#125 God Bless You, Mr.Vonnegut

A sad day. My favorite author Kurt Vonnegut passed away yesterday at the age of 84. It's hard to really say how sad I feel about this. His books inspired me, his writing made me laugh and cry and his ideas made me think and explore my own beliefs about everything - politics, art, love, science, war, death, and human nature. He just seemed like the coolest, crankiest, goofiest old guy in the world and I'm so sad that he's gone.




THURSDAY THIRTEEN #2
Thirteen Stories by Vonnegut You Should Read

1. Slaughterhouse-Five - my all time favorite. I've read it maybe six times and wrote a paper on it in high school. About the bombing of Dresden, a boy named Billy Pilgrim who wanders unwillingly and aimlessly through time, and many other satirical themes.

2. Cat's Cradle - the most popular Vonnegut novel that just about every college student has read. About religion, the atomic bomb, an a substance called ice-nine that solidifies at room temperature.

3. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - A book about Eliot Rosewater, a drunk heir who is too kind-hearted for his own good and may or may not be insane.

4. Breakfast of Champions - The book that made Kilgore Trout, Vonnegut's alter-ego, famous. Trout is an aging science fiction writer with very limited success and only one fan and in this book he encounters a car salesman and hilarity ensures.

5. Mother Night - "In Mother Night Vonnegut makes fun of sex, and motherhood; of war and peace, of the FBI and Communists; and the Nazi's too."

6. God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian - Vonnegut, with the help of Kevorkian, is made almost dead and spends his time in-between life and death interviewing dead folks. Some of the interviewees include William Shakespeare, Eugene Victor Deb, Sir Isaac Newton, James Earl Ray (Martin Luther King's assassin), and Mary Shelley.

7. Bagombo Snuff Box - A collection of short stories. Meet George Hemholtz, the kind band director who lives for music in "The No-Talent Kid" and "The Boy Who Hates Girls" and experience a story that is pure Vonnegut in "2BR02B".

8. Welcome to the Monkey House - Another collection of short stories. While all the stories in this collection are wonderful the story "Harrison Bergeron" is most striking as it explores a "Utopian" society where everyone - whether they like it or not - is created equal.

9. Player Piano - Vonnegut's first novel about a world run by machine. Published in 1952 its an interesting look into the possibilities of new technology and a scary glimpse into a world ruled by machines. When you think about how much of our lives are automated this book is almost chilling.

10. Jailbird - A story about Walter Starbuck, who is simultaneously in and out of control of his own life. Written in an autobiographical style, we watch Walter from the sidelines as he goes through the ebbs and flows of his life jumping - in true Vonnegut fashion - from the past the present the future.

11. Galapagos - The passengers on the Bahia de Darwin become the Adam and Eves when the boat sinks while cruising to the Galapagos Islands. Probably the most difficult Vonnegut book to work through, but if you dig hard enough you will find the wry charm buried beneth the ecological devices that make this book what it is.

12. Hocus Pocus - A book that is not for first time Vonnegut readers, but more for those who are use to his style and prepared for his mockery. Some of the themes in this book include racism, crime, education, socialism, alcoholism, and many more. A complicated little novel.

13. Wampeters, Foma, & Granfalloons - A collection of opinions from the man himself. This is a rare direct opening into Vonnegut's mind, where his ideas aren't cloaked under his Kilgore Trout's disguise. Includes reviews, essays, and speeches.

As if that isn't evidence enough of my love for this man, here's a look at my Vonnegut collection: