Rating: 
Summary: Watching the master make his rounds
Review: Vonnegut's novels were never tightly plotted or dizzlingly complex, and ever since The Sirens of Titans there's been less and less plot. But what we've gotten is more and more Vonnegut, which has turned out to be a good thing. His latest and (he says) his last novel turns out to be a hodgepodge of random musings, Vonnegut family history lessons, irrelevant asides and once in a while something that touches on a story. And somehow it works. The premise is that Vonnegut was trying to write a novel about everyone in the world being thrown back ten years and then being forced to relive those ten years. After it's over and time runs normally again, everyone is so used to not having free will that they don't know what to do. But that idea didn't take off and so we have this. Toeing the line between fact and fiction (among the best is the meeting between Vonnegut and longtime alter ego Kilgore Trout), this novel is more about Vonnegut than any other novel previously. He talks about life in general, speaks bluntly and warmly of his family, both living and dead, all in his easily read style, which makes pages fly past as you read but somehow they still manage to stick in your head. Yeah, it's not the innovation of Slaughterhouse-Five and the cutting cynicism of the earlier novels has been replaced by a sort of contented cynicism, as if his bitterness has settled on him like a comfortable old skin. There's nothing new here that you couldn't find in his other novels (all of which are highly recommended), even the structure is reminiscent of Breakfast of Champions, but the presentation is what counts here and everything comes across so effortlessly that it's a joy just to watch him put the novel together, even when chapters race past that are really only barely connected strings of random thoughts. More importantly it made me laugh outloud in more than a few spots, made me think in others and in some places was actually genuinely touching, something that's been missing in some of his latter day novels. Overall it's a fine extension of his work and while not his best, it's a great way to get acquainted or reacquainted with an author who's done some of the finest fiction of the last fifty years. If you're just getting to know Vonnegut, there's plenty more where this came from, and if you're coming from a long time back, you'll find plenty here that's familiar, but just as rewarding.
Rating: 
Summary: a trip to Xanadu
Review: Don't be fooled by the title, "Timequake". At the most only one-forth of the book talks about the timequake that was "a cosmic charley horse in the sinews of Destiny." "Timequake" does not follow a plot that many readers are accustomed to. The book flips from subject to subject. In one chapter Vonnegut may be reflecting on his life and in the next chapter a story by Kilgore Trout may have Hitler yelling "Bingo" in his bombproof bunker near the end of WWII. The reoccurring theme of this book is the great writers' clambake of 2001 at the writers' retreat at Xanadu, to which the whole book leads up to. Here Kilgore Trout is celebrated not only for his works as science fiction writer, but also for his initiative of helping people overcome post-timequake apathy by spreading his creed: "You were sick, but now you're well again, and there's work to do." Vonnegut tells a compelling story about a bum that awakes the world from their "ten years on automatic pilot." Vonnegut ended his career just as he had begun it, by using nothing but "idiosyncratic arrangements in horizontal lines of twenty-six phonetic symbols, ten numbers, and maybe eight punctuation marks" to create a truly unique and unforgettable book. He shrugs off the idea that a book should have a plot, and responds "ting-a-ling."
Rating:
Summary: His best book hands down
Review: In this book, Vonnegut explores free will in a dark and humorous way that only he can. This may be a difficult read for many people, but it is well worth the effort. In fact, make sure you have a highlighter on hand as your read it, so you can go back later and find those wonderful nuggets of insight sprinkled throughout. As far as I am concerned, this is Vonnegut's best book.
Rating:
Summary: Enough
Review: A must for Vonnegut fans. Friendly, wise and cranky.
"What a language."
Rating: 
Summary: Middling Vonnegut.
Review: "Timequake" is, its author claims, the last "novel" he will write. If so, it's a respectable way to end his literary career. Not really a novel, "Timequake" is something of a memoir/social commentary mixed with short bits of fiction featuring everyone's favorite homeless SF writer, Kilgore Trout. Vonnegut looks back on his life, marriages, family and friends and the state of our modern world while using Trout to illustrate the incredible stupidity and self-destructive tendencies of mankind at large. Many of the stories are touching, as are the episodes featuring Trout. Several parts are laugh-out-loud funny. Vonnegut takes his by now familiar shots at greed, war, ecological destruction and meanspiritedness. There is a definite air of sadness that hangs over this book, but one has to admire the high polish and craftsmanship of Vonnegut's prose. He will be missed. Overall, "Timequake" is a quick, witty, satisfying read, though no "Slaughterhouse-Five" or "Sirens of Titan."
Rating:
Summary: Read his other stuff first then this is worth checking out
Review: This is his last, somewhat more bitter then usual. But you don't start by reading the last first! It's more for him and those interested personally in him then for someone looking for a piece of mainstream fiction.
Rating:
Summary: More autobiography than fiction
Review: Timequake is a book which ostensibly concerns a rerun in time between 1991 and 2001. Like other reviewers have observed, there's not a whole lot about the timequake in the book. Except for the recurrent theme of the clambake/cast party in 2001, there is hardly any plot, and except for the repeated commentaries of Kilgore Trout, we don't learn much about what happened during those ten years on automatic pilot. What we do learn an awful lot about is Vonnegut himself. We learn how he became a professional writer in the 1950s, we learn about his contemporary life as a famous writer in the Upper East Side of Manhattan circa 1996, and we get a fair amount of insight into the inner workings of Vonnegut's creative mind, through the narrative of his lecture at Butler University, his views on the writing process, and many of his other insights and beliefs. In the end, you're left with a book far better than anything my cat has ever drug in.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: This is almost like a sci fi book, but then again it is almost non fiction. This is by far 1 of the greatest books i have ever read by Kurt Vonnegut. I would say to you buy it or rent it or something just get it.
Rating: 
Summary: I have never had as many problems reading a book
Review: OK, I'll probably get lynched for this, but...I think this is the most disjointed work Vonnegut ever produced. I have never had a hard time finishing a book. This one took a laborous six months to complete. In my opinion, the book should have died on the writers block. Unfortunatly, I must give credit for one line, which is the reason I bought the book in the first place. "All people, living or dead, are purely coincidental" sums up the way I feel about the world most days. I will always love his classic works, my favorite two being "Slaughterhouse 5" and his short story "Harrison Bergeron". Leave this book alone and read some of his better stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Vonnegut has done MUCH Better
Review: Alright. I know that you think Vonnegut is the greatest writer in the universe. That all of his work is great. Well true he has a lot of great novels under his belt, but some novels just (...). When I got timequake i was really looking forward to it. I know Vonnegut to be great at Science Fiction. (see Sirens of Titan) But In this book he would be writing about Trout going around telling everyone they had free will again and they can be free (Of course happening when the post-timequake-apathy sets in) But then Vonnegut will go WAY off subject and tell us stories about his sister or brother or John Wilkes Booth, and then remember he was actually writing a novel which was supposed to have a plot. If you took out all these stories, you would have about ten pages about a timequake. Still I think this is mildly entertaining and is worth a read... but only when there is not a scrap of Vonnegut you have not read yet. The only reason it got published was because it is Vonnegut's last. And Let's all thank God for that. Hi-Ho.
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