![]() Arthur is soon to become the last human left alive, so he is just going to have to make the best of things. Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' who, for the last 15 years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor. ![]() The book preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it. An array of misfits take us through some typical Vonnegut mayhem. Unfortunately, it is a chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. A scientist invents 'ice-nine' because a general is tired of soldiers' boots getting muddy. Vonnegut takes aim at science and religion in this side-splitting satire. Not exactly intellectual fare, but absolutely loads of fun. He goes about conning humans, aliens and mechs, while taking on a sinister woman who is building the ultimate battleship. The obvious thing to do with a man of such immense talent is to make him a cop. The first of a much-loved sequence, Slippery Jim diGriz is the Galaxy's smoothest con-man. He survives flying into a chrono-synclastic infundibulum and founds the Church of God the Utterly Indifferent. The richest, most depraved man on Earth is offered a chance to take a space journey to distant worlds with a beautiful woman at his side. Jam-packed with many of Vonnegut's trademark devices - like mock religions, multi-temporal viewpoints and the manipulative Tralfamadorians. Kornbluth died before his time, but for a while was the crackling wit behind Pohl’s leftism. A copywriter is assigned to convince volunteers to colonise the hellhole that is Venus. Giant advertising agencies dominate the world, go to war with each other, and use drugs and ad-propaganda to turn us into mindless pulp. Inspired by Vonnegut's time working for General Electric.Ī good old-fashioned leftist attack on the shortcomings of capitalism. The rest of us are 'Reeks & Wrecks' just waiting for the revolution. Society is run by the few people who have real jobs. Vonnegut's hilarious first novel has been rediscovered in the wake of his current cult-icon status. Self-described socialist hits us with another dose of wry social commentary.
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