Product Description

A small, exclusive college in upstate New York is nestled along the frozen shores of Lake Mohiga . . . and directly across from a maximum-security prison. The two institutions manage to coexist peacefully, until 10,000 prisoners break out and head directly for the college. "Sharp-toothed satire . . . absurd humor."--San Francisco Chronicle. HC: Putnam.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28946 in Books
• Published on: 1997-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Among the most original stylists in America today, Vonnegut vents his disgust and moral outrage with government and humanity and the entire universe in yet another scathing social/political/philosophical satire. Set in the year 2001, but jumping over the last half of the 20th century, Hocus Pocus takes on an absurdist's perspective of human history. Protagonist Eugene Debs Hartke, West Point graduate, Vietnam vet, college professor, educator of the disabled and the illiterate, is awaiting trial for a crime initially unspecified. Until this time, Hartke has diligently and good-naturedly participated in whatever was expected of him, including involvement in the evacuation of American personnel from Saigon. At one point, however, he calculates the remarkable fact that he has killed exactly as many people as he has had sex with, a coincidence that causes him to doubt his atheism. The narrative is composed of short takes in which Hartke's thoughts skip between the inconsequential and the profound, giving Vonnegut occasion to interject interesting tidbits of information, scientific and historical and otherwise. The cumulative power of the novel is considerable, revealing Vonnegut at his fanciful and playful best. First serial to Penthouse; BOMC selection; QPB featured alternate.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Kurt Vonnegut is the author of fourteen novels, as well as a collection of stories and three books of nonfiction. He lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Hilarious and thought-provoking
Though not his best work, and not what I would recommend to the uninitiated Vonnegut fan, this book is well worth the price and an excellent read. I could hardly put it down. My recommendation: order every book he published and read them all. Then, wait a year and read them again.

Not for people who don't like to think
There's so much more to this book than meets the eye. I love books that don't insult my intelligence. Once again, Vonnegut is brilliant!

A Good Read
Hocus Pocus, with it's lack of dialog and slow build-up, may be difficult for many to get through. For these reasons I don't give it a perfect review, but I don't think that should stop anyone from picking it up. I actually liked the fact that it was meatier than most Vonnegut novels, which are usually short and concise. This allows Hocus Pocus to have a depth to it which is more reminicent of BlueBeard or Player Piano than his more famous works like Cat's Cradle and Slaughter-House Five. The downside to this is that the main theme is mixed in with all the less relevent social commentary and many people who posted very critical reviews of this book seem to have misunderstood the book to be a hodgepodge of satire rather than having a focussed theme. Yes, Vonnegut criticizes outsourcing, war, prison overpopulation, blind patriotism, and myriad other issues, but they all relate in some way to the issue of social classes. The irony of the college Hartke works for is that, despite 100% of the student population being unqualified for a higher education, their wealthy parents manage to buy them a degree. Meanwhile, there is a prison across the lake which is overpopulated with prisoners who have more potential to learn than any of the college students, but because higher education in America is a thing that is bought, rather than earned, the wealthy learning disabled receive certification.

All the minor themes in some way build upon the theme of an American aristocracy. Hartke's time in Vietnam emphasizes how we send our poor to fight our wars, outsourcing is brought up because it's the wealthy who neglect the American worker for the sake of saving money, and Hartke is fired for a lack of patriotism because questioning the system is a threat to the American ruling class. If you think this is a disorganized novel then you aren't putting the pieces of the puzzle together. It's a great novel, and for a lower-middle class American college student who's up to his eyeballs in debt to pay for an education, like myself, it's strikes a very personal note. For all those who criticize Hocus Pocus for being too drawn out and slow paced, I wonder how they could ever get through Dickens or Fitzgerald. Hocus Pocus is drawn out by Vonnegut standards, not literary standards.