Timequake

By: Kurt Vonnegut

Narrated by: Arthur Bishop

From the beloved author of Slaughterhouse-Five an Cat's Cradle comes Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake--“Wry and trenchant...highly entertaining.”—The New York Times Book Review

According to Kurt Vonnegut's alter ego, the old science fiction writer Kilgore Trout, a global timequake will occur on February 13, 2001, at 2:27 p.m. It will be the moment when the universe suffers a crisis of conscience: Should it go on expanding indefinitely, or collapse and make another great big BANG? For its own cosmic reasons, it decides to back up a decade to 1991, giving the world a 10-year case of deja vu, making everybody and everything do exactly what they'd done during the past decade, for good or ill, a second time.

As a character in, and a brilliant chronicler of, this bizarre event, Kurt Vonnegut casts his wicked wit and his unique perspective on life as he lived it and observed it, for more than seventy years.

Typical wry and dark Vonnegut humor...

I've always enjoyed reading Vonneguts' prose and none of it ever disappoints. While the voice actor/readers voice is average at best, I enjoyed listening to his work read aloud for the first time. Wit, intelligence, excellent insight into the broad spectrum that is the condition of mankind. As his alter ego Kilgore Trout makes a welcomed appearance--you are brought along for an exceptional weaving of Vonneguts own history and life while at the same time experiencing "the time warp". Ting-a-ling you son-of-a-bitch... Ting-a-ling.

Not his best

Not his worst. If you love him ….well this book must have been what it was like to spend a few hours with KV on an afternoon as he got progressively drunker until it was time to eat dinner. Some fascinating stream of consciousness observations about language and love make this not a waste of time. Also incredibly prescient about automation and AI and the type of robotics that can make a craftsman want to give it all up. I mean all of it.

More of a series is essays than a novel

I picked this up expecting a novel, but I think I got something better. It’s more of a series of anecdotes, loosely strung together. I really like his wit and there was more than enough to make me smile. Might not be a good first book for those unfamiliar with Vonnegut, but you never know.

I love this man!

some books I wish they could go on for ever, and this is one of them

Ting-a-ling!

If this isn't nice, what is?

Vonnegut in fine form dazzling us while we contemplate deep questions and laugh at crude jokes. Brilliant.