Product Description

Slapstick presents an apocalyptic vision 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 Vonnegut’s pen into hilarious farce (a final slapstick that may be the Almighty’s joke on us all.)

“Vonnegut’s ongoing puppet show…that fabulous is reborn.”—John Updike

“Both funny and sad…just about perfect!”—Los Angeles Times

“Imaginative and hilarious…a brilliant vision of our wrecked, wacked-out future.”—Hartford Courant

*The New York Times

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15543 in Books
• Published on: 1999-05-11
• Released on: 1999-05-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Amazon.com Review
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.

Review
"Vonnegut's ongoing  puppet show. . .the fabulous is reborn."--John  Updike, The New Yorker.

"Imaginative and hilarious... a brilliant vision of  wrecked, wacked-out future!"  --Hartford Courant -- Review

Review
"Vonnegut's ongoing  puppet show. . .the fabulous is reborn."--John  Updike, The New Yorker.

"Imaginative and hilarious... a brilliant vision of  wrecked, wacked-out future!"  --Hartford Courant

Customer Reviews

not the right book for first time Vonegut readers
I didn't know what to expect because this was my very first time reading Kurt Vonnegut's work. I hated it. It seemed silly, pointless, and strange. I couldn't deal with it. I don't ever want to read Kurt Vonnegut ever again. It's not awful. It was a shock. I've never read anything like it before, and it doesn't gently ease you into it.

If you do read it, know that it's extremely quirky. If that's your style, go for it.

Slaptastic
Slapstick is a novel that can be misread on so many levels. Having read many of Vonnegut's works, it is obvious that he recycle themes, and even characters. However, the point that he is trying to ram home never diminishes. Unlike many post apocalyptic novels, this one is light-hearted, and the world does not seem much worse off than it was before. That is the real crux of this piece, that it is not the conditions of the society around us that determines happiness, but rather the value and condition of the PEOPLE we surround ourselves with. One reads Slapstick with the feeling that all Mr. Vonnegut was trying to get us to see is that we should "all treat each other with a little common decency".
The novel is set up as a memoir of the last president of the United States, and the voice of the persona is full of drool humor and classic Vonnegut dry wit. The nonfiction prologue at the being of the text also adds a whole new dimension to the piece, which I won't discuss here. I recommend reading the prologue after having read the novel. It might change the way you view the entire work.

Read over and over! Fascinating subjects! Utopian society!
This is the first Vonnegut book that I read. I am so glad I read this book. It got me hooked. I've read all of Vonnegut's work and it is brilliant! But this book has remained close to my heart, and my favorite. That's because of all the heartfelt convictions about family that Vonnegut writes about. His memoirs about his sister, are really sweet, and I can identify with his perspective, because I have a brother who I think is hilarious. I also really enjoyed the bit about how to make a Utopian society out of artificial families. This book is such an easy read, and every time I read it, I find new concepts and ideas that I didn't notice before. So funny I laugh out loud still reading some parts. Highly Recommended. -M. R. ;)