Amber in the Moment

by Kirk Vonnegut

Nominated for the Media Ecology Association's Mary Shelley Award for Outstanding Fictional Work. SUMMARY When unrelated thoughts burst into his mind, a Customer Service Representative finds that he has been selected as the conduit of a famous author’s final novel as well as become the target of a sociopath with extraordinary means. Nearing the end of his life, Vonnegut volunteered to participate in a secret Thought Transfer Experiment. Given his age, he believed it would help him write his final novel more quickly. The Experiment stored his thoughts in bubbles that were unable to be decoded until a much later time. Those in the future had to send the bubbles into the psyche of an unsuspecting individual who had lived within ten years of the Thought Transfer experiment. The protagonist must rise to the challenge of having his mind bombarded with Vonnegut’s final novel as well as evade the grasp of a maniacal, billionaire sociopath who has selected him for termination.

Genres: Fiction

303 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 11, 2014

Reviews

[Hákon Gunnarsson]

I found this free on amazon, and the author name sounded somewhat familiar so I downloaded it.

Another disclaimer before the review: I'm a fan of Kurt Vonnegut.

And this book reads like it was written by a fan of his, or at least someone that has read a lot of his books. It is an interesting novel, and it was interesting to compare it to the original works by Kurt Vonnegut. If I ever read it again I will have to remember the game one can play while reading. Try to find all the Kurt Vonnegut works that Kirk Vonnegut refers to in Amber in the Moment. They are quite a few.

In large parts it builds upon Breakfast of Champions, but also on Slaughterhouse Five, or The Children's Crusade, but there are a lot of others to be found here. For a Kurt Vonnegut fan, this was a fun read and it was interesting to see what the author could come up with using Vonnegut motives.

My main problem with it was that the humor wasn't consistent through out. It starts off very funny, then takes on a somewhat different air in the middle, then returns back to humor towards the end. Still it had enough pull that I read it rather quickly.

So I like it, it was an interesting trip, but I have to admit I do like the original works by Kurt Vonnegut better.

[Adam Floridia]

I have had NO idea how to rate this book.

On one hand--especially in the beginning--I HATED someone aping my hero's style and, really, shamelessly exploiting his name for personal gain. Even now, after I'm thorough convinced that this was NOT about shameless exploitation for personal gain, it's hard to shake that strange feeling of "This is weird. It sounds pretty much like Vonnegut, but it's not. That's weird and I don't like it." I think seeing "Kirk Vonnegut" as the author really adds to that gut-feeling of "No! This is wrong!" even after the reason for the fictitious author is logically explained in the text.

On the other hand, it's just a fellow Vonnegut fan who is paying tribute by mimicking his hero's singular style and--sometimes way too forcibly (a couple references are crowbarred in there)--giving shout-outs to various other aspects of his canon. Plus, while simultaneously re-reading Mother Night, I actually was struck by how well this work actually expanded many key Vonnegutian elements, for example: schizophrenia, identity, Truth/fiction, Postmodern quirks. Having been a week since I finished it, that dis-ease I mentioned feeling in the first paragraph has subsided, and all that really remains in my memory is the actual plot of the book. Not only is it an entertaining story, but it really is one of the most creative books I've read in some time.

I've settled on 4 stars partly because it is one of those books that I do keep thinking about (positively) after I've read it. My advice: read it for yourself to see what you think! Let me know which of the above extremes you waver towards.

[Mike Miller]

Really enjoyed this book.

I had heard of this author but never read any of his work. I want to read more. Very different.

[Todd Williams]

It's a self-published mess in many ways, but also a genuinely entertaining, page-turner of a tribute to Vonnegut. Well-worth the quick read.

[Timothy Hrushka]

Vonnegut made us laugh at ourselves and see the world a new way but didn’t come across too self-righteous or preachy. This book feels indelicate in both these regards.
Vonnegut gave even his most nihilistic characters motivation. The “why” behind this book’s characters’ actions feels hidden/flat.

But on the positive side, I love Vonnegut, and appreciate this writer has read a lot of his books: he also gets points for dropping Vonnegut allusions and replicating some stylistic points.

In the end, he’s a step ahead of us book fans who haven’t yet given book-writing a spin. Can’t hate “the man in the arena."

[Cydni]

Weird. Wonderful. Would recommend.

I started reading because I thought it was Kurt Vonnegut. It was not. It was a lie. Like you, I hate being lied to.

[Paul Triller]

Amusing*

[Millie Ilene]

Not his finest work

But it's better than most books I read. I finished it in 2 days. Which is why it gets 5 stars.

[Daniil Fedtsov]

Minus one star for the deception

It took me a few chapters to catch that Kirk V is not the Kurt V. Not a bad story of its own. Not a Vonnegut but a fun read.

[brooke gamache]

I really wanted to make fun of this guy but idk you can tell dude just really loves and respects Vonnegut and I think that's nice regardless of how technically good or not good this book turned out

[Andrew Brasher]

I realized halfway through that I was reading Kirk Vonnegut instead of Kurt.... which made the book a lil more clever/cute