Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut * pb 1991

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Item specifics - Fiction Books

Author:	Kurt Vonnegut Jr.	Format:	Paperback
Publisher:	Berkley Pub Group	ISBN-10:	0425130215
Edition Description:	Reprint	ISBN-13:	9780425130216
Subject:	Literature, Modern	Publication Year:	1991
Topic:	--	Special Attributes:	--
Language:	--	Condition:	Very Good

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Detailed item info

Synopsis
Though HOCUS POCUS continues to riff on Kurt Vonnegut's favorite themes--the breakdown of society, the inexorable doom of mankind, and the pathetic comedy of life on Earth--it stands out from the majority of his work in that it utilizes fewer fantastical and science-fictional elements to deliver its hilariously cynical judgment on civilization and the human race. The novel's protagonist and narrator, Eugene Debs Hartke, is imprisoned. Writing on random scraps of paper, he simultaneously tells his life story and reveals his philosophy. A Vietnam veteran with countless deaths to his name, Hartke returns to the United States in the 1960s and gets a job in upstate New York teaching the mentally disabled children of the rich. However, after he tells them to expect only failure in their lives, he is fired, and finds work at the nearby Japanese-owned all-black prison. There, he teaches English, which only leads to an increase in anti-Semitism and masturbation. Finally, the convicts escape and wreak bloody havoc on the nearby school--all of which is blamed on Hartke. Typically of Vonnegut's fiction, the tone is light and witty, but the subject matter is viciously pessimistic. Since HOCUS POCUS moves the closest to reality of any of Vonnegut's works, it is liable to disappoint fans of his more outlandish conceits, but appeal to those who have always craved more substance to his pyrotechnical imagination.
Size
Height:	6.8 in.
Width:	4.3 in.
Thickness:	1.0 in.
Weight:	5.6 oz.

Publisher's Note
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.
Industry reviews
"...The most richly detailed and textured of Mr. Vonnegut's rendering of this particular planet." New York Times Book Review - Jay McInerny (09/09/1990)

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Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut

Product Category: Books > Fiction
Berkley, 1991
Softcover
324 pages

This book is in excellent condition, from a smoke-free home. The pages are clean and the binding is tight. The cover shows minimal wear. The spine is slightly creased.

From Publishers Weekly
While awaiting trial for an initially unspecified crime, Vietnam vet and college professor Eugene Debs Hartke realizes that he has killed exactly as many people as he has had sex with, a coincidence that causes him to doubt his atheism. According to PW , "The cumulative power of the novel is considerable, revealing Vonnegut at his fanciful and playful best."

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"Hilariously cynical judgment on civilization."