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| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut, 1998-09-08 “A free-wheeling vehicle . . . an unforgettable ride!”—The New York Times Cat’s Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet’s ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist, a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer, and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat’s Cradle is one of the twentieth century’s most important works—and Vonnegut at his very best. “[Vonnegut is] an unimitative and inimitable social satirist.”—Harper’s Magazine “Our finest black-humorist . . . We laugh in self-defense.”—Atlantic Monthly |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut, 2014-01-14 NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Newsweek/The Daily Beast • The Huffington Post • Kansas City Star • Time Out New York • Kirkus Reviews This extraordinary collection of personal correspondence has all the hallmarks of Kurt Vonnegut’s fiction. Written over a sixty-year period, these letters, the vast majority of them never before published, are funny, moving, and full of the same uncanny wisdom that has endeared his work to readers worldwide. Included in this comprehensive volume: the letter a twenty-two-year-old Vonnegut wrote home immediately upon being freed from a German POW camp, recounting the ghastly firebombing of Dresden that would be the subject of his masterpiece Slaughterhouse-Five; wry dispatches from Vonnegut’s years as a struggling writer slowly finding an audience and then dealing with sudden international fame in middle age; righteously angry letters of protest to local school boards that tried to ban his work; intimate remembrances penned to high school classmates, fellow veterans, friends, and family; and letters of commiseration and encouragement to such contemporaries as Gail Godwin, Günter Grass, and Bernard Malamud. Vonnegut’s unmediated observations on science, art, and commerce prove to be just as inventive as any found in his novels—from a crackpot scheme for manufacturing “atomic” bow ties to a tongue-in-cheek proposal that publishers be allowed to trade authors like baseball players. (“Knopf, for example, might give John Updike’s contract to Simon and Schuster, and receive Joan Didion’s contract in return.”) Taken together, these letters add considerable depth to our understanding of this one-of-a-kind literary icon, in both his public and private lives. Each letter brims with the mordant humor and openhearted humanism upon which he built his legend. And virtually every page contains a quotable nugget that will make its way into the permanent Vonnegut lexicon. • On a job he had as a young man: “Hell is running an elevator throughout eternity in a building with only six floors.” • To a relative who calls him a “great literary figure”: “I am an American fad—of a slightly higher order than the hula hoop.” • To his daughter Nanny: “Most letters from a parent contain a parent’s own lost dreams disguised as good advice.” • To Norman Mailer: “I am cuter than you are.” Sometimes biting and ironical, sometimes achingly sweet, and always alive with the unique point of view that made him the true cultural heir to Mark Twain, these letters comprise the autobiography Kurt Vonnegut never wrote. Praise for Kurt Vonnegut: Letters “Splendidly assembled . . . familiar, funny, cranky . . . chronicling [Vonnegut’s] life in real time.”—Kurt Andersen, The New York Times Book Review “[This collection is] by turns hilarious, heartbreaking and mundane. . . . Vonnegut himself is a near-perfect example of the same flawed, wonderful humanity that he loved and despaired over his entire life.”—NPR “Congenial, whimsical and often insightful missives . . . one of [Vonnegut’s] very best.”—Newsday “These letters display all the hallmarks of Vonnegut’s fiction—smart, hilarious and heartbreaking.”—The New York Times Book Review |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Love, Kurt Kurt Vonnegut, 2020-12-01 A never-before-seen collection of deeply personal love letters from Kurt Vonnegut to his first wife, Jane, compiled and edited by their daughter “A glimpse into the mind of a writer finding his voice.”—The Washington Post “If ever I do write anything of length—good or bad—it will be written with you in mind.” Kurt Vonnegut’s eldest daughter, Edith, was cleaning out her mother’s attic when she stumbled upon a dusty, aged box. Inside, she discovered an unexpected treasure: more than two hundred love letters written by Kurt to Jane, spanning the early years of their relationship. The letters begin in 1941, after the former schoolmates reunited at age nineteen, sparked a passionate summer romance, and promised to keep in touch when they headed off to their respective colleges. And they did, through Jane’s conscientious studying and Kurt’s struggle to pass chemistry. The letters continue after Kurt dropped out and enlisted in the army in 1943, while Jane in turn graduated and worked for the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, D.C. They also detail Kurt’s deployment to Europe in 1944, where he was taken prisoner of war and declared missing in action, and his eventual safe return home and the couple’s marriage in 1945. Full of the humor and wit that we have come to associate with Kurt Vonnegut, the letters also reveal little-known private corners of his mind. Passionate and tender, they 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 bring to light the origins of Vonnegut the writer, when Jane was the only person who believed in and supported him supported him, the young couple having 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. