Rating: 
Summary: Vonnegut's too old!!!!!!!!!
Review: But despite his age, the book is not all that bad. There's no rule that a writer has to go out swinging. Vonnegut does just the opposite. I look at this book for what it is; the nostalgic ramblings of an old man.
Rating:
Summary: ONLY Vonnegut Fanatics Need Apply
Review: Kurt Vonnegut is certainly in my mind, and in those of most objectionable readers, one of the 20th century's greatest writers. If you have not yet read anything of his, you should take time out now to do so. However, this book is radically different from just about anything else out there (even from Vonnegut) that I wouldn't recommend making it your first reading of KV. If you are new to the author I suggest rather something like Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse-Five. Timequake, however, is pure gold for the die-hard Vonnegut fanatic. It is written in a rather odd and unthinkably off-beat style, truly, as the book jacket claims, "a literary form such as the world has never seen." There is absolutely no plot whatsoever. And there's basically only one character. The vast majority of the book is, in fact, not fiction but personal ancedotes from the author. Vonnegut appears in the novel both as an autobiographical figure reciting reminisces from his past, and as a character in the novel placed in fictional situations. Obviously, this is by no means a conventionally written book. However, this can be tremendously rewarding for Vonnegut fans, because here we get to see a lot of his views on different issues, as well as see him disclosing quite a few events about his past (not that he hadn't done that before, but still.) Read this if you've already made a sizable chunk in the author's repetoire.
Rating:
Summary: Timequake: unorganized entertainment
Review: Timequake was the first book that I have read by Vonnegut. Timequake was well worth reading. I found it insightful and entertaining, all though it lacked a natural progression of plot. The book is written well, but it was hard to follow all of what was going on at times. Kurt skipped around along the timeline, from World War II on through the year 2001, which did not help the book advance. Vonnegut tells the stories of several different people, some real and some fictional, through out the novel. He also shares parts of his own life and his views on human existence in general. Vonnegut uses a universal chronological disturbance, the Timequake, as a center to the chaos of this book. He writes about the lives and times of some of the people involved in this curious event. The focus of Vonnegut's writing is a homeless author named Kilgore Trout. This story skips around a lot but it is enjoyable and well worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: The First Vonnegut Book I Didn't Finish
Review: Vonnegut seems to have lost the ability to juggle multiple narratives the way he once did so masterfully (see "The Sirens of Titan"). The result is a mishmash. He mourns the death of the short story as a literary form and gives that as his justification for the device of inserting his ideas for short stories into his novels. I've always enjoyed that device. But this is what happens when you take a short story (or more accurately, the bits and pieces of a short story) and mix it in a salad bowl with other ideas for a short story, along with some family reminiscences and your general cranky views of life. It starts nowhere, goes nowhere, and although I gave up on it about 3/4 of the way through, I'll bet my next paycheck that it arrives nowhere. If you decide to read this mess anyway, ask yourself what would have happened to the manuscript if it had originally arrived on a publisher's desk with your name on it instead of Vonnegut's.
Rating: 
Summary: Ting-a-ling!
Review: I found this book on a bargain bin and figured if I didn't like it, all I lost was five bucks. I'd never read Vonnegut before, although a friend gave me "Dead-Eye Dick" and suggested I read it. I never did. I was busy with Toni Morrison, Stephen King and other folks. I just finished Timequake and now I'm grateful that I own Dead-Eye Dick so I can immediately start on another Vonnegut book. Many authors are either great storytellers or great writers. When you discover one who's both, like Vonnegut, it's a great find! I loved Timequake and could hardly put it down. It also gave me insight on some of his other books, since Timequake also serves as a memoir.
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the quake?
Review: I kept waiting for the story to kick in and it never did. Along the way some very interesting comments on us earthlings and of course Vonnegut's view of death. That made it worth it for me - just about.
Rating:
Summary: Greatful to be alive...
Review: I listened to this audiobook on a long drive...and I'm greatful to be alive, but probably not in the sense you'd expect. Between road hypnosis and the drone of this book, I nearly fell asleep more than once. Disjointed, self-indulgent musings about family, life, death, religion and (oh yeah) the self-proclaimed not-good-enough-to-publish Timequake storyline make for a day at the insane asylum. If you into self-flagellation and you enjoy going to visit 80 year-old uncles who are happy to blather on in stream of consciousness while you're bound and gagged and bored silly, then this is the book for you. Attacted by the title, this was my first foray into Vonnegut and I was monumentally disappointed. It will be hard to pick up his other titles without the taste of this one in my mouth. Spit.
Rating:
Summary: Not typical Vonnegut, BUT A GREAT BOOK!
Review: This one is definitely not a bad one, READ IT! it has an interesting structure, plenty of humor, and most of all: wonderfully written stories.
Rating: 
Summary: More Memoir than Story, but still good
Review: The book is really more of his memoirs than a story, but he gives his thoughts and opinions on life, tells a little about his family and past, while story telling about a time quake in the life of Kilgore Trout. What is a time quake you ask. Its a phenomenon (in Vonnegut's imagination), whereby there is a quake in fabric of time and we jump back 10 years. The irony of it is that we must live through the past 10 years just as we did the first time with the joys and tragedies. Also, it is easy to attain atrophy since your future for the next several years is set in concrete. However, once out of the time quake period, its hard to get back in motion (lots of accidents and all). It's very interesting to learn about Vonnegut's past life (did you know he was once a Saab dealer) and family (older brother Bernard and older sister Ally both now deceased). Another interesting point in relation to when I read(heard) this story is that the time quake begins(or ends) on Feb 13, 2001, just 2 days before I listened to the story. Keep in mind, Vonnegut wrote this story in 1996 or so. This was cool since it was Feb 11, 2001! Anyhow, while I wouldn't consider this a good story like his other books (Sirens of Titan, Slaughter House 5, etc), for those Vonnegut fans out there, this is a good book to get insight into his life.
Rating:
Summary: More Memoirs than Story, but still good
Review: The book is really more of Vonneguts memoirs than a story, but he gives his thoughts and opinions on life, tells a little about his family and past, while story telling about a time quake in the life of Kilgore Trout. What is a time quake you ask. Its a phenomenon (in Vonnegut's mind), whereby there is a quake in fabric of time and we jump back 10 years. The irony of it is that we must live through the past 10 years just as we did the first time with the joys and tragedies. Also, it is easy to attain atrophy since your future for the next several years is set in concrete. However, once out of the time quake period, its hard to get back in motion (lots of accidents and all). It's very interesting to learn about Vonnegut's past life (did you know he was once a Saab dealer) and family (older brother Bernard and older sister Ally both now deceased). Another interesting point in relation to when I read(heard) this story is that the time quake begins(or ends) on Feb 13, 2001, just 2 days before I listened to the story. Keep in mind, Vonnegut wrote this story in 1996 or so. This was cool since it was Feb 11, 2001! Anyhow, while I wouldn't consider this a good story like his other books (Sirens of Titan, Slaughter House 5, etc), for those Vonnegut fans out there, this is a good book to get insight into his life.
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