Manhattan has become the Island of Death.

The former President of the United States stands barefoot in a purple toga around a cooking fire in the lobby of the Empire State Building.

He is Dr Wilbur Daffodil-II Swain and Slapstick or Lonesome No More! is his story – one of monstrous twins, orgies, revenge, golf, utopian schemes, and very little tooth brushing. In this post-apocalyptic black comedy – dedicated to Laurel and Hardy – Vonnegut is at his most hilarious, grotesque, and personal.