Page Fou JH E M IC IG A D AI Y _ ___ ____ ___ _ Su day Oc ober 17, 197 Page Four IHE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, October 17, 1976 SUNDAY MAGAZINE BOOKS Vonnegut: Candid, but only up to a point SLAPSTICK by Kurt Vona too intimate with them to laugh, negut. New York: Delacorte without simultaneously feeling Press. 243 pp., $7.95. a distinct twinge of discomfort. Unfortunately however, Von-, By ELAINE FLETCHER - negut's latest, - Slapstick - YNE STRIKING aspect of fails to bring us close enough Kurt Vonnegut's best work to its main characters, Wilbur has been the mixture of pathos Rockefeller Swain, and his twin and comedy which character- sister, Eliza, for this mixture zed the antics of suchaheroes of the comic and the intimate to as Billy Pilgrim and Eliot be achieved. Rosewater. We laughed at their Instead we are treated to a stupidity, insanity, obesity, series of vignettes (this time poor skin and bad teeth. But they're in chronological order) Vonnegut never let us off with which serve as a skeletal out- just a simple guffaw. No, Billy line of the fantastic life of Wil- Pilgrim and all the rest were ' bur Swain, who is more than too human - or rather we were one hundred years old. Sort- ing through the bones of this president of the United States. sister, collecting candlesticks the book feeling that Vonne- ancient man's memories is an During his term the govern- and grunting an occasional "Hi gut's prime objective was to absorbing pastime. You see, ment falls apart, the country is ho". conclude as quickly as possi- Wilbur and his twin are both plagued by fluctuating levels of rTHE STORY follows in a long ble, with a minimum of effort Neanderthaloids - monster like gravity and millions of minia- tradition of Vonnegutesque and pain. humans, born of normal par- turized Chinese - who prove to social commentary on the staLe "This is what life feels like ents. The twins spend their be lethal to Americans that of humankind now, and in the to me," says Vonnegut in a' childhoods hidden away in Ver- inhale them. very near future. Although the prologue to his tale. But it is mont, assumed to be idiots. President Swain however, is one topical comment which difficult to feel any empathy When they put their minds to- preoccupied with carrying out stands out in this election year for Wilbur Swain, and the other gether, though, the two do the promise inherent in his is perhaps a mere coincidence. characters, because Vonnegut cerebral work worthy of a campaign slogan "Lonesome No Presidents Swain's plan to tells us very little about the genius. More" by giving every Ameri- rename everyone in America feelings, of these people wan- The twins eventually demon- j can an artificially extended meets with disapproval from the dering amid the ruins of New strate their unique mental abili- family of 190,000. He hands out first lady, Sophie Rothschild. York City. When he starts to ties to their parents and wind new middle names, which con- Says Swain, "I had to laugh get close, as he does in re- up being separated. Eliza is sist of a noun (animal, mineral, when she (Sophie) received a counting the "incestuous rela- committed to an mental insti- plant or vegetable) and a num- form letter from her president, tionship" of the two twins, we tution, and then dies on Mars. ber. Everyone with the same who happened to be me, which are torn away quickly. Meanwhile, Wilbur goes on to middle' name is related. Swain instructed her to stop being a Perhaps this detachment can Harvard med school, and spends the rest of his life trying; Rothschild. She was to become be at least partly explained by eventually becomes the last to make contact with his dead a Peanut-3 instead." a line in the prologue, in which "I'm a Peanut now," she Vonnegut says: "This is prob- said. "Peanuts live very close ably the closest I will ever LUNCH-DISCUSSION TUES., Oct. 19, noon to the ground. Peanuts are fa- come to writing an autobiogra- ,, ,, mous for being low. They are phy." China After Sao Tse Tung Ithe cheapest of the cheap, and , One could assume that the the lowest of the low." effort was a failure because Speaker, DR. ALLEN WHITING Although this sort of anec- Vonnegut is unable to reveal PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE dotal humor keeps the reader Vonnegut before the public eye AT THSE moving, - albeit rather halt- and shouldn't ever have iug - rn ou h h i talcI ha ri ed I EC UME CA E N 1 CA L CAM PU S C E NT E R 'igy°~ runte ae result is far from satisfactory. 921 CHURCH ;Characters weave in and out LUNCH (75c) is prepared'and served by ;like worn out light bulbs flick- Church Women United ering on and off. It is slapstick RESERVATIONS REQUESTED 662-5529 comedy, sureenough, and good entertainment. But one finishes departure H OWEVER the nature and book. In content of the prologue about a proves that Vonnegut can write which het autobiography, if he so chooses. to the fun This first chapter ik a radical cle in Ind 010 VQ 4 3')u J I- ANN ARBOR PUBLIC SC SURPLUS SA Desks-Cheap! Phonograph Typewriters-Cheap! Book Tables-Cheap! Furnitu Ann Arbor Airport Hangar Roa friday Oct. 15 and Saturday Oct. 16 9 from the rest of the IHis memories of this one it, Vonnegut talks event carry an undercurrent of real-life plane ride feeling completely lacking in took with his brother,jlater chapters. Perhaps his eral of a favorite un- words make such an impact be- ianapolis. cause we never really have heard before about Vonnegut the person. We have 'never heard Vonnegut discuss the word love - not, at least, in p tf. To I polite company or serious con- versation. Nor have we heard him talk about his uncle Alex, an athiest and founder of the Indianapolis chapter of Alco- hal Anonymous. Vonnegut as- I ures us that, "if Uncle Alex, the athiest, found himself standing before Saint Peter and the Pearly Gates after he died, I am certain he introduced 'himself as follows: "'Mvy name is Alex Vonne- gut. I'm an alcoholic.'" "Good' for him," comments Vonnegut. Of his real-life sister Alice, who died at 'age forty-one leav- ing four children parentless, Vonnegut has this comment: "Exhaustion, yes, and deep money worries, too, made her say toward the end that she guessed that she wasn't really 'HOOLS very good at life. Then again neither were Laurel and Hardy." The parallels between the ex- LE* periences Vonnegut outlines. in his prologue and those of the hs-Cheap mythical characters in the rest ks-Cheap! of Slapstick are obvious. But only in the prologue are emo- re-Cheap tions stirred. It seems that Vonnegut started out intending to write honest autobiographic- al material, but when it became WS M.too painful, he opted to lapse A.M . P into fantasy. In doing this, he put a distance between himself . and his audience. Mi I L al Am MONDAY- LASAGNA NIGHT All the Homemade Lasagna you can seat. Salad included. 35O TUESDAY- WEDNESDAY- TEMPURA NIGHT HADDOCK NIGHT All the 7-Vegetable and Rice Tempura you All the Flakey Fried Haddock you can eat . . can eat. Greek Salad included... includes Cole Slaw. $3.50 $3.50 THURSDAY- FRIDAY- PIZZA NIGHT CHICKEN NIGHT All the Pizza and Salad you can eat. All the Baked or Barbequed Chicken you can $2.25 eat. Served with Salad and Corn-on-the-Cob. $3.50 SATURDAY- SUNDAY- STEAK and SHELLS NIGHT TURKEY and DRESSING DAY A generous Top Sirloin Steak, served with all A Thanksgiving every week . .. with all the the Shells and Salad you can eat, trimmings $5.50 X5.25 ... ... ....:... ..........................................................r................. :yF:<;:8.....::ii :i iiii}}:}iii: ciate editor of the a, ine. 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