Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
39 used & new from £0.93
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Timequake
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Timequake (Paperback)

by Kurt Vonnegut (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
Price: £5.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.00 (25%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 5 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want guaranteed delivery by Friday, July 17? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
24 new from £3.01 14 used from £0.93 1 collectible from £27.50
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (Limited) 5 used & new from £23.97
Paperback (New edition) 3 used & new from £19.95
Library Binding (Reprint) 6 used & new from £26.08
Hardcover (Large Print) 3 used & new from £36.57
Audio Cassette (Abridged) Order it used
Poster Order it used

Frequently Bought Together

Timequake + Breakfast of Champions + Cat's Cradle (Penguin Modern Classics)
Price For All Three: £17.77

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast of Champions

by Kurt Vonnegut
4.5 out of 5 stars (17)  £4.79
Slaughterhouse 5, or The Children's Crusade - A Duty-dance with Death

Slaughterhouse 5, or The Children's Crusade - A Duty-dance with Death

by Kurt Vonnegut
4.5 out of 5 stars (40)  £4.79
Cat's Cradle (Penguin Modern Classics)

Cat's Cradle (Penguin Modern Classics)

by Kurt Vonnegut
4.1 out of 5 stars (14)  £6.99
Mother Night

Mother Night

by Kurt Vonnegut
5.0 out of 5 stars (6)  £5.99
Hocus Pocus or, What's the Hurry, Son?

Hocus Pocus or, What's the Hurry, Son?

by Kurt Vonnegut
4.5 out of 5 stars (4)  £5.99
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New Ed edition (6 Aug 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099267543
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099267546
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 144,430 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #19 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Vonnegut Jr., Kurt
    #19 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > V > Vonnegut, Kurt

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Kurt Vonnegut wasn't too crazy about the first version of his latest (and, he says, last) book Timequake, which is part memoir, part rescued novel. As he writes in the introduction, "My great big fish, which stunk so, was entitled Timequake." The book was originally going to be about a cosmic rerun, where the whole world does one decade over again exactly as it did before. However, after a decade in a writer's block continuum, Vonnegut decided to jump ship and salvage what he could from the wreckage of "a novel that never wanted to be written." He "filleted" the big stinky sucker, took its best parts out and made a "stew", seasoning it with memories and personal anecdotes. Vonnegut's alter ego, Kilgore Trout, the science fiction writer from previous novels (Slaughterhouse Five, Galapagos, Breakfast of Champions), looks back on his life as well when he meets up with Vonnegut at a clambake after history has repeated itself. Both authors discuss the idea of paralyzed "free will", the loss of loved ones and why "being alive is a crock of shit". Although it's filled with Vonnegut's unmistakable sarcasm and quirky insights, Timequakeisn't a streamlined novel with a tightly bound plot and strictly directed characters. It's a loose, free-flowing farewell from one of America's most beloved voices in popular fiction. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
According to science-fiction writer Kilgore Trout, a global timequake will occur in New York City on 13th February 2001. It is the moment when the universe suffers a crisis of conscience. Should it expand or make a great big bang? It decides to wind the clock back a decade to 1991, making everyone in the world endure ten years of deja-vu and a total loss of free will - not to mention the torture of reliving every nanosecond of one of the tawdiest and most hollow decades. With his trademark wicked wit, Vonnegut addresses memory, suicide, the Great Depression, the loss of American eloquence, and the obsolescent thrill of reading books.

See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Timequake
47% buy the item featured on this page:
Timequake 3.8 out of 5 stars (13)
£5.99
Breakfast of Champions
21% buy
Breakfast of Champions 4.5 out of 5 stars (17)
£4.79
Slaughterhouse 5, or The Children's Crusade - A Duty-dance with Death
12% buy
Slaughterhouse 5, or The Children's Crusade - A Duty-dance with Death 4.5 out of 5 stars (40)
£4.79
Cat's Cradle (Penguin Modern Classics)
12% buy
Cat's Cradle (Penguin Modern Classics) 4.1 out of 5 stars (14)
£6.99
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect climax to a fantastic career, 1 April 1999
By A Customer
Nearing the end of his life, and this probably his final novel, Vonnegut writes about his feelings as the twentieth century comes to a close. The civil rights movement and socialism have both failed to end human unhappiness, and the aspirations of Vonnegut's generation, those who fought in WW2, have been left largely unfulfilled. Yet despite this undercurrent of despair, Vonnegut presents us with a hotch-potch of brilliantly funny anecdotes from his life (eg. the ballet dancer and the bucket), which he arranges in his familar style around a science-fiction-style plot. This book is both laugh-out loud and inspirational - a must have for all Vonnegut readers.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Ting-a-Ling, 7 Jan 2006
By E. PARRY (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
It's hard to give this book a star rating. I enjoyed it, it was funny at times, poignant at others. It had a melancholy edge to it, yet had Vonnegut's trademark bizareness.

