Kurt Vonnegut was an American novelist, satirist, and graphic artist, celebrated for his works that masterfully blend satire, black comedy, and science fiction. His distinctive writing style, shaped by his experiences as a journalist and his harrowing wartime encounters, is characterized by its unadorned prose and incisive observations on the human condition. A self-proclaimed humanist and socialist, Vonnegut's narratives frequently delve into the absurdities of war, the complexities of societal structures, and the search for meaning, all delivered with his signature blend of profound wit and pathos.
Billy Pilgrim, a barber's assistant turned optometrist and soldier, experiences time travel while hiding in a Dresden slaughterhouse during World War II. As he grapples with his fragmented existence and the horrors of war, he questions the nature of time and survival. Vonnegut's narrative blends dark humor and poignant insights, making a profound statement on the destructiveness of conflict. This novel is part of a series that highlights the urgent need to confront the realities of war and prevent its recurrence.
The most unique multi-genre collection keeps delivering surprises. Inside this issue: the captivating true story of a WW1 pilot who survived being shot down, later escaping a German prison camp-written by Lieutenant Pat O'Brien himself. Read the Kurt Vonnegut classic 2BRO2B, get your SciFi fix, take in the underrated author Susan Glaspell, pour over poetry by Elmedina Hota- and even more...
"'If ever I do write anything of length--good or bad--it will be written with you in mind.' Kurt Vonnegut's oldest daughter, Edith, was cleaning out her mother's attic when she stumbled upon a dusty box. Inside were more than two-hundred love letters written by Kurt to Jane, spanning the early years of their relationship: from 1941, when nineteen-year-old Kurt heads off to college, to his deployment to Europe in 1944 and the couple's marriage in 1945. The letters are full of the humor and wit that we have come to associate with Kurt Vonnegut. But they also show more private corners of his mind: Passionate and tender, the letters form an illuminating portrait of a young soldier's life in World War II as he attempts to come to grips with love and mortality. And they expose the origins of Vonnegut the writer, when Jane was the only person who believed in him, and they had no idea how celebrated he would become. A beautiful full-color collection of handwritten letters, notes, sketches, and comics, interspersed with Edith's insights and family memories, Love, Kurt is an intimate record of a young man growing into himself, a fascinating account of a writer finding his voice, and a moving testament to the life-altering experience of falling in love"-- Provided by publisher
The art and craft of writing by one of the few grandmasters of American literature, a bonanza for writers and readers co-written by Kurt Vonnegut's former student.Here is an entirely new side of Kurt Vonnegut, Vonnegut as a teacher of writing. Of course he's given us glimpses before, with aphorisms and short essays and articles and in his speeches. But never before has an entire book been devoted to Kurt Vonnegut the teacher. Here is pretty much everything Vonnegut ever said or wrote having to do with the writing art and craft, altogether a healing, a nourishing expedition. McConnell has outfitted us for the journey, and in these 37 chapters covers the waterfront of how one American writer brought himself to the pinnacle of the writing art, and we can all benefit as a result.Kurt Vonnegut was one of the few grandmasters of American literature, whose novels continue to influence new generations about the ways in which our imaginations can help us to live. Few aspects of his contribution have not been plumbed--fourteen novels, collections of his speeches, his essays, his letters, his plays--so this fresh view of him, written by a former student, is a bonanza for writers and readers and Vonnegut fans everywhere.
For completists, this will be like a boxed set of a musician's early work -
Vonnegut's Sun Studio sessions ... It's fascinating to watch him work themes
that would later animate his 14 novels and five books of nonfiction: the cruel
stupidity of war, the dehumanizing dangers of technology, the distillation of
American values into mere greed and selfishness.... An extraordinary heart
exists behind these stories. --Jess Walter, New York Times Book Review There
are wonderful lines, sentences, and whole paragraphs throughout the
collection; it is full of constructions that are funny, clever, and
unexpected.... Generosity and decency seem to be the two qualities Vonnegut
values most, even as he recognizes their fragility and rarity.--Geoff
Nicholson, Los Angeles Review of Books Vonnegut's writing explodes with
disquieting warnings and lessons that continue to ring true for contemporary
readers. --Huffington Post Kurt Vonnegut: Complete Stories is a deep dive into
one of the great minds in American literature: morally serious, formally
adventurous, and topically diverse. A reader could happily spend years
wandering around in this book. --Matthew Sharpe, bestselling author of The
Sleeping Father and Jamestown This book is big in size and significance ...
