I wish I had read this before reading A Man Without A Country. ( )

I wish I had read this before reading A Man Without A Country. ( )

Vonnegut's last "novel" though there's only fragments of story line. Like Barry Malzberg's Galaxies, this is a book about trying and failing to write an SF novel, the main character of which is Kilgore Trout, whom he "released" as a character in Breakfast of Champions. In the opening pages, Vonnegut says he is no longer capable of writing stories that go somewhere and reach a conclusion. That's sort of true but the book does conclude at an organic stopping point.

Timequake is also a collection of notes towards an autobiography, particularly about all the people in his life, and how many of them died. I happened to read this while watching the documentary "Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time" on Hulu, and I strongly recommend doing them in parallel. 3/4 novel, 3/4 movie, then novel end, then movie end. Things dovetail and reinforce each other quite nicely.

Recommended for anyone who liked Vonnegut but gave up after the classic early novels -- especially if accompanied by the documentary. ( )

Ranty in a chummy way. Mournful, for reasons outlined in the text. As depressing as it is slightly upbeat. It's the end, and he can't make more of things than they are. And he's right -the era of the novel is over. Slightly reminicscent of Phillip K Dick's "Counter Clock World". It does pick up pace as it goes along. I'd be inclined to categorize it as completist reading, unless you're a fan of his essays and short humor pieces. Probably not a good book for someone in the process of suicide ideation. He did make an attempt in real life and it is alluded to here. ( )

Too convoluted for me ( )