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Pity the Reader Kurt Vonnegut, Suzanne McConnell, 2019-11-05 “A rich, generous book about writing and reading and Kurt Vonnegut as writer, teacher, and friend . . . Every page brings pleasure and insight.”—Gail Godwin, New York Times bestselling author 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. His former student, Suzanne 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 is a bonanza for writers and readers and Vonnegut fans everywhere. “Part homage, part memoir, and a 100% guide to making art with words, Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style is a simply mesmerizing book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough!”—Andre Dubus III, #1 New York Times bestselling author “The blend of memory, fact, keen observation, spellbinding descriptiveness and zany characters that populated Vonnegut’s work is on full display here.”—James McBride, National Book Award-winning author |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Welcome to the Monkey House Kurt Vonnegut, 2007-12-18 “[Kurt Vonnegut] strips the flesh from bone and makes you laugh while he does it. . . . There are twenty-five stories here, and each hits a nerve ending.”—The Charlotte Observer Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut’s shorter works. Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly, these superb stories share Vonnegut’s audacious sense of humor and extraordinary range of creative vision. Includes the following stories: “Where I Live” “Harrison Bergeron” “Who Am I This Time?” “Welcome to the Monkey House” “Long Walk to Forever” “The Foster Portfolio” “Miss Temptation” “All the King’s Horses” “Tom Edison’s Shaggy Dog” “New Dictionary” “Next Door” “More Stately Mansions” “The Hyannis Port Story” “D.P.” “Report on the Barnhouse Effect” “The Euphio Question” “Go Back to Your Precious Wife and Son” “Deer in the Works” “The Lie” “Unready to Wear” “The Kid Nobody Could Handle” “The Manned Missiles” “Epicac” “Adam” “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: The Sirens of Titan Kurt Vonnegut, 1964 |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Kurt Vonnegut's America Jerome Klinkowitz, 2009 Following an introduction characterizing Vonnegut as Klinkowitz came to know him over the course of their friendship, this study charts the impact of Vonnegut on American society and of that society on Vonnegut for more than a half-century to illustrate how each informed the other. -- taken from cover. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian Kurt Vonnegut, 1999 This fictional adventure takes the form of a series of interviews' - brief pieces originally read on WNYC, Manhattan's public radio station but now revised and rewritten. As a 'reporter on the afterlife' Vonnegut trips down 'the blue tunnel to the pearly gates' and imagines an afterworld peopled, for the most part, with characters of great dignity and wit who managed to make their unique contributions by simply being who they are. Subjects include Issac Newton, James Earl Ray, Mary Shelley, John Brown, William Shakespeare, and some twenty-five others.' |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Jailbird Kurt Vonnegut, 2010-07-28 “[Kurt Vonnegut] has never been more satirically on-target. . . . Nothing is spared.”—People Jailbird takes us into a fractured and comic, pure Vonnegut world of high crimes and misdemeanors in government—and in the heart. This wry tale follows bumbling bureaucrat Walter F. Starbuck from Harvard to the Nixon White House to the penitentiary as Watergate’s least known co-conspirator. But the humor turns dark when Vonnegut shines his spotlight on the cold hearts and calculated greed of the mighty, giving a razor-sharp edge to an unforgettable portrait of power and politics in our times. Praise for Jailbird “[Vonnegut] is our strongest writer . . . the most stubbornly imaginative.”—John Irving “A gem . . . a mature, imaginative novel—possibly the best he has written . . . Jailbird is a guided tour de force of America. Take it!”—Playboy “A profoundly humane comedy . . . Jailbird definitely mounts up on angelic wings—in its speed, in its sparkle, and in its high-flying intent.”—Chicago Tribune Book World “Joyously inventive . . . gleams with the loony magic Vonnegut alone can achieve.”—Cosmopolitan “Vonnegut is our great apocalyptic writer, the closest thing we’ve had to a prophet since . . . Lenny Bruce.”—Chicago Sun-Times “Vonnegut at his impressive best. . . . His imaginative leaps alone . . . are worth the price of admission. . . . His far-reaching metaphysical and cultural concerns . . . are ultimately serious and worth our contemplation.”—The Washington Post |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Bluebeard Kurt Vonnegut, 2009-10-14 “Ranks with Vonnegut’s best and goes one step beyond . . . joyous, soaring fiction.”—The Atlanta Journal and Constitution Broad humor and bitter irony collide in this fictional autobiography of Rabo Karabekian, who, at age seventy-one, wants to be left alone on his Long Island estate with the secret he has locked inside his potato barn. But then a voluptuous young widow badgers Rabo into telling his life story—and Vonnegut in turn tells us the plain, heart-hammering truth about man’s careless fancy to create or destroy what he loves. Praise for Bluebeard “Vonnegut is at his edifying best.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer “The quicksilver mind of Vonnegut is at it again. . . . He displays all his talents—satire, irony, ridicule, slapstick, and even a shaggy dog story of epic proportions.”