I discovered Kurt Vonnegut the same year he died. It wasn't through the news of his death but a quote I saw on a website, of all places, that intrigued me.

After that I read Man Without a Country so I wasn't a typical fan reading his work beforehand, I read about the person behind books like Slaughterhouse Five and Cat's Cradle. I fell in love with the thoughts, theories and opinions of Kurt Vonnegut and of course fell in love with his work once I began reading it. Kurt Vonnegut was a man who had such imagination and such a view on the world that it's easy to capture his thoughts and look at the world through different eyes.

Hocus Pocus or, What's the Hurry Son? Is set in the near future (the book was published in 1990) and you follow a man and his story on how he became a prisoner across from his old place of work in Tarkington College. Inbetween you are being filled with background information, history and views of the place in which this character lives. Pretty soon you are in a world filled with details on his work, his family, his colleagues, his love and his fear. As always Vonnegut makes sure we get the picture, he's also the first author where I can imagine exactly how the story plays out in my head. His style of writing is magnificent.

It may not be his most famous work but I still think Hocus Pocus or What's the Hurry Son? is a must read for any fan of Kurt Vonnegut. You may even find a character that's came up in previous Vonnegut books.

Blink and you'll miss it but don't miss out on this great read.

I bought this for my boyfriend as he's a big REM fan like myself but unlike myself he's also a vinyl nerd. When I first got the vinyl and gave him it we were sad to see that we were given two side one records. Luckily Amazon sorted it out really quickly and by the end of the week we had the brand new vinyl all intact.

So about the vinyl itself, it sounds amazing. I'm not as nerdy about the details but it does sound better due to the 45 rpm usually used for singles. It's louder and sounds cleaner. The album itself is fantastic but I imagine anyone buying the vinyl will want it as part of a collection and probably know the album itself anyway. Even if you don't you get the album on disc inside the sleeve, so it's win/win.

I was very pleased with Amazon and this item.