Rating: 
Summary: Kurt Vonnegut rocks.
Review: This book rocks
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, like Vonnegut always is
Review: This book starts out at the end and you spend the whole book reading little stories to see how the character ended up where he is now.
Eugene Debs Hartke is a prisoner being held in the library of Tarkington College. The book is his collected memoirs which were written on numbered pieces of scrap paper. The future he lives in is dominated by the Japanese economy and the American foreign and domestic policies are consumed by "The War on Drugs." Racism is much more prevalent.
Eugene Debs Hartke was a teacher at Tarkington College, a college for very rich Special Education students who would not graduate from a traditional university. Across the lake is a maximum security prison that holds 10,000 prisoners - most of them were Special Education students who turned to crime to make a living.
This is a good book, but it starts out a little slow. There are similar themes as other Vonnegut books I've read, especially his focus on how life's little choices can radically change what happens to you.
Vonnegut is a master at coming up with quotable odd thoughts and here are a few that caught my eye:
"In an era as foulmouthed as this one, (someone saying) 'Good gravy' had the same power to startle as a cannon shot."
On human space travel:
"How could all that meat, needing so much food and water and oxygen, and with bowel movements so enormous, expect to survive a trip of any distance whatsoever through the limitless void of outer space? It was a miracle that such ravenous and cumbersome giants could make a roundtrip for a 6-pack to the nearest grocery store."
"Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance."
On Freedom of Speech:
"That isn't something that someone else gives you. That's something you have to give yourself."
Anyway, its a good book. I enjoyed it. It made you think sometimes and that is always good.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not great.
Review: This is an entertaining book, but it is not an example of why Vonnegut is cannonized in modern american literature. Though it is well written,and the plot rather ubelieveable plot but still imaginable, I was never too excited about the book. Vonnegut seemed to be trying to hard to be innovative/alternative in the style of this book, the narrative is delivered over hundreads of scraps of paper. This forced deviance is more obstructive than anything, and the few actually refreshing techniques are hobbled by trite phrases. Anybody who's seen a Vietnam movie will seeminly recognize a good deal of lines in this book. This is still Vonnegut, though, and were it another author I would not have been so harsh. However, there are certainly more aclaimed Vonnegut books out there, and for good reason. Choose them over this one.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: This is the first Vonnegut book I have read and I think it was a wonderful book. It is a very realistic.
Rating: 
Summary: The depth of the humor make another reading manditory.
Review: This is the first vonnegut I've read, having missed the craze. (A bit too young, I suppose.) I loved the depth of the characters and the hysterical, multiple plots played out to the very end. Some of it's magic, some of it's tragic, but all together a fantastic read
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Summary: Pure Vonnegut but nothing new
Review: This time out, Vonnegut imagines a near future where prisons are outsourced to the Japanese. He addresses the hypothetical question, "What is the difference between schools and prisons?", and doesn't seem to find much fundamental difference - both being represive institutions that are subject to the whim of the moneyed classes. The humor and delightful Vonnegut quips are all here. His eye for detail has never been better and his use of deadpan delivery of skewering observations is right on. BUT, this is essentially the same kind of stuff that he has been serving up for decades. To those who are coming to his work fresh this must be an eye opener, but I suspect to a lot of veteran Vonnegut readers it will just seem like more of the same. I can't really complain because I like his style, agree with much of his world view, appreciate his dark humor and keep coming back for more. But I keep hoping for something that has the lyrical freshness I found in Slaughterhouse Five or the fierce apocalyptic fun that was Cat's Cradle. Maybe Vonnegut has just spoiled us and we want him to top his past success. I'll keep hoping he can.
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Summary: PIcks you up when you're down
Review: This was the second Vonnegut book I ever read. I read it when I was living in a one bedroom apartment in Las Vegas six years ago with three other guys. The apartment was right off Freemont street where prostitutes and drug dealers hung out all night and no-one with any sense ever went out there after dark. Reading this book made me laugh about the whole situation and I read it often still. When things seem at their worst Vonnegut always says "It's ok everyone else is having a bad time too."
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Summary: Vonnegut's Greatest Achievement
Review: Though I thought it would be hard to top "Breakfast of Champions" and "Slaughterhouse-Five", Vonnegut managed to do it with "Hocus Pocus". This book is a testament to his genius. If you have never read Vonnegut before, start by reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Humourous but rather unstructured
Review: To those not familiar with the writings of Kurt Vonnengut this is not a good starter. Go buy Mother Night or Slaughterhouse Five instead. If you are familiar with Vonnengut, you will probably also enjoy this book.As always the sarcasm and humour is worth it all. But the story of this novel is really hard to keep track on. It seems more like a collection of notes than a novel proper. Obviously this means that this book will primarily be of benefit to dedicated fans, such as myself.
Rating: 
Summary: A Non-Magical Trip to Prison?
Review: Vonnegut has written many works that are justifiably praised, often laced with biting satire and normally an excellent insight into people and their surrounding society. The various praises of this book, liberally sprinkled on the back cover and the opening few pages, call this 'Hilarious', 'Sharp-toothed satire - absurd humor' 'Comic', '...a scream'. From these comments, I was all set for another Slaughterhouse Five, but when I finished this I wondered if these book reviewers had read the same book I did. I didn't even break a chuckle, finding instead a large amount of cynicism, retreads of ecological and Vietnam phrases that became trite long before this was published, a main character who entirely monopolizes the book (there is almost no conversation and darn little action), and a story line that very badly extrapolated the society trends of 1990. Certainly, Vonnegut's sharp tongue is present, ripping up academia (and their captive students) as we explore the benefits of prisons run by outsourced Japanese guards, the equivalency of loving and killing, television talk-shows, the mindless drive to wealth normally thought of as the American dream, and, yes, the whole Vietnam experience with his typical precision. But instead of these items being couched in a manner that would bring a smile and a chuckle (before the sharp stab of truth hits), the barbs are almost baldly presented, or driven by obvious situations and comparisons. And his patented time-slip style of narration is still present, but it no longer seems fresh. Perhaps what I missed the most in this work was the completely zany worlds that his characters in previous novels occupied inside their heads. This work seemed far too mundane and everyday. Perhaps I read this on a bad hair day, but for my money this is very minor Vonnegut. --- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
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