I loved this story! It’s another short one but Vonnegut does so much with just a few pages.

George and Hazel Bergeron live in a dystopian society in the year 2081. The 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments have made all people truly equal. Meaning if you’re smart, you're given a radio handicap to wear in your ear that plays a loud sound to continuously interrupt your thoughts. If you’re too pretty, you have to wear an ugly mask. If you’re too strong, you are weighed down with bags of metal balls. These rules are enforced by the US Handicapper General. George and Hazel’s son has been taken away to jail.

They sit one night watching ballerinas on the TV. George, a smart, strong man, has a radio in his ear and bags of weights on him. The dancers on the screen have masks and only dance sort-of OK. No one is any better than the others. A news report comes on saying Harrison escaped and he shows up at the dance studio. He’s wearing ugly glasses, has basically a junkyard of metal on him, he’s 7 feet tall, and has headphones on his head, instead of just a mere speaker. Apparently he's exceptional, all around. What happens? Read this story! It’s great (and I don’t want to spoil much more).

As I said previously through my daily critiques, these dystopia sci-fi stories by Bradbury, Octavia Butler, Ursula LeGuin, and now Vonnegut are a real treat. The visionary ideas and situations that these writers devised (so long ago!) and how well they executed them are extremely entertaining (and sometimes scary!). I loved this one. The idea that in order to truly make all people equal the gov’t literally handicaps them is genius. Like the other authors, Vonnegut explores the consequences of technology, government, human nature, and society. And, like all truly great sci-fi futuristic stories, he includes a great deal of emotion, too. Hazel and George’s reaction is predictable but devastating. Definitely read this one. Highly recommended.