Deadeye Dick: A Novel
by Kurt Vonnegut
List Price:
Our Price: $8.48
You Save: $6.52 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.37 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Kurt VonnegutEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-05-11
ISBN: 0385334176
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
Book Reviews of Deadeye Dick: A Novel
Book Review: Read it before your peephole closes...
Summary: 4 Stars
Sadly, Kurt Vonnegut's peephole closed in 2007, 84 years after it opened in 1922. No more Kurt. Or, to borrow yet another phrase from "Deadeye Dick," his 10th novel, he became an "innocent undifferentiated wisp of nothingness." Whether that actually happened, only he can say. In any case, these and other famous Vonnegut euphemisms ("so it goes," "the Big Black," etc.) somehow help take the sting out of our ordinary notions of death without removing any of its angst-ridden implications. Perhaps one of his greatest contributions was helping to make non-existence palatable to the masses. If so, what an ineffable gift. But maybe non-existence is funny? Or, to quote the ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzu, who sometimes sounds Vonnegetian, "Maybe death will be so great we'll regret having ever lived?"
Rudolph, or Rudy, Walz, also known as "Deadeye Dick," the novel's narrator, regrets living. He regrets it so much he forswears physical pleasure as a "neuter." After accidentally killing a pregnant woman by firing a rifle from the cupola of his house, his guilt overwhelms him. Particularly when his eccentric father, a once friend of Hitler, takes all of the blame. The two become immediate outcasts in the small town of Midland City, Ohio, succumb to a fair amount of police brutality, and then lose everything in litigation. Along the way Rudy writes a play, "Katmandu," so appallingly bad that he's barred from the theater. In response to his father's insistence that the family has not one nanoparticle of artistic talent, Rudy abandons his dream of the writing life and becomes a pharmacist. His overachieving brother becomes the head of NBC and marches through a litany of wives, the first of which he marries because he accidentally throws her through a windshield. Eventually he falls from grace and dignity. Meanwhile, the most beautiful girl in town, Celia Hoover, destroys her sanity with pharmaceuticals, which leads Rudy to muse that "the late twentieth century will go down in history, I'm sure, as an era of pharmaceutical buffoonery." Not only that, his mother dies from overexposure to a radioactive fireplace, and the population of Midland City gets decimated by a neutron bomb, though this doesn't affect the buildings. In essence, it's depopulated. Rudy and his now somewhat more sedate brother relocate to the Hotel Oloffson in Haiti, from which Rudy narrates his desultory tale. The book then closed in an open ended manner. No gestalt. Still, it does contain one of his most memorable closers, in spite of it seeming a little tacked on: "The Dark Ages - they haven't ended yet."
Vonnegut's novels are usually hard to summarize, but "Deadeye Dick" defies any attempt whatsoever. From ten thousand feet, it looks as though the novel's facile storyline exists merely as a framework for Vonnegut's observations on life and society. Calling it a first person character study does it more justice, as plot seems a mere tertiary concern throughout. Rudy's character, his upbringing, and his life's mistakes stay center stage. This does provide Vonnegut with a good vehicle to muse about confusing aspects of modern existence. The book is absolutely packed with these. As such, those who prefer Vonnegut's commentary over his storytelling will revel in Rudy's ruminations. Perhaps "Deadeye Dick" was an experiment of sorts, which may help explain why some readers love it while others loathe it. It does not stand amongst his absolute best work, but Vonnegut fans will bask in every page nonetheless. Read it before your peephole closes.
Summary of Deadeye Dick: A Novel
Deadeye Dick is Kurt Vonnegut?s funny, chillingly satirical look at the death of innocence. Amid a true Vonnegutian host of horrors?a double murder, a fatal dose of radioactivity, a decapitation, an annihilation of a city by a neutron bomb?Rudy Waltz, aka Deadeye Dick, takes us along on a zany search for absolution and happiness. Here is a tale of crime and punishment that makes us rethink what we believe . . . and who we say we are.Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowningby Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.70
Price in other shops:
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towersby J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Marsby Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
Hocus Pocusby Kurt Vonnegut
Berkley Trade; Published: 1997-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.84
Price in other shops:
Player Piano: A Novelby Kurt Vonnegut
Dial Press Trade Paperback; Published: 1999-01-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.47
Price in other shops:
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: A Novelby Kurt Vonnegut
Dial Press Trade Paperback; Published: 1998-09-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.44
Price in other shops:
Timequakeby Kurt Vonnegut
Berkley Trade; Published: 1998-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.49
Price in other shops:
Jailbird: A Novelby Kurt Vonnegut
Dial Press Trade Paperback; Published: 1999-01-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops:
Mother Night: A Novelby Kurt Vonnegut
Dial Press Trade Paperback; Published: 1999-05-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.19
Price in other shops:
Galapagos: A Novel (Delta Fiction)by Kurt Vonnegut
Dial Press Trade Paperback; Published: 1999-01-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Bluebeard: A Novel (Delta Fiction)by Kurt Vonnegut
Dial Press Trade Paperback; Published: 1998-09-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.90
Price in other shops:
Slapstick or Lonesome No More!: A Novelby Kurt Vonnegut
Dial Press Trade Paperback; Published: 1999-05-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.40
Price in other shops:
The Sirens of Titan: A Novelby Kurt Vonnegut
Dial Press Trade Paperback; Published: 1998-09-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.48
Price in other shops: