content: Of all the books in Vonnegut's body of work, this provides the bottom of the barrel. If one is to grant that each book is a mirror of where he was at in his life, it's safe to say this was a bottoming point before he was able to reflect upon it with a smirk. The miserable moments provide neither glimmers of hope nor wistful pronouncements of ironic futility. For fans, it's a must read because hr wrote it, but don't expect what you felt with "Bluebeard," "Breakfast of Champions," or "Mother Night."