Hocus Pocus
by Kurt Vonnegut

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Book Summary Information

• ISBN13: 9780425130216
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of Hocus Pocus

Book Review: A Non-Magical Trip to Prison?
Summary: 2 Stars

The various praises of this book, liberally sprinkled on the back cover and the opening few pages, call this 'Hilarious', 'Sharp-toothed satire - absurd humor' 'Comic', '...a scream'. From these comments, I was all set for another Slaughterhouse Five, but when I finished this I wondered if these book reviewers had read the same book I did. I didn't even break a chuckle, finding instead a large amount of cynicism, retreads of ecological and Vietnam phrases that became trite long before this was published, a main character who entirely monopolizes the book (there is almost no conversation and darn little action), and a story line that very badly extrapolated the society trends of 1990.

Certainly, Vonnegut's sharp tongue is present, ripping up academia (and their captive students) as we explore the benefits of prisons run by outsourced Japanese guards, the equivalency of loving and killing, television talk-shows, the mindless drive to wealth normally thought of as the American dream, and, yes, the whole Vietnam experience with his typical precision. But instead of these items being couched in a manner that would bring a smile and a chuckle (before the sharp stab of truth hits), the barbs are almost baldly presented, or driven by obvious situations and comparisons. And his patented time-slip style of narration is still present, but it no longer seems fresh. Perhaps what I missed the most in this work was the completely zany worlds that his characters in previous novels occupied inside their heads. This work seemed far too mundane and everyday.

Perhaps I read this on a bad hair day, but for my money this is very minor Vonnegut.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

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