Kurt Vonnegut’s humor, satiric voice, and incomparable imagination first captured America’s attention in The Sirens of Titan in 1959 and established him as “a true artist” (The New York Times) with Cat’s Cradle in 1963. He was, as Graham Greene declared, “one of the best living American writers.” Mr. Vonnegut passed away in April 2007.
“Poignant and hilarious, threaded with compassion and, behind
everything, the cataract of a thundering moral
statement.”—The Boston Globe
“Very tough and very funny . . . sad and delightful . . . very
Vonnegut.”—The New York Times
“Splendid . . . a funny book at which you are not permitted to
laugh, a sad book without tears.”—Life
“Funny, satirical, compelling, outrageous, fanciful, mordant,
fecund . . . ‘It’s too good to be science fiction,’ [the
critics] would say. But Vonnegut doesn’t care, and you won’t care,
either, because this is a writer who leaps over genres.”—Los
Angeles Times
"Listen: Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time." So begins Vonnegut's absurdist 1969 classic. Hawke rises to the occasion of performing this sliced-and-diced narrative, which is part sci-fi and partially based on Vonnegut's experience as a American prisoner of war in Dresden, Germany during the firebombing of 1945 that killed thousands of civilians. Billy travels in time and space, stopping here and there throughout his life, including his long visit to the planet Tralfamador, where he is mated with a porn star. Hawke adopts a confidential, whisper-like tone for his reading. Listening to him is like listening to someone tell you a story in the back of a bus-the perfect pitch for this book. After the novel ends, Vonnegut himself speaks for a short while about his survival of the Dresden firestorm and describes and names the man who inspired this story. Tacked on to the very end of this audio smorgasbord is music, a dance single that uses a vintage recording of Vonnegut reading from the book. Though Hawke's reading is excellent, one cannot help but wish Vonnegut himself had read the entire text. (Nov. 2003) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
"Poignant and hilarious, threaded with compassion and, behind
everything, the cataract of a thundering moral
statement."-The Boston Globe
"Very tough and very funny . . . sad and delightful . . .
very Vonnegut."-The New York Times
"Splendid . . . a funny book at which you are not permitted
to laugh, a sad book without tears."-Life
"Funny, satirical, compelling, outrageous, fanciful, mordant,
fecund . . . 'It's too good to be science fiction,' [the critics]
would say. But Vonnegut doesn't care, and you won't care, either,
because this is a writer who leaps over genres."-Los Angeles
Times
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