnegut
|
by Kurt Vonnegut
|
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain, centenarian, the last President of the United States, King of Manhattan, and one-half (along with his sister, Eliza) of the most powerful intelligence since Einstein, is penning his autobiography. He occupies the first floor of a ruined Empire State Building and lives like a royal scavenger with his illiterate granddaughter and her beau. Buffeted by fluctuating gravity, the U.S. has been scourged by not one, but two lethal diseases: the Green Death and the Albanian Flu. Consequently, the country has fallen into civil war. (Super-intelligent, miniaturized Chinese watch the West self-destruct from the sidelines.) Swain stayed at the White House until there were no citizens left to govern, then moved to deserted New York City, where he writes a thoughtful missive before death.
In Slapstick, Vonnegut muses on war, man's hubris, and the awful, crippling loneliness humans are freighted with--but, miraculously, the book still manages to delight and amuse. Absurd, knowing, never depressing, Slapstick kindles hope--for the possibility of wisdom, perhaps; for human resiliency, surely.
It's best to end with a quote from the prologue wherein the author discourses on The Meaning of It All, or at least This Book: "Love is where you find it. I think it is foolish to go off looking for it, and I think it can often be poisonous.
I wish that people who are conventionally supposed to love each other would say to each other, when they fight, 'Please--a little less love, and a little more common decency.'"
Amen.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Slapstick presents an apocalyptic vision seen through the eyes of the current King of Manhattan (and last President of the United States), a wickedly irreverent look at the all-too-possible results of today’s follies. But even the end of life-as-we-know-it is transformed by Vonnegut’s pen into hilarious farce (a final slapstick that may be the Almighty’s joke on us all.)
“Vonnegut’s ongoing puppet show…that fabulous is reborn.”—John Updike
“Both funny and sad…just about perfect!”—Los Angeles Times
“Imaginative and hilarious…a brilliant vision of our wrecked, wacked-out future.”—Hartford Courant
*The New York Times
“Vonnegut’s ongoing puppet show…that fabulous is reborn.”—John Updike
“Both funny and sad…just about perfect!”—Los Angeles Times
“Imaginative and hilarious…a brilliant vision of our wrecked, wacked-out future.”—Hartford Courant
*The New York Times
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?
 |
43% buy the item featured on this page: Slapstick or Lonesome No More!: A Novel CDN$ 13.83 |
 |
18% buy Mother Night: A Novel CDN$ 13.83 |
 |
16% buy The Sirens of Titan: A Novel CDN$ 13.83 |
 |
14% buy Breakfast of Champions or Goodbye Blue Monday!: A Novel CDN$ 13.83 |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||
Most helpful customer reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
Most recent customer reviews
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Your Recent History
(What's this?)|
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. |
