Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1998, Paperback)

Synopsis
Nominated for the Hugo Award in 1964, Kurt Vonnegut's sprawling and brilliant fourth novel turns a bleakly satiric eye on science, technology, religion, politics, and the end of the world. At the center of the tale is the fictional physicist Felix Hoenikker, an inventor of the nuclear bomb, who, in an attempt to eliminate mud for military vehicles, invents a substance called Ice-9 that causes a chain reaction that allows water to freeze at normal temperatures. This apocalyptic substance is split between his three children who use it as a bartering chip to achieve their selfish ends. Eventually, the narrator (ostensibly researching Hoenikker) and Hoenikker's children wind up on a Caribbean island run by a demented dictator seeking to squash the native religion of Bokonism. The novel is filled with irreverent riffs and ingenious tangents, as Vonnegut exposes the underlying inanity of human nature: the read is enjoyable and lively, but laced with dark and devastating truths. Total catastrophe has never been so funny...or so absurdly tragic.

Key Details
Author:	Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Language:	English
Publisher:	Dial Pr
Format:	Paperback
ISBN-10:	038533348X
ISBN-13:	9780385333481

Size
Length:	287 pages
Thickness:	1 in
Weight:	8.8 oz

Publisher's Note
A young writer decides to interview the children of a scientist primarily responsible for the creation of the atomic bomb

One of Vonnegut's major works, this is an apocalyptic tale of the planet's ultimate fate, featuring a cast of unlikely heroes.

Industry Reviews
"'Cat's Cradle' is an irreverent and often highly entertaining fantasy concerning the playful irresponsibility of nuclear scientists. Like the best contemporary satire, it is work of a far more engaging and meaningful order than the melodramatic tripe which most critics seem to consider 'serious.'"
New York Times Book Review - Terry Southern (06/02/1963)