View a FREE sample

Prologue

• Vonnegut explains that he received a fan letter containing the phrase "love will fail, but courtesy will prevail." He explains that the letter makes this and other books somewhat obsolete.
• Kenneth Whistler is based on the labor unionist Powers Hapgood who is a colorful man and crusader for the disadvantaged.

• Hapgood protested the executions of Sacco and Vanzetti using "Sermon on the Mount" as a defense.
• Vonnegut describes the Cuyahoga Massacre.

• The massacre shaped Alexander Hamilton McCone, whose father was a factory boss.

• Starbuck was a protégé of McCone, and he sees the massacre as a "legend."
• Starbuck took on being the protégé of McCone because he was offered a place at Harvard if he accepted.

Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4

• Starbucks discusses sitting in his prison cell on the day of his release and trying to rid his mind of his guilt.
• Starbuck discusses how he met...

(read more Chapter Abstracts)

This section contains 1,106 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample