Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut is a novel about Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain, the last president of the United States. It is about his life as a child, the relationship he had with his sister, and the life he is living now. Slapstick is an apocalyptic satire with a strong focus on intelligence, naivety, politics, and discoveries. Although Vonnegut blatantly exaggerates details throughout this story, he does not cease to leave his readers with a jaw dropped.

Slapstick is the first novel by Vonnegut that I have read. I will admit to having done little research about his work before I purchased this novel and went solely on the words of my professor that Kurt Vonnegut is an excellent writer.

I agree that he writes beautifully, and this novel has one of the best prologues I have ever read, but I did not enjoy this story. I wish I had begun with a different work of Vonnegut’s. I had intentions of beginning with Slaughterhouse-Five, but there were no copies the day I had gone to the store. Since I’d heard great things, I thought it didn’t matter where I began with his work.

Typically, I do not read reviews of novels too thoroughly until I’ve completed the book to avoid spoilers. But, I couldn’t help looking at some while I was reading. After reading several reviews, I learned that Slapstick might be Vonnegut’s worst story. Yet, regardless of how much readers disliked the story, they still awarded it five stars simply because he wrote it.

However, having little experience with Vonnegut, I have to award this novel three stars. For his writing and his prologue, I felt that this was the proper rating for this story. I docked two stars because I did not enjoy the plot of this story and found this story hard to get through. I intend on trying something else of his in the future. I recommend if it is your first experience with Vonnegut to start with a different story.

As always, thanks for reading! 💜

★★★☆☆