Not many of the books published in the year 1962, surely, would strike one as bang up to date in 1996. But Vonnegut's finger is firmly on the pulse - a crazy pulse, lunatic even, but unfailingly contemporary. His observations on big business and political power, in particular, are bitingly apt despite all that has happened since, and his wacky little cultural barbs regularly hit their targets with a satisfying aping". What's it about? Oh, nothing much; just a Martian invasion of Earth, a millionaire playboy turned Everyman, love, hate, family values, time, space and a "Beam me up Scotty" dog. Anarchic and brilliant, yet not as impenetrable as the words "anarchic" and "brilliant" often suggest, this is science fiction with soul.