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Kurt Vonnegut’s 9th novel and he reverts to a more conventional style of novel last seen in his third,
Mother Night.

I had read Slaughter House Five as a late teen in say 1977 or 1978 and had devoured it; such was my Sci Fi bent of the time. This, Jailbird, was purchased on its release in 1979 probably based on my then thoughts that it may have had Sci Fi elements. I recall liking it in my youth, though now reading it into my older age I suspect I had no idea what it was about thematically. I have been surprised how much I recalled of this tale of Walter F Starbuch and his life and times, told as an autobiography. I must have reread it a few times back then.

Starbuck tells his story in a world-weary manner about his estrangement from his son, his trial for a minor part in Watergate through to a strange meeting with a past love that brings him to a position of power in a large corporation.
Thematically the human condition is still at the centre of Vonnegut's writing, greed and power come forth as does religion and labour relations. What I found interesting was his inclusion of a historical labour event in the US that leads to the judicial murder of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. I have realised that my overall knowledge of US history other than WW2 and a few other topical events such as Watergate is sparse. Vonnegut has led me, through the reading of his books, down a rabbit hole as he interweaves fact and fiction into his oeuvre. This is an occurrence that I did not particularly take note of on the way through but recognise now that I am into his later books. In Jailbird we come across RAMJAC Corporation that is interesting conceptually. RAMJAC is a comment on massive corporations that are an entity all to themselves in terms of control of individuals purchasing habits and economies. It takes small mishaps to bring about RAMJAC’s downfall. This beggars the question, how long can Amazon survive small mishaps?


Again one for the Vonnegut reader in my opinion and recommended as such.

My review of number 1 Player Piano.
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My review of number 2 The Sirens Of Titan. /review/show...
My review of number 3 Mother Night.
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My review of number 4 Cats Cradle.
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My review of number 5 God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.
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My review of number 6 Slaughter House Five
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My review of number 7 Breakfast Of Champions.
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My review of number 8 Slapstick, or Lonesome No More!
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