Rating: 
Summary: Porn and Vonnegut
Review: I never really considered the fact that Kilgore Trout's (Vonnegut's alter ego science fiction writing character) stories always appeared in pornographic magazines, until I saw an excerpt from Hocus Pocus in either Playboy or Penthouse, giving me an excuse to say I'd bought the magazine for its articles and stories.
It makes me wonder then about what this says about pornographic magazines. Maybe it suggests that many of them, in order to try to create an illusion of legitamacy, will take chances with literature that mainstream magazines might find to controversial.
Indeed Vonnegut's Hocus Pocus may seem controversial to some, for it talks about things that a large majority of Americans would be more comfortable ignoring. Just as the main character, Eugene Debs Hartke is fired from his teaching job for having overly pessimistic ideas, Vonnegut's book itself pulls America's skeletons out of its closet.
Perhaps what certain literature has in common with pornography, is the tendency people have to try to ignore what they both say about our society, to try to push it as far under the bed as possible.
Hocus Pocus picks at the scabs of not only America's greatest embarrassments, but also our greatest failures. Everything from television talk-shows to the Vietnam War, racism, classism, the death of our economy, and the overcrowding of prisons is laid bare in all its uncomfortable ugliness.
The difference however, between Hocus Pocus and a simple pessimistic rant, is Vonnegut's unique ability to make us laugh at it all, but without downplaying its seriousness at all. Overall it is a must read, for Vonnegut fans and for any American that wants to live honestly with him/herself.
Rating: 
Summary: Not that faboulous
Review: I read Hocus Pocus because of the "People who read this aurthor" thing at the bottom of a book by T. Robbins. I picked it up and the intro was enthralling. There were some good parts but it was basically a i careth not siituation. I mean it wasn't painfully boring and it wasn't enthralling either. I am going to read another of his, to see if it is any better, since it wasn't that bad.
Rating:
Summary: A dissappointment to Vonnegut fans
Review: I'm a big Vonnegut fan. I love his writing style, his subtle humor, and most of all his commentary on the world we live in. I dove right in to Hocus Pocus and was excited to follow up my read of Cat's Cradle. I was greatly disappointed! This is definitely not one of Vonnegut's better works. His style was probably the most consistant factor - it was certainly "Vonnegutesque" - but this book was not as funny or relevant as his others I have read. Of course, it was still good. I give it three stars because it was a worthwhile book in its own right. The plot was interesting, if particulary slow, and the prespectives on war, the educational system, nationalism, and more were unique. But if you go into this book expecting another Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse Five, you're going to be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A dissappointment to Vonnegut fans
Review: I'm a big Vonnegut fan. I love his writing style, his subtle humor, and most of all his commentary on the world we live in. I dove right in to Hocus Pocus and was excited to follow up my read of Cat's Cradle. I was greatly disappointed! This is definitely not one of Vonnegut's better works. His style was probably the most consistant factor - it was certainly "Vonnegutesque" - but this book was not as funny or relevant as his others I have read. Of course, it was still good. I give it three stars because it was a worthwhile book in its own right. The plot was interesting, if particulary slow, and the prespectives on war, the educational system, nationalism, and more were unique. But if you go into this book expecting another Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse Five, you're going to be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: I beg to differ?
Review: In contrast to some of his other works I felt that Hocus Pocus didn't provide a good structure. It took me a good 100 pages to actually get into this book; the early part of the novel to me entailed a lot of "brain gibberish" that I didn't know what to do with until later on in the story.
Yet with time, characters start to come into place and develop further for the rest of the novel. And as always, Vonnegut's creativity and wit takes it toll and makes the read more worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: I beg to differ?
Review: In contrast to some of his other works I felt that Hocus Pocus didn't provide a good structure. It took me a good 100 pages to actually get into this book; the early part of the novel to me entailed a lot of "brain gibberish" that I didn't know what to do with until later on in the story.
Yet with time, characters start to come into place and develop further for the rest of the novel. And as always, Vonnegut's creativity and wit takes it toll and makes the read more worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: ANTIWAR POSTERBOY
Review: In HOCUS POCUS Vonnegut presents the journal of Eugene Debs Hartke -atypical Vietnam Vet-Antiwar poster boy. The story reminded me of what John K Toole did with Ignatius Reilly in CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES. However, it's difficult to sustain interest when a writer puts all his eggs in one basket. All the other characters became keys on the piano that Hartke kept playing, on and on. Now that the Vietnam vet has been pounded to death from every angle, as time goes on, the story loses much of its poignancy. When it was written twelve years past it may have gotten my five stars, unfortunately, literature must be evaluated with one eye on its longevity....
Rating:
Summary: ANTIWAR POSTERBOY
Review: In HOCUS POCUS Vonnegut presents the journal of Eugene Debs Hartke -atypical Vietnam Vet-Antiwar poster boy. The story reminded me of what John K Toole did with Ignatius Reilly in CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES. However, it's difficult to sustain interest when a writer puts all his eggs in one basket. All the other characters became keys on the piano that Hartke kept playing, on and on. Now that the Vietnam vet has been pounded to death from every angle, as time goes on, the story loses much of its poignancy. When it was written twelve years past it may have gotten my five stars, unfortunately, literature must be evaluated with one eye on its longevity....
Rating:
Summary: Kurt Vonnegut Writes an Excellent Satire of the 1990's
Review: In one of the finest books of the 1990's, Kurt Vonnegut shows that he has lost none of his wit and taste for satire. Very thought provoking with many themes that he uses in his work (insanity, horrors of war, stupidity of humanity). An important book into understanding the human condition and at the same time Vonnegut's style is uncluttered and easy to read. Direct and to the point, Mr. Vonnegut hits his target precisely. Marvelous.
Rating:
Summary: Great writer, horrible futurist
Review: It's hard to imagine a worse guess of what the year 2001 might look like in the U.S. The dark future themes are timeless - capitalists greedily sucking the life out of the country, foreign invasion through privatization, pollution out of control. If this book was written today and set 10 more years in the future, the predictions would look just as appealing to the same sort of people and just as Chicken-Little-ish to the doubters. I suspect that, in another ten years, this version of the future will still be about ten years off, like chasing an ugly rainbow. Unfortunately, the doubters being somewhat vindicated (at least for this time-frame) takes much of the sting out of Vonnegut's social commentary and satire. However, accuracy of predictions aside, the world he paints makes for lovely allegories, especially drawing parallels with war and the Vietnam War in particular. Also, he is right on the money on a couple of things, though, such as Universities clamping down on upsetting speech, which makes those examples that much more chilling. Vonnegut's prose in this book was a joy to read. One cannot call this book a 'page-turner' because the plot is non-linear, and frankly, I was not in a hurry to find out what would happen next anyway. However, there is no reason to rush to the next page, since the page you are on is such a joy to read. This is almost enough for three stars by itself.
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