Credete che il capitalismo sia giusto e sacrosanto? Leggete questo libro.
"L'inutilità ammazza anime deboli e forti senza distinzioni, e sempre lo farà."

This was Vonnegut’s fifth novel and unlike the previous four, it is less surreal - and actually has something of a recognisable plot.
As far as I know, it is also the only one of his novels to be adapted as a musical for the New York (Off Broadway) stage. If you know any different, please comment.
The novel is subtitled ‘Pearls Before Swine’ but, with its nods to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, it might well have been called ‘Something is Rotten in the States of America.’

Set in the Cold War era, it's themes include free enterprise, inherited wealth, social inequality, war – and the impact of all these on an entire generation and humanity in general.

The root of insanity in modern society is seen as money, which Vonnegut names as ‘a leading character in this tale’.
The protagonist - Eliot,depicted as a millionaire with a conscience, is accused of being insane, but insanity itself is seen in the novel as a perfectly reasonable reaction to an insane world - and who would argue with that sentiment?

The sentiments behind this book are pretty clear. It's hard to believe this is nearly half a century old, because it still feels stingingly relevant in a world of austerity, Tea Party Republicanism and millionaire presidential candidates.

The plot (such as it is) flops around sloppily, but that's Vonnegut for you. There is a plot, but it's less important than the ideas Vonnegut is presenting. It's a polemic about wealth – the timeline doesn't matter so much.

There's more to Eliot Rosewater here than the character as presented in Slaughterhouse Five. In that other book, Rosewater comes across as a cynic, supplying meaningless platitudes. In this novel, he genuinely believes what he says. He's an embarrassment to his family, a disappointment to his wife, but he's trying to find his own way of doing things; he's just trying to be kind, even if it makes everyone around him think he's crazy. He's exploring something his family can't possibly understand, and that thing is selflessness.

There's a lot here about families being spread out and distanced from each other. It's Vonnegut writing about himself again.

I love Eliot Rosewater's baptism advice, but some of the standout moments are what Vonnegut reveals of himself, like when he writes about "sons of suicides". There are odd little moments like this when Vonnegut quietly reflects, and they're like little Easter eggs for Vonnegut fans.

Some of the funniest moments, for me, are the random ideas inserted as Kilgore Trout short stories: Oh Say Can You Smell?, First District Court of Thankyou, and the monologue by Selena Deal, describing the Buntlines' ignorance of classical music.

The ending seems to come quite abruptly, and the pay-off at the end is a neat punchline, but wasn't entirely satisfying - it felt rushed, though Eliot Rosewater's actions are entirely in character.

*** UPDATE 2021-03-16 ***

New take: it's as if Vonnegut was inspired by a Christian conservative car sticker and, musing on large amounts of accumulated wealth, asked "What Would Jesus Do?"

What would Jesus have done with a huge pot of money? What would the parable look like?

Already I can hear conservatives contemplating their car stickers and scrambling to find some particle of scripture – probably in the Old Testament – that asserts property rights...

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this book is what the parable looks like.
Jesus and the Pot of Gold.

It is one of my goals in life to read everything Kurt Vonnegut ever wrote. I am doing well enough, having gone though 6 novels and 1 short story. Vonnegut is the master of satire, so if you like the genre, look no further (Percival Everett is another great stop). I might not chose this book as my introduction to the author, but it still is a good novel.

The topic for Today lesson is goodness in a very bad and egoistic world. Poor Mr. Rosewater is trying to do good with his large inheritance, while his family and lawyers hate him or try to classify him as crazy in order to steal his money. It is a dark comedy about human nature, in the same weird, crazy style that Vonnegut readers know so well. Fans will be glad to know that our favorite SF writer, Kilgore Trout, is here to save or destroy the day once again.

"Am plâns când am scris-o. Atât de amuzantă mi s-a părut. Şi atât de amuzant mi se pare totul."

Aceste cuvinte, scrise pe un bilet de un personaj total insignifiant al cărţii, îmi par cheia întregii opere a lui Vonnegut (cel puţin a celei citite de mine până acum). Nicăieri n-am mai întâlnit durerea exprimată într-un mod atât de amuzant. Parcă ai urmări un clovn care se ţine de giumbuşlucuri şi farse în timp ce lacrimile îi curg şiroaie pe obraji. Ridi, pagliaccio...

Not quite as transplendent as I seem to have remembered it, but still pretty fab, if unbelievably (albeit often hilariously so) despairing.

A fittting nadir for downward-sloping first quadrant of that psychomachia of a career that, to me, the books of Mr. Vonnegut trace...to be only ever-so-slightly mitigated (maybe?) by the "So it goes" attempted stoicism of Slaughterhouse-Five ...

...We shall see: I plan on re-reading the next five or so novels in 2023!

My Kurt Vonnegut marathon continues. This novel hopped around a little structurally (not in a good Vonnegut way) but was still miles funnier, more dignified and powerful than most anti-capitalist satires. Next!

Воннеґут, як завжди, цілить прямо в сердечко.
Майстерно, іронічно, про альтруїзм та абсурдність сучасного світу.
А ще цей Кілґор Траут, невизнаний геній. Чорт забирай, дайте мені хоча б одну його книжку!

Not my favorite Vonnegut novel, but worth reading for passages like this one:

"Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-—God damn it, you've got to be kind."

That's what protagonist Eliot Rosewater, a rich philanthropist with PTSD, tells his estranged wife he's going to say at the baptism of two new babies in his community. Which is a great thing to say. But...why not show us the baptism rather than just talking about it on the phone? I felt like I'd metamorphosed into my ninth grade Writers' Workshop teacher as I read this novel. God Bless you, Mr. Vonnegut, but there's too much telling and not enough showing in this novel.

I know. I know. Who am I to criticize one of the best novelists (and human beings) ever, whose other works I admire so? But I kept thinking this would have made an excellent first draft of a great novel. Most of the characters in Rosewater are too two-dimensional for my taste. I like the idea of this novel better than the execution of it.

Recommended for die-hard Vonnegut fans. All others, stick with Slaughterhouse-Five or Cat's Cradle.

The simplest, darkest and most calmly bitter of his novels I’ve read so far. Very direct as far as satire goes. Some scathing passages. Not his best in my opinion. I’d give it three stars, were it not for its heart.

2.5 stelle.

Mi dispiace ma per me è un grande no. L'idea alla base è bella, la morale è bella. Il libro assolutamente no.

God bless you, Kurt Vonnegut. How did you do it? So true, so funny, so sad, so American. What is the son of a rich man to do? Read this book, that's what!