This is the fourth Vonnegut novel I have read. It centers around a womanizing, but married Vietnam vet living in a post-war apocalyptic America. His town is run almost entirely by Japanese corporations whose imported workforce does not mingle with the locals. As with many Vonnegut novels, the scenes jump back and forth between past and present. Vonnegut does this effortlessly. Many authors would leave their readers too confused to follow along with his frequency of time travel. The plot, however, seems kind of inconsequential throughout. I never felt invested in any character or situation, but it was, oddly enough, fun to read. The main character, Euguene Hartke, lives life as it comes. He is often very fortunate or very unfortunate in his circumstances at different points in his life and the book seems to show that nothing he has done has influenced this. Life seems to be one big crap shoot. There are little political and social comments throughout the work that force a smile every few pages. In the end the book seems to illustrate that it, just like life, has no purpose other than to try and appreciate it. I can only liken it to a psychedelic Seinfeld episode.