Hocus pocus by kurt vonnegut booksamillion online book. Hocus pocus 1997 read online free book by kurt vonnegut. Hocus pocus has 12 available editions to buy at half price books marketplace. Jay mcinerney, the new york times vonneguts best novel in yearsfunny and prophetic, yes, and fabulous too, as cunning as aesop and as gloomy as grimmhes up to something special in hocus pocus. Kurt vonneguts hocus pocus concerns the overthrowing of a prison by the largely black prison inmates and their subsequent attempt to form a free independent republic of former prisoners in the small college town adjacent to the prison which they overtake during their initial outbreak. As an example of the futility of peoples efforts to stop at least some of the trouble, the main character, eugene debs hartke, teaches at tarkington, a college at the end of one of the finger lakes in western new york. Vonnegut was covering a lot of ground with this novel. He was looking at issues of race, war, economics, politicis, education, money, culure, prison reform, ptsd.
Vonneguts novels, hocus pocus is a retrospective firstperson narrative in which several time and story lines gradually converge. Indeed vonneguts hocus pocus may seem controversial to some, for it talks about things that a large majority of americans would be more comfortable ignoring. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent the opinions or positions of the kurt vonnegut memorial library, its staff, or its management. After a prison break, he is mistaken for one of the ring leaders and ends up awaiting trial, dying of tb, contemplating his life and trying to count the number of women he has slept with. After you have read one of kurt vonneguts gleefully pessimistic novels, his words go on. If luck and time are the two prime movers of the universe, we are lucky in our time to have a kurt vonnegut to prod us, scold us, astonish us. Its whimsical, cynical, humorous, compassionate, psychologically and sociologically incisive, hyperrealistic in some respects and surrealistic in others, narrated by a male protagonist who is presumably a standin for vonnegut himself, and lamenting of how royally human beings fuck up anything they involve themselves in. Just as the main character, eugene debs hartke is fired from his teaching job for having overly pessimistic ideas, vonneguts book itself pulls americas skeletons out of its closet. From the new york times bestselling author of slaughterhousefive comes an irresistible novel that combines clever wit with keen social observation. May contain limited notes, underlining or highlighting that does affect the text.
Hocus pocus is a grim, depressing, yet terribly funny, fictional autobiography of general eugene debs hartke, a person who never masturbated and uttered neither blasphemy nor profanity in his life. The late john gardner called the novels of kurt vonnegut jr. Hocus pocus by kurt vonnegut overview from the author of timequake, this irresistible novel cleveland plain dealer tells the story of eugene debs hartke vietnam veteran, jazz pianist, college professor, and prognosticator of the apocalypse. Vonnegut enters the 90s with a satire that has both the savage bite and the sympathetic heart that first drew us to him. Hes a vietnam veteran, a jazz pianist, a college professor, and a prognosticator of.
Authors note on the illustrations for a man without a country, by kurt vonnegut a special message to readers of the franklin librarys signed first edition of. The main character tells his story in such a way that it doesnt seem to span 300 pages. Kurt vonnegut, hocus pocus told from the point of view of eugene debs, professor at tarkenton collegevietnam war vetprison warden outsider philosopher. Hocus pocus is the tenth book in rachels best vonnegut reading order. Hocus pocus is not only poignant and provocative, it is outrageous and very funny indeed. Hocus pocus takes on an absurdists perspective of human history. The sirens of titan 1959, mother night 1962, cats cradle 1963. In an editors note at the beginning of the book, vonnegut claims to have found. The book takes place at tarkington college where eugene has become a teacher. Protagonist eugene debs hartke, west point graduate, vietnam.
Hocus pocus is the story of eugene debs hartke, a vietnam veteran, who after leaving the army became a teacher at a private school and then a prison. Hocus pocus by kurt vonnegut, 9780099877103, download free ebooks, download free pdf epub ebook. Tongue in cheek and the comedy of reality give way to the problematic ways of life he is so good at communicating. Though the style of the book is difficult to get used to at first it tells a very interesting story of a vietnam war veteran, professor, and prison employee.
Now, being a kid from the 1980s when i saw hocus pocus i thought of the disney movie, in fact i thought this book might be novel version of the film, well, its not, and reading. It is told by one eugene debs hartke and purportedly written in prison on scraps of paper, each scrap a thought. Most had never been read and probably never would be read, so there was nothing to stop him from tearing out their. Kurt vonnegut 1990 hocus pocus ralph audiobook youtube. If luck and time are the two prime movers of the universe, we are lucky in our time to have a kurt vonnegut to prod us, scold us, astonish us, unnerve us, entertain us and make us laugh. Kurt vonnegut booklist kurt vonnegut message board. Hocus pocus is an often funny, broad and wideranging commentary on race, class, war and its aftermath, nationalism and provincialism, economics and education, ignorance and enlightenment. He wrote in a library housing some eight hundred thousand volumes of interest to no one else. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or. Buy this book while awaiting trial for an initially unspecified. Read hocus pocus by kurt vonnegut available from rakuten kobo. Eugene debs hartke is a vietnam veteran known as the preacher because he doesnt utter profanities.
Ive read hocus pocus, slaughterhouse5, mother night, cats cradle, breakfast of champions and armageddon in retrospect, so im thinking either sirens of titan or god bless you, mr rosewater. While i wasnt blown away by hocus pocus, it was moderately better than timequake. There were a lot of little punches by vonnegut, but none were knockouts. With hocus pocus he returns fullsize and industrial strength to the powers of his best early work. He was looking at issues of race, war, economics, politicis, education, money, culure, prison reform, ptsd, marriage, death, intimacy, and more. The life belongs to eugene debs hartke, soldierturnedteacher. Vonneguts latest is his most insistently antiwar novel since slaughterhousefive, and is haunted by vietnam. Hocus pocus by kurt vonnegut 1991, paperback for sale. Editors note the author of this book did not have access to writing paper of uniform size and quality.
Master of postmodern satire, kurt vonnegut jr patterns trajectories. Vonnegut, as usual, is very creative in more subtle ways. An army intelligence scout during the second world war, he was captured by the germans and witnessed the destruction of dresden by allied. Spine creases, wear to binding and pages from reading. Now, being a kid from the 1980s when i saw hocus pocus i thought of the disney movie, in fact i thought this book might be novel version of the film, well, its not, and reading it changed my life. I came upon kurt vonnegut is the most unusual way, i found hocus pocus in a box left in the attic from the previous tenant of a lake house in lincoln city, oregon. Hocus pocus by kurt vonnegut, 9780099877103, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Kurt vonnegut was born in indianapolis in 1922 and studied biochemistry at cornell university. A book and movie marathon to get you in the halloween spirit. His parents died in a freak accident in niagra falls without ever knowing what hit them. September 9, 1990, sunday, late edition final section 7. Eight of us met at the stupendous new vonnegut library to talk about kv s 1990 novel hocus pocus. Praise for hocus pocus hocus pocus is the most topical, realistic vonnegut novel to datehe is a satirist with a heart, a moralist with a whoopee cushion.
If luck and time are the two prime movers of the universe, we are lucky in our time to have a kurt vonnegut to prod us, scold us, astonish us, unnerve us, entertain us and make us. Bluebeard hocus pocus timequake appendix a special message to readers of the franklin librarys signed first edition of bluebeard four essays on artists origami express. Although it is set in the near future, hocus pocus is the most topical, realistic vonnegut novel to date, and shows the struggle of an artist a little impatient with allegory and more than a little impatient with his own country. Hocus pocus by kurt vonnegut seller rare book cellar published 1990 edition first edition.
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