Kurt Vonnegut - "Start as close to the end as possible."

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"How nice--to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive."

Vonnegut was a prisoner of war in Dresden on February 13, 1945 when the city, a cultural center of no military value, was destroyed by Allied incendiary bombs, and in Slaughterhouse-Five Vonnegut, who was born on Armistice Day 1922, focuses on the particularly human madness of war.

Vonnegut's outrage over Dresden was as much a result of the lack of attention given to this event as it was to the bloodshed, but there are no villains in Vonnegut's novels, and he fully recognizes the ambiguous connection between agent and victim.

Vonnegut openly addresses himself in the role of creator "on a par with the Creator of the Universe," and with a Prospero-like gesture releases the characters from his earlier fiction.

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"Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand"

A self-described religious skeptic and freethinking humanist, Vonnegut used protagonists such as Billy Pilgrim ("Slaughterhouse-Five") and Eliot Rosewater ("God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater") as transparent vehicles for his points of view.

Kurt Vonnegut: I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center. Humor is an almost physiological response to fear. A purpose of human life, no matter who is ...

The absurdity of war

"Vonnegut doesn't so much write a novel as have a heart-felt conversation with the reader, throwing in some fiction, some religion, some politics, and a laugh or two. After reading this book, you'll have new understandings, and a great new friend."

Slaughterhouse-Five

by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughter House Five deserves its reputation of being a piece of great American literature.

Amazon Price: $11.20 (as of 10/15/2008)

"Humor is an almost physiological response to fear."

Kurt Vonnegut Jr., author of Breakfast of Champions, Mother Night, Player Piano, Slapstick, Slaughterhouse Five, The Sirens of Titan, and Cat's Cradle, talks with Don Swaim in 1981 about profanity, religion, agnosticism, freedom, censorship, living in New York and the dangers of carelessness.

Kurt Vonnegut Interview with Don Swaim: Kurt Vonnegut is interviewed by Don Swaim of CBS Radio.

Deeply Black Humor

(What I Tried To Do With This Lens)

"This is pure venting about our world and how idiotic and hopeless things have become. As always, Vonnegut is entertaining and accurate with the occasional exaggeration and over-the-top analogy."

A Man Without a Country

by Kurt Vonnegut

Should you buy this book? Anything by Vonnegut should be snatched up and cherished along with the rest of his works.

Amazon Price: $11.16 (as of 10/15/2008)

"New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become."

I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.
Kurt Vonnegut

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Great Fun - My Personal Favorite

See the cat? See the cradle?

Cat's Cradle, one of Vonnegut's most entertaining novels, is filled with scientists and G-men and even ordinary folks caught up in the game. These assorted characters chase each other around in search of the world's most important and dangerous substance, a new form of ice that freezes at room temperature.

Cat's Cradle

by Kurt Vonnegut

Cat's Cradle isn't quite as absurd as it seems.

Amazon Price: $11.20 (as of 10/15/2008)

Beautiful video

So It Goes. (Kurt Vonnegut 1922 - 2007)

A video tribute to our hero, Kurt Vonnegut. www.mepreport.com

Runtime: 3:40
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Collectibles

Idoomlas [Timequake]

by Kurt VONNEGUT

$750 each very rare

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Slaughterhouse Five

AUTOGRAPHED Brand new leatherbound book accented in 22kt gold.

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"I don't care if I'm remembered or not when I'm dead"

Final quote which is one I have used many times, from "Timequake"

"Listen: we are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise."