I agree with the reviewers who feel thatthis book Should be ranked higher in the Vonnegut canon. It has a lot to say, Often having to do with Vonnegut's Preoccupations with the nature of time, and class, but you can approach it in a number of ways, all with some benefit. What I mean by the title of this review, is something Vonnegut does Often here, Which sometimes is reminiscent of his character Billy Pilgrim. He explores the meaning of the word "punctual" in the sense of "existing at a point", as a way of looking at points in time. When someone speaks a truth, Rumfoord will appear, and ruefully observe thatthis person has indeed uttered a truth, but "oh, what a punctual truth", this meaning did the truth spoken will rarely hold up under the perspective afforded by a long overview of time, or in Rumfoord's case, the perspective of actual eternity. The savage dog Kazak is here, so if you are a fan of his from "Breakfast of Champions" or elsewhere, you will not be disappointed. I am depressed about Vonnegut's rendering of Rumfoord, the quintessential upper-class guy, with a very well-Depicted upper-class voice, as seeking a hero. Speaking as an American, It Seems To Me That Malachi Constant Should be more the hero here, as I suppose he is, but in a very tragicomic way. I guess Rumfoord does not end up smelling like roses Exactly at the end Either, so, hey, who knows. Beatrice is interesting too. I felt sorry for her toward the end, but she Seemed sort of happy in some ways ... All in all, this book does make you think, and it is characteristically peppered with Vonnegut's random Throughout telling observations.
