Cat’s Cradle | Cat’s Cradle

At a glance:

Author: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
First Published: 1963
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Science fiction
Time of Work: The early 1960’s
Setting: Ilium, New York, and the Caribbean Republic of San Lorenzo
Genres: Long fiction, Fable, Science fiction, Fantasy, Apocalyptic and catastrophe fiction
Subjects: 1960’s, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Traveling or travelers, Philosophy or philosophers, Caribbean, Wit or humor, End of the world, Atomic bomb, Ants, Ice, Inventions or inventors
Locales: Ilium, NY, San Lorenzo, Caribbean

John, the narrator. John, a Cornell- educated journalist, spends the course of the book interviewing the friends and children of Dr. Felix Hoenikker for a book about the day the atom bomb was dropped. John is always perfectly gracious and objective in his interviews, even when his subjects are hostile and impute ulterior motives to his writing. His research takes him to the island nation of San Lorenzo, where he unintentionally becomes president and witnesses the unleashing of ice-nine, which freezes the world.

Cat’s Cradle | Cat’s Cradle

At a glance:

Characters Discussed

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