Cat's Cradle (Penguin Modern Classics)

Dr Felix Hoenikker is the inventor of 'ice-nine' a lethal chemical capable of freezing the planet. The search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three ecentric children to a crazed dictator in the Caribbean. Felix Hoenikker's Death Wish comes true when his last fatal gift to mankind brings about the end that for all of us is nigh.|Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis in 1922. During the Second World War he was a prisoner in Germany and present at the bombing of Dresden an experience he recounted in his famous novel Slaughterhouse Five (1969). His first novel Piano Player was published in 1951 and since then he has written many novels including: The Sirens of Titan Jailbird Deadeye Dick Galapagos and Hocus Pocus. Kurt Vonnegut died in April 2007.Benjamin Kunkel (born in 1972 in Colorado) is an American novelist. He co-founded and is a co-editor of the journal n+1. His first novel Indecision was published in 2005.|With his trademark dry wit Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle is an inventive science fiction satire that preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon - and worse still surviving it. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Benjamin Kunkel.Dr Felix Hoenikker one of the founding 'fathers' of the atomic bomb has left a deadly legacy to humanity. For he is the inventor of ice-nine a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. Writer Jonah's search for his whereabouts leads him to Hoenikker's three eccentric children to an island republic in the Caribbean where the absurd religion of Bokononism is practised to love and to insanity. Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction is a frightening and funny satire on the end of the world and the madness of mankind.Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was born in Indianapolis. During the Second World War he was a prisoner in Germany and present at the bombing of Dresden an experience he recounted in his famous novel Slaughterhouse Five (1969). His first novel Player Piano was published in 1951 and since then he has written many novels including The Sirens of Titan Jailbird Deadeye Dick Galapagos and Hocus Pocus. If you enjoyed Cat's Cradle you might like Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle also available in Penguin Modern Classics.'One of the warmest wisest funniest voices to be found anywhere in fiction'Sam Leith Daily Telegraph'A free-wheeling vehicle ... An unforgettable ride!'The New York Times'Vonnegut looked the world straight in the eye and never flinched'J.G. Ballard