Kurt Vonnegut has no reason to be this humble. He's Kurt Vonnegut. He and his alter ego Trout have enraptured the hearts of academics and everymen alike. This meta-sorta-semi-fictionalized account of wisdom, wit, and sardonic sadness is wholly remarkable, and a wonderful meditation of Vonnegut on Vonnegut himself. Throughout Timequake he recounts many of the most important sections of his life, from his publication rejections, to his war experience, his romantic interests, raising kids, and even watching his equally smart siblings pass on. There's so much that is contained in this short tome, and despite his honest, contemporary and socially aware presentation of this book, it still contains the ironic absurdity and sad truths present in his fiction. It isn't without flaw, as was his character. He writes of the time he left his wife's house to creep on the post office lady in this book. The organization of this book is quite haphazard. And maybe that's my biggest complaint about it. Vonnegut sliced up a draft of his novel Timequake one and makes this book his Timequake two. In it he recounts the universe's hiccup that makes everyone relive the past ten years of life until freewill kicks in again. The focal point is a clambake wherein he meets his fictionalized self: Kilgore Trout. Yet he also touches on the full, complex picture of the recounting(s) mentioned above, in all their sad, funny, absurd, wise, and very human glory. Anything more I would say could spoil the experience you could have with this wonderful little book, so I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

Genius and comical slice of life fused together in this classic read...