Meant to get readers thinking, these stories both preserve a lost world and
showcase Vonnegut's phenomenal prescience. In his foreword, Dave Eggers
pinpoints another key trait: Vonnegut wrote moral stories meant to tell us
what's right and what's wrong, and . . . how to live. In our time of dangerous
ambiguity, Vonnegut's clarity is restorative, his artistry and imagination
affirming. --Booklist A sterling collection of the late Vonnegut's corpus of
short fiction, with several unpublished pieces to balance better-known
published and anthologized work.... Essential for Vonnegut completists, of
course-and budding writers can always learn a thing or two from the sardonic
master. --Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Sun Moon Star is the story of the birth of Jesus--as told by Kurt Vonnegut. This children's book takes the newborn Jesus' perspective, offering beautiful and insightful descriptions of the world from someone newly born into it. In this book, we follow Jesus and meet the people most important to his life--presented in new and surprising ways. A powerful departure from Vonnegut's more adult work, Sun Moon Star gives readers a rare glimpse of the writer's talent in a format that's unique and unexpected. Originally published in 1980, the book is long out of print, but is available as an E-book.
Best known as one of America’s most astonishing and enduring contemporary novelists, Kurt Vonnegut was also a celebrated commencement address giver. Vonnegut never graduated from college, so his words to any class of graduating seniors always carried the delight, and gentle irony, of someone savoring an achievement he himself had not had occasion to savor on his own behalf. “But about my Uncle Alex, who is up in Heaven now,” Vonnegut, an avowed Humanist, would say sometimes in a graduation speech, “one of the things he found objectionable about human beings was that they so rarely noticed it when they were happy. . . . We could be drinking lemonade in the summertime, and Uncle Alex would interrupt the conversation to say, ‘If this isn’t nice, what is?’” If This Isn’t Nice, What Is? includes eleven speeches and four pieces of journalism on related themes. Six of the fifteen are new to the second edition—on topics as wide-ranging as why it is that Kurt Vonnegut’s dog loves people more than Kurt Vonnegut does, and what it feels like to be the most censored writer in America—and much, much more. In each of these talks and short essays, Vonnegut takes pains to find the few things worth saying and a conversational voice to say them in that’s funny and serious and joyful even if sometimes without seeming so.
This definitive edition of Kurt Vonnegut's fiction compiles his last three novels: "Bluebeard," "Hocus Pocus," and "Timequake," showcasing his signature satirical style. It explores themes of artistic integrity, societal issues, and personal reflections, concluding with a selection of related nonfiction pieces. A fitting farewell from a literary master.
A collection of 15 graduation speeches and treasured wisdom from the New York Times–bestselling literary icon and author of Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions "Like [that of] his literary ancestor Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut's crankiness is good-humored and sharp-witted."—A.O. Scott, The New York Times Book Review Master storyteller and satirist Kurt Vonnegut was one of the most in-demand commencement speakers of his time. His words were unfailingly insightful and witty, and they stayed with audience members long after graduation. Chosen and introduced by fellow novelist and friend Dan Wakefield, a selection of speeches and essays in this expanded 3rd edition include: • “What to Do When You Have the Power; In the Meantime, Remember to Skylark!” • “Why Social Justice Does More Than Art to Nourish the American Dream” • “How to Make Money and Find Love!” • “Somebody Should’ve Told Me Not to Join a Fraternity” • “How to Have Something Most Billionaires Don’t” Hilarious, razor-sharp, freewheeling, and at times deeply serious, these reflections are ideal not just for graduates but for anyone undergoing what Vonnegut would call their “long-delayed puberty ceremony”—marking the long and challenging passage to full-time adulthood.
