Eliot Rosewater and money are the main characters in this Vonnegut classic. A satire about money! So glad it's satire. This is very good. Crackup after crackup, each and every page. Reminds me of the Marx brothers. I began to wonder if Vonnegut just thinks naturally in satire and humor ALL the time, just to combat all the darkness in his life. I love seeing how much Vonnegut loved crafting words together in this one. I could really see how much he loved words. I did NOT expect to love this more than Breakfast of Champions! 7/8 of the Vonnegut books I have read now have been favorites. (Player Piano went over my head.) The money aspects to this one reminded me a bit of 'Trust' by Hernan Diaz, if it had been a satire.
*Book #133 I have read of the '1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die' ( )

Vonnegut has a distinct style and it’s not for everyone. He can be incredibly crass, but then he writes a line that just cuts to the quick. This book delves into some of the PTSD and mental illness that he obviously struggled with. There are multiple times when he talks about a character being the son of a suicide and how that leads to hopelessness and lack of curiosity about one’s past. As a Hoosier, I loved all the references to Indiana locations. Not my favorite Vonnegut, but certainly not my last.

I loved the line when Rosewater’s father asks if he’s a communist and he says: “Nobody can work with the poor and not fall over Karl Marx from time to time—or just fall over the Bible, as far as that goes.”

There’s a side story about a man who inherits a ton of money from his father and when he’s young wants to give it all the way, but his investors talk him out of it. That’s pretty much the exact plot of Pineapple Street, a hot new release. It’s the age old problem of second generational wealth.

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

Interesting book ( )

4 1/2 stars: Super, Couldn't Put it Down

From the back cover: Eliot Rosewater—drunk, volunteer fireman, and President of the fabulously rich Rosewater Foundation—is about to attempt a noble experiment with human nature . . . with a little help from writer Kilgore Trout. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is Kurt Vonnegut’s funniest satire, an etched-in-acid portrayal of the greed, hypocrisy, and follies of the flesh we are all heir to.

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"Goddamnit, you've got to be kind" - perhaps the best known Vonnegut quote after "So it goes". Vonnegut writes a biting satire about Mr. Rosewater who is considered insane by nearly everyone around him. What nuts thing does Mr. Rosewater do? He is compassionate and seeks to understand and support those around him. Brilliant. Devastating. Satiric commentary. Read it. More relevant than ever. ( )

Eliot Rosewater, el protagonista de esta vonnegutiana versión del príncipe y el mendigo, es el príncipe -hijo y nieto de magnates enriquecidos a base de especulaciones y estafas- que se interna voluntariamente en el mundo de los pobres y los fracasados, en el reverso del sueño americano. Ésta es una de las historias más negras y divertidas sobre el poder del dinero, las flaquezas de los hombres y las incertidumbres de la moral.