Review: 'Slapstick' by Kurt Vonnegut

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

'Slapstick' by Kurt Vonnegut, 274 pages - Instagram @c_reads_books

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Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut tells a story through the eyes of Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain, the current King of Manhattan and last President of the United States. Telling his life story chronologically, Wilbur starts by describing his odd childhood, in which he lived with his twin sister in Vermont, where they would put the two halves of their brains together. They came up with plans on every topic, including giving everyone in America new middle names, creating large extended families. When the children’s parents found out that they were more intelligent than they believed beforehand, the pair became separated. Wilbur narrates the remainder of the novel with the rest of his life story, eventually leading to how he became the King of Manhattan and the King of Candlesticks.

I absolutely loved this book. Vonnegut is, and always will be, my favorite author, and his novels (and short stories) never fail to reach the high expectations I have for him. Like every piece of Vonnegut’s writing, Slapstick is hilarious, thought-provoking, satiric, and ridiculous at all of the best times. What I especially enjoyed about this book was that, as Vonnegut writes in the prologue, this is the closest he ever came to writing an autobiography. I love that he decided to not only write a prologue, but also to include that statement. It definitely made me look at the book differently and gain more insight into Vonnegut as a person, as well as just generally get more out of reading the novel, as compared to if he hadn’t included the prologue. As always, I would recommend this book (and anything/everything by Vonnegut) to anyone who likes a great story that is guaranteed to make you laugh!