—The Cincinnati Post “[Kurt Vonnegut is] a voice you can trust to keep poking holes in the social fabric.”—San Francisco Chronicle “It has the qualities of classic Bosch and Slaughterhouse Vonnegut. . . . Bluebeard is uncommonly feisty.”—USA Today “Is Bluebeard good? Yes! . . . This is vintage Vonnegut—good wine from his best grapes.”—The Detroit News “A joyride . . . Vonnegut is more fascinated and puzzled than angered by the human stupidities and contradictions he discerns so keenly. So hop in his rumble seat. As you whiz along, what you observe may provide some new perspectives.”—Kansas City Star |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Welcome to the Monkey House Kurt Vonnegut, 2014 A collection of twenty-five short works by the American author written between 1950 and 1968 and originally printed in a wide range of publications including The Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, and Ladies' Home Journal. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: A Man Without a Country Kurt Vonnegut, 2017-06-20 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “For all those who have lived with Vonnegut in their imaginations . . . this is what he is like in person.”–USA Today In a volume that is penetrating, introspective, incisive, and laugh-out-loud funny, one of the great men of letters of this age–or any age–holds forth on life, art, sex, politics, and the state of America’s soul. From his coming of age in America, to his formative war experiences, to his life as an artist, this is Vonnegut doing what he does best: Being himself. Whimsically illustrated by the author, A Man Without a Country is intimate, tender, and brimming with the scope of Kurt Vonnegut’s passions. Praise for A Man Without a Country “[This] may be as close as Vonnegut ever comes to a memoir.”–Los Angeles Times “Like [that of] his literary ancestor Mark Twain, [Kurt Vonnegut’s] crankiness is good-humored and sharp-witted. . . . [Reading A Man Without a Country is] like sitting down on the couch for a long chat with an old friend.”–The New York Times Book Review “Filled with [Vonnegut’s] usual contradictory mix of joy and sorrow, hope and despair, humor and gravity.”–Chicago Tribune “Fans will linger on every word . . . as once again [Vonnegut] captures the complexity of the human condition with stunning calligraphic simplicity.”–The Australian “Thank God, Kurt Vonnegut has broken his promise that he will never write another book. In this wondrous assemblage of mini-memoirs, we discover his family’s legacy and his obstinate, unfashionable humanism.”–Studs Terkel |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut, 1999-01-12 Kurt Vonnegut’s masterpiece, Slaughterhouse-Five is “a desperate, painfully honest attempt to confront the monstrous crimes of the twentieth century” (Time). Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time • One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous World War II firebombing of Dresden, the novel is the result of what Kurt Vonnegut described as a twenty-three-year struggle to write a book about what he had witnessed as an American prisoner of war. It combines historical fiction, science fiction, autobiography, and satire in an account of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a barber’s son turned draftee turned optometrist turned alien abductee. As Vonnegut had, Billy experiences the destruction of Dresden as a POW. Unlike Vonnegut, he experiences time travel, or coming “unstuck in time.” An instant bestseller, Slaughterhouse-Five made Kurt Vonnegut a cult hero in American literature, a reputation that only strengthened over time, despite his being banned and censored by some libraries and schools for content and language. But it was precisely those elements of Vonnegut’s writing—the political edginess, the genre-bending inventiveness, the frank violence, the transgressive wit—that have inspired generations of readers not just to look differently at the world around them but to find the confidence to say something about it. Authors as wide-ranging as Norman Mailer, John Irving, Michael Crichton, Tim O’Brien, Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Strout, David Sedaris, Jennifer Egan, and J. K. Rowling have all found inspiration in Vonnegut’s words. Jonathan Safran Foer has described Vonnegut as “the kind of writer who made people—young people especially—want to write.” George Saunders has declared Vonnegut to be “the great, urgent, passionate American writer of our century, who offers us . . . a model of the kind of compassionate thinking that might yet save us from ourselves.” More than fifty years after its initial publication at the height of the Vietnam War, Vonnegut’s portrayal of political disillusionment, PTSD, and postwar anxiety feels as relevant, darkly humorous, and profoundly affecting as ever, an enduring beacon through our own era’s uncertainties. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: The Handicapper General Kurt Vonnegut, 1993 |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: While Mortals Sleep Kurt Vonnegut, 2011 While Mortals Sleep is a smart, clear-eyed collection of stories from one of the most original writers in American fiction. Set in trailers, bars and factories, Vonnegut conjures up a world where men and machines, art and artifice, fame and fortune become curiously twisted and characters pit their dreams and fears against a cruel and comically indifferent world. Written early in his career, and never published before, these tightly plotted stories are infused with Vonnegut's distinctive blend of observation, imagination and scabrous humour. