Hocus Pocus

London: Jonathan Cape, 1990 First English edition, first printing. Signed by Vonnegut on the front free endpaper. Publisher's black cloth, with spine lettered in gilt; in its original pictorial dust jacket, with wraparound collage by Huntley/Muir, lettered in white and blue. Near fine book, with a white scuffmark to top left of rear board; near fine unclipped dust jacket, with some fading to spine, and a few very light marks to panels. Overall, a tight and square copy. In Hocus Pocus, Vietnam War veteran Eugene Debs Hartke is falsely imprisoned for supposedly helping 10,000 convicts escape a maximum-security prison. In scraps of paper - which are reflected in the novel's unconventional structure - he tells his life story and reflects on larger political and social issues. There is much more to the story, but as one reviewer of Hocus Pocus put it, "Giving a plot summary of a Vonnegut novel is a little like trying to lasso fireworks" (Deseret News, 1990). Interestingly, the protagonist's name is a combination of Eugene V. Debs and Vance Hartke, two real-life anti-war activists from Vonnegut's home state of Indiana who helped shape his belief system. . Signed by Author. First English Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Dust Jacket Included.