Appendix Summary and Analysis

Early in the book, Vonnegut explains that he has moved to the Appendix materials that would break the flow of his text, but which he wants to share with the reader. The first is the afterward to son Mark's The Eden Express. Mark notes that things have changed for the better in twenty years since the first edition, as the biochemical component to mental illness has come to be accepted. Schizophrenia's definition has been tightened, and he is now classed as a manic-depressive. Fewer people with acute breakdowns are written off as hopeless. Still, a dozen separate diseases are lumped together as schizophrenia/manic depression, creating a hellish lack of certainty for patients and their families. Experience has shown Mark that large doses of vitamins do not help his recovery, but he has not changed the text. He simply retracts here...