A few chapters in, you realise that there isn't going to be much of a narrative. There is a story of sorts that is a central point around which the book hangs, but for the most part the premise is a way for Vonnegut to write about his life and the world as he knows it. Perhaps this is his way of writing a kind of autobiography. It reminded me of Douglas Coupland's Life After God, but good and less angsty. It's a very meditative book, it ambles around without much of a direction, but that's ok, because it's filled with brilliant pieces of wisdom. "Listen: we are here on earth to fart around, and don't let anyone tell you different".

This is not a good book for Vonnegut newcomers. While I enjoyed it, it made me want to immediately go and re-read Breakfast of Champions, which I then realised was a much better book. I recommend readers start there and come to this one later. This is a good book and by most other author's standards might be approaching a masterpiece, but for Vonnegut it's more like a quiet coda to his more accomplished works.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brings back memories, 2 Jun 2000
I remember the first Vonnegut I ever read: Cat's Cradle, read in 8 hours on a flight from London to Dallas when I was 14. It was unlike anything I had ever read before or have read since, Vonnegut's other novels included. But this book brought back the excitement of that first discovery.

Timequake is, as far as I am concerned, his best novel. Touching, funny, surreal, quizzical, elegiac, dismissive, pointless, asinine, glorious, weird, wonderful. I've run out of adjectives. Let's hope he can think of some more before he snuffs it.

Incidentally, if you're worried Kurt will pop his clogs and you'll have nothing to read, may I highly recommend Bo Fowler who seems to be making a brave stab at taking over his mantle.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Timequake of our times
Timequake is another of Kurt Vonnegut classics. The author is one of those who are either loved by their readership or leave the audience cold. I am one of his enthusiasts. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ms. Ewa A. Maydell

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing...
I'm a big Vonnegut fan, but this book was really disappointing. The idea was brilliant, and I was really looking forward to reading an interesting story, but there's hardly any... Read more
Published 6 months ago by anonymous

3.0 out of 5 stars An elaborately packaged foreword (know what you pay for)
I bought this book because it was a hilarious premise, while it lay on the shelve, waiting for me to get time to start it, I started wondering how on earth Kurt could have... Read more
Published 12 months ago by M. Ooijer

4.0 out of 5 stars Great reflection on free will, but not a novel
A timequake is one of those ideas of genius that cannot be turned into a novel. What good is a story which main thread is to repeat what happened 10 years ago? Read more
Published 17 months ago by F. X. Dessioux

4.0 out of 5 stars Vonnegut in a timequake....
Kurt Vonnegut started out to write a book called 'Timequake'. He stopped this novel and ended up writing this version, which has excerpts from the original plus autobiographical... Read more
Published 22 months ago by P. Millar

3.0 out of 5 stars Timequake None
When I first heard about this book, I have to say I was excited. I knew vaguely of Vonnegut as does everyone involved in literature and yet I'd read very little so when I finally... Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2007 by Mr. J. Russell

5.0 out of 5 stars A culmination of vonnegut's amazing career.
All the skill and wit of his books is wondrously culminated in this most recent addition. Kilgore Trout, his favourite character, a science fiction writer, has the main role in... Read more
Published on 14 April 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Vonnegut signs out in great style
One of the truly great writers of the 20th century, has produced a fitting coda to his work. Vonnegut's message may be basically the same as 30 years ago, but the state of the... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2000

1.0 out of 5 stars Zzzzzzzzz
Oh Dear. What an excellent idea for a book. What a dull execution. Maybe I just didn't get it. I was still waiting for the story to kick in when it finished! Read more
Published on 9 Mar 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Vonnegut. Funny, provoking, clever stuff.
Surely a great book for Vonnegut fans and Vonnegut virgins alike. I enjoyed it better than Hocus Posus, and I loved that. Read more
Published on 8 Jan 1999

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

Fun for Everyone

Christmas Gifts
Achieve over 15,000 RPM with our great range of Powerballs.

›Shop the Powerball store

  

More From Kurt Vonnegut

Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

'Outrageous, witty, thought-provoking, unputdownable, scintillating... Read more
£7.99 £4.79

 

Train Hard...Play Hard

Nike, Gola, Converse, and more
Gear up with up to 60% off athletic and outdoor shoes.

›Shop now

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates