There is a substantial body of criticism on Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s work in general, and on Slaugh­terhouse-Five in particular. While critics have of­ten found Vonnegut's fiction as a whole to be un­even in quality, they have frequently praised him for Slaughterhouse-Five, which is widely regarded as the author's finest work.

The tone for much of the criticism that fol­lowed the book's release was set by Robert Scholes in his review of Slaughterhouse-Five, which ap­peared in the New York Times Book Review shortly after the novel's publication in 1969. Scholes praised Vonnegut's humor, noting that it "does not disguise the awful things perceived; it merely strengthens and comforts us to the point where such perception is bearable." He asserted that the absurd elements of the novel are appropriate and neces­sary to deal with the absurdity...