Cat's Cradle: A Novel

Front Cover
Random House Publishing Group, Nov 4, 2009 - Fiction - 304 pages
“A free-wheeling vehicle . . . an unforgettable ride!”—The New York Times 

Cat’s Cradle
is Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet’s ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist, a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer, and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat’s Cradle is one of the twentieth century’s most important works—and Vonnegut at his very best.

“[Vonnegut is] an unimitative and inimitable social satirist.”—Harper’s Magazine

“Our finest black-humorist . . . We laugh in self-defense.”—Atlantic Monthly
 

Contents

THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED
1
LETTER FROM A PREMED
8
THE ILLUSTRIOUS HOENIKKERS
18
15
32
18
39
21
47
24
52
AND DRAFT DODGERS
118
LIKE MY PREDECESSORS I OUTLAW BOKONON
225
ENEMIES OF FREEDOM
227
A MEDICAL oPINION ON THE EFFECTS OF A WRITERS STRIKE
230
SULFATH AZOLE
232
PA INKILLER 2 35
237
FEAST YOUR EYES
239
FRANK TELLS US WHAT TO DO
240
FRANK DEFENDS HIMSELF
242

MEANINGLESS
168
THE BREAKEVEN POINT
185
TWO LITTLE JUGS
191
THE CUT OF MY JIB
194
WHY FRANK couldNT BE PRESIDENT
197
DUFFLE
199
ONLY ONE CATCH
201
MONA
203
ON THE POETS CELEBRATION OF HIS FIRST BOKOMARU
205
HOW ALMOST LOST MY MONA
206
THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN
210
SEE THE HOOK
212
BELL Book AND CHICKEN IN A HATBox
213
THE STINKING CHRISTIAN
216
LAST RITES 2 19
218
DYOT MEET MAT
220
DOWN THE OUBLIETTE GOES FRANK
223
THE FOURTEENTH Book
244
TIME OUT
248
HISTORY
250
WHEN FELT THE BULLET ENTER MY HEART
252
AS IT HAPPENED
257
THE GRAND AHWHooM
261
THE IRon MAIDEN AND THE oUBLIETTE
264
MonA THANKS ME
267
To whom IT MAY conce RN
270
AM slow To Answer
273
THE Swiss FAMILY RoBinson
275
of McE AND MEN
276
FRANKs Ant FARM
279
THE TASMANIANS
282
soft PIPES PLAY on
285
THE END
286
Copyright

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About the author (2009)

Kurt Vonnegut’s humor, satiric voice, and incomparable imagination first captured America’s attention in The Sirens of Titan in 1959 and established him as “a true artist” (The New York Times) with Cat’s Cradle in 1963. He was, as Graham Greene declared, “one of the best living American writers.” Mr. Vonnegut passed away in April 2007.

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