Slapstick or Lonesome No More!: A Novel
by Kurt Vonnegut
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Book Summary Information
Author: Kurt VonnegutEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-05-11
ISBN: 0385334230
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
Book Reviews of Slapstick or Lonesome No More!: A Novel
Book Review: Slapstick Slaps You in the Funny Bone
Summary: 5 Stars
So, I just got back from the hospital after I busted a gut. Okay, that was bad, but Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick was really good. In fact, it was wonderful! From page one I was hooked and I was pulled into a strange new world only a genius like Vonnegut could create. This fantastic story is told by the point of view of Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain, who now lives in the lobby of the ruined Empire State building and is writing down his story. The rest of the world is in ruin, brought down by the Albanian flu and divided.
This book is chock full of humor and satire, the story revolving about Wilbur's life: first growing up in his twisted household, then running for president, and finally living out his days in insanity. Throughout the book, Wilbur's senility is blatant as he involuntarily hiccups the words "Hi ho" throughout the book. Fear not, it doesn't get old after the first page; if anything, it adds to the light humor and satire.
In the beginning of the novel, Wilbur tells us about his odd upbringing, along with his even odder (if not unorthodox) relationship with his sister. He is considered the ugliest man alive (No, I don't consider an amazing amount of body hair and a cave-man like appearance attractive either).
The supporting characters in this book only add to the creative and wonderful insanity of Vonnegut's work. Wilbur's sister is completely and utterly insane, though sometimes she comes across as the sanest character. She is sometimes the only one to tell the truth, to show us the world for what it really is. When Wilbur professes his love for his sister, she replies with an all too real, yet disturbing response:" `It's as though you were pointing a gun at my head,' she said. `It's just a way of getting somebody to say something they probably don't mean. What else can I say, or anybody say, but, `I love you, too'?'"
Wilbur's mother and father are almost unwilling parents, but provide only the best for their disturbingly grotesque children. In the later years of Wilbur's life, the insanity seems to creep up to the older generations of the Swain family. His mother becomes as certifiable as her daughter, giving way to some of the more hilarious and thought provoking moments.
In Vonnegut's style of writing, he introduces so much so well, I could barley even try to explain it to you in this, or any paragraph. So, we move on again, or as Wilbur writes "and time flew." While Vonnegut goes into much detail about other topics, the only thing he can say about Wilbur running for president is that, well, one day he finds himself running for president. During his presidency, Wilbur creates artificial families using made up middle names and numbers, encounters the now microscopic Chinese, and watches as the world falls to the prey of the Albanian flu.
The only beef that a reader may have with Vonnegut and this book Slapstick is the vulgarity he uses. Although you don't know exactly what he is writing about some of the time, he sort of gives the novel a romantic twist and a sarcastic undertone that will really draw you in. Really, if there ever was a writer to be called the greatest, Vonnegut would be that one. I strongly recommend this book (to anyone over the age of thirteen, that is). This book is hilarious and thought provoking, and a wonderful read. So, go with it and enjoy.
Hi ho.
Summary of Slapstick or Lonesome No More!: A Novel
Slapstick presents an apocalyptic vision as seen through the eyes of the current King of Manhattan (and last President of the United States), a wickedly irreverent look at the all-too-possible results of today?s follies. But even the end of life-as-we-know-it is transformed by Kurt Vonnegut?s pen into hilarious farce?a final slapstick that may be the Almighty?s joke on us all.Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain, centenarian, the last President of the United States, King of Manhattan, and one-half (along with his sister, Eliza) of the most powerful intelligence since Einstein, is penning his autobiography. He occupies the first floor of a ruined Empire State Building and lives like a royal scavenger with his illiterate granddaughter and her beau. Buffeted by fluctuating gravity, the U.S. has been scourged by not one, but two lethal diseases: the Green Death and the Albanian Flu. Consequently, the country has fallen into civil war. (Super-intelligent, miniaturized Chinese watch the West self-destruct from the sidelines.) Swain stayed at the White House until there were no citizens left to govern, then moved to deserted New York City, where he writes a thoughtful missive before death.
In Slapstick, Vonnegut muses on war, man's hubris, and the awful, crippling loneliness humans are freighted with--but, miraculously, the book still manages to delight and amuse. Absurd, knowing, never depressing, Slapstick kindles hope--for the possibility of wisdom, perhaps; for human resiliency, surely.
It's best to end with a quote from the prologue wherein the author discourses on The Meaning of It All, or at least This Book: "Love is where you find it. I think it is foolish to go off looking for it, and I think it can often be poisonous.
I wish that people who are conventionally supposed to love each other would say to each other, when they fight, 'Please--a little less love, and a little more common decency.'"
Amen.
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