The book is about an author named Jonah who collects material for a book called „The day the world ended". This book should be an account of what impotant Americans had done when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. So he contacts Newt Hoenikker the youngest of the three children of Dr. Felix Hoenikker, the father of the atomic bomb. After they wrote each other a few letters Jonah decides to meet Dr. Breed, vice-president of the General Forge and Foundry Company where Felix has worked. After a while Breed throws him out because he`s of the opinion that Jonah is just a member of the yellow press. That`s because he asks only questions about a stuff called ICE-09; the last unknown gift of Dr. Hoenikker to the world before he died, which learns water to freeze without cold! Because of nobody really knows if ICE-09 really exists the storys about it are very interestung for sensation-seeking journalists. A few days later he found out that the third child of Dr. Hoenikker – Franklin Hoenikker, everyone thought dead, was still alive and now the Minister of Science and Progress in the republic of San Lorenzo. A small island ruled by Papa Monzano – a dicator. As it was supposed to happen, Jonah was assigned by a magazine to do a story about Julian Castle; a man who folowed the example of Albert Schweizer by founding a free hospital in a jungle in San Lorenzo. This country has his own religion – Bokonism (invented by a immigrant named Bokonon) The only Problem is that Monzano has forbidden Bokonism – and if someone is cought while practiceing this religion is punished with death penalty. What nobody knows is that ICE-09 really exists ... and it is here on earth! When Dr. Hoenikker died his three children divided up the worlds supply of ICE-09. Angela Hoenikker gave her chip of ICE-09 to her husband who has a firm which has something to do with war, so the USA had ICE-
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