Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus is a 1990 novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It deals with themes of class, race, crime, and globalization. Like many of Vonnegut's novels, Hocus Pocus is not organized in a traditional linear fashion, and has a plot centered around a major event which is alluded to early, and heavily foreshadowed until the final chapters. In the case of Hocus Pocus the major plot event concerns a prison break in a small New York village, located directly across... more

Hocus Pocus is a 1990 novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It deals with themes of class, race, crime, and globalization. Like many of Vonnegut's novels, Hocus Pocus is not organized in a traditional linear fashion, and has a plot centered around a major event which is alluded to early, and heavily foreshadowed until the final chapters. In the case of Hocus Pocus the major plot event concerns a prison break in a small New York village, located directly across from a prominent university. The protagonist's life revolves heavily around both the prison and the university, and the community that must accommodate both. The main character is Eugene Debs Hartke, a Vietnam War veteran and college professor, who realizes that he has killed exactly as many people as the number of women he has had sex with. The character's name is a homage to American labor and political leader Eugene V. Debs and anti-war senator Vance Hartke, both from Vonnegut's home state, Indiana. The main character's name-sharing with... less