8 posts tagged “kurt vonnegut”

I realized I never posted any thoughts on this after I finished it.

First of all, it was wonderful to have a new Kurt Vonnegut book to read. This is silly for me to say, because I haven't even read all of his novels yet. However, it was exciting to read his first post-posthumously published work.

Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of short fiction and non-fiction.  The introduction by his son, Mark Vonnegut, is great. It was interesting to read about Kurt from someone who knew him so well.

One cool inclusion in the collection is the scanned pages of a letter Kurt wrote in 1945 to inform his family (who had no idea of his whereabouts) that he had been a prisoner of war and survived the Dresden bombing.

Kurt Vonnegut's home town of Indianapolis declared 2007 the "Year of Kurt Vonnegut." Kurt was to return home in April to speak to the community at a big kickoff event for the celebration. Sadly, he died two weeks before he was supposed to give the speech. He had already written the speech, and his son Mark went to Indianapolis to deliver the speech in his memory. The text of this speech is also included in this collection.

The above mentioned pieces were my favorite parts of the book. I also enjoyed the short stories, but I prefer the non-fiction in this collection.

One more thing to note about this book: it's a beautiful edition. It has beautiful paper, and drawings by Kurt are included throughout, some in color.

Mark Vonnegut  on whether or not we can expect more posthumously published work by his father:
"We'll catch our breath and see how this one goes. There is a ton of unpublished stuff. We'll figure it out as we go along."

Since I found out about Kurt Vonnegut's posthumously published book, Armageddon in Retrospect, would be released April 1, I've been checking Strand's site to see if they would get any review copies in. I didn't have high expectations to find one though, since it was Kurt Vonnegut.

Alas, today it was there! The site said they had two copies left, and I ran over during lunch to get one.

If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.

Perfect reading material for this rainy weekend!

The only thing that makes going back to work on a Monday after a 2 week vacation fun is learning that your favorite author has a new book coming out on April 1, despite the fact that he died last year.

Even better, there is an author event on April 1 featuring his son, Mark Vonnegut, who wrote the introduction. I could not be more excited about this. Well, on second thought, I could... if Kurt Vonnegut was still alive and going to attend the event himself. But I'm super excited nonetheless.

From Putnam's Spring/Summer 2008 Catalog: (pages 11 and 12)

Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of twelve new and unpublished writings on war and peace. Imbued with Vonnegut’s trademark rueful humor, the pieces range from a visceral nonfiction recollection of the destruction of Dresden during World War II—an essay that is as timely today as it was then—to a painfully funny short story about three Army privates and their fantasies of the perfect first meal upon returning home from war, to a darker, more poignant story about the impossibility of shielding our children from the temptations of violence. Also included are Vonnegut’s last speech as well as an assortment of his artwork, and an introduction by the author’s son, Mark Vonnegut.

This weekend I finished Palm Sunday. I started it right after Kurt died and have been slowly savoring it every since. It was easy to spread it out because it's, as he says, an autobiographical collage.

It includes many gems; it was great fun to read some of the speeches he's given over the years. It would have been amazing to see him speak in person.

The book starts off a little slow with his genealogy, as written by a friend of the family. But despite being slow, it was still fascinating. The rest of the book he weaves together speeches, stories, and other writings. One of my favorites was the speech he gave at the yearly banquet at the Cornell Daily Sun.

Definitely a must read for all Vonnegut fans. I'm now reading the "sequel" - Fates Worse Than Death.

Kurt Vonnegut has passed away.

I don't have words to express how sad I am.

So it goes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut

NYT Article

In the spirit of High Fidelity, I'm going to start a "Top Five" feature where I will post my picks for my five favorite things/people in any category that strikes my interest. Today's Top Five was inspired by reading Bill Bryson's African Diary. I started thinking about notable (famous, living) people who inspire me because of the talents they have, the kind of person they are, and the lives they lead. I admire many different people for many different things, so making the top five was no cake-walk. I listed the top five, and wrote a few sentences about why I chose them.

1. Bill Bryson. Bill is the world's best travel writer. He is interested in absolutely everything and describes the details of his journeys masterfully. He's also hilarious. He has travel books about Europe, America, England, and Australia. He wrote a book that details the origins of the universe in a way that conveys the immense wonder and amazement of it all, while still making you laugh. He wrote a beautiful memoir, a tribute to the wonderful lost days of post-war America. He visited Africa with CARE and wrote a diary of his experiences - donating all royalties to CARE. He was given an honorary Order of the British Empire for his contribution to literature. Oh yeah, he's also a loving husband and devoted father.

2. Garrison Keillor. To me, Garrison Keillor is the world's best story teller. I grew up listening to him on Prairie Home Companion, and to this day his voice still sooths me. I respect all that he has accomplished - on the radio, as a writer, in cinema. He is one of a very small handful of people keeping the glory of radio still alive. I love his taste for and appreciation of poetry. His books of selected poems are beautiful. He's a literary hero that no one from our generation can match.

3. Ben Folds. Not only is Ben Folds an original, talented, and fun musician, he is also a stand-up chap. Who else would not only make friends a cab driver who shuttled his band around East Lansing, but invite the cab driver on stage that evening to play harmonica and jam with the band? I work with someone who met Ben at an airport and gave him his cd, and Ben called later and asked him to tour with his band, and was nothing but wonderful the entire tour. Ben's talent and humor are also inspiring. I don't know any other artist who can write songs about love and his children and have them be incredible and sincere without being cheesy. Only Ben.

4. Kurt Vonnegut. Kurt is hard to do justice to in words. He is such an outstanding author. His writing is meaningful, funny, accessible, and relevant. He is a pacifist. I love that he is also interested in art and graphic design. He's just an unbelievably cool, larger than life guy. There's so much to say about Kurt Vonnegut, but I can't do him justice.

5. Johnny Depp. I love how devoted Johnny is to his family. I respect his hatred for paparazzi and his decision to live in France to have a normal life with his girlfriend and children. I love his choice in movies. I love that he likes to play the oddball. He's made amazing film choices, and is an incredible actor.

I'll continue this feature semi-regularly. It's just for fun. I encourage anyone else to comment with picks for their own top five, or to start their own top five on their vox.