r
Vonnegut bids
fare well to
'selfishness'
books
book reviews
By Bruce Nelson
Breakfast of Champions or Goodbye Blue
Monday, by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is 50, according to, him
Breakfast of Champions is "the last of his selfishness
books."
To stifle .s selfishness, he bids farewell to all the
characters he's created, and takes a final potshot at
everything from Vietnam to coal mines.
Supposedly the story is about Dwayne Hoover, a
Pontiac dealer, and Kilgore Trout, a science fiction
writer. Hoover lives in Midland City. Trout is
hitchhiking there for an arts festival where he will be
an honored guest.
Hoover is going crazy, and Trout is going to give
him information that will push Hoover into insanity.
The information is in a story Trout has written in
which he states that everyone is a machine except the
reader. 'n,r
Hoover reads the story and decides to assert his
free will by beating up some machines (people). The
book ends with Hoover locked up and Trout
becoming famous.
Vonnegut tells almost all of this in the first
chapter, so the reader won't have to pay attention to
the plot. That way the reader can turn his attention
to Vonnegut's summary of all that's good and bad
about the earth.
Vonneaut's constant moralizing falls short.
Sometimes only his humor keeps the reader reading.
His ideas are good, but are becoming stale.
Champions won't hurt Vonnegut's following, but
won't win him any new disciples either.
Confessions of a Hope Fiend by Timothy Leary.
Confessions of a Hope Fiend reveals Timothy
Leary as a sensitive person.
The book is an account of Leary's 1970 conviction
for possession of drugs, his appeals and his escape
from prison with the help of the Weathermen, a
radical, leftist group.
The book details his search for refuge in Algeria
and his association with black radical Eldridge
Cleaver. Leary ends the book by explaining his
growing dissatisfaction with the Black Panthers,
another radical group, and his subsequent move to
Switzerland.
Leary isn't a writer and doesn't profess to be one.
He begins his story in a stream-of-consciousness style
that he finally abandons, probably because he handles
it badly. He then simply tells his story.
Leary's opinions of the Weathermen and Cleaver
make the book interesting and provide perspectives
one doesn't get from CBS or Soul on Ice Cleaver's
autobiography.
Personal opinions about Leary aside, the book is
sincere writing and interesting reading.
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Tfifjio ore times when
(jlnsv.'s cciti (jet in the wciy of
(j meaningful interpersonal
relationship. So maybe your
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at all. Contact lenses might
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Visit us soon and find
out fiow easy it can be to
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After tfiat, it's up to you.
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A memhei of the ( )pli ion', Av.o'nilion ol Aiiirnci
J
Lincoln: 1324 "O" St. 432-9652 840 N. 48th St. 466-1924
Wednesday, September b, 1973
d.iily nubruskan
parje 7