Well this was a fun one! I was looking forward to Cat's Cradle and it didn't disappoint. I had read a little bit of Vonnegut before - just Slaughterhouse Five and Mother Night. But there is always the possibility that a book by an author you had heretofore liked will turn out to be lousy. But this was not the case.
I don't want to say much about the plot because the plot kind of sneaks up on you in this book. It was what I liked most about it. I also loved the format of having a ton of very short chapters that have evocative titles. And I hated the idea of Mona until chapter 93 when I found out that she was not at all what she seemed. But mostly, this is a book of men, men, men, men.
Vonnegut is in the category of writers that I call "The-writers-who-were-enjoyed-by-the-pretentious-boyfriends-of-my-youth". These writers are actually fascinating and I try to keep the origins of my interest in them in a separate locked portion of my brain and enjoy them on their own merits. They include, but are not limited to: Thomas Pynchon, T.C. Boyle, Hunter S. Thompson, Lester Bangs, Tom Robbins, Jack Kerouac and Graham Greene. Okay, I am just kidding about Graham Greene - but he is a really good writer, too. All of these writers are fascinating and different from each other and different from anyone else you may have read. If you like Vonnegut and you are looking for something unusual - give one of those guys a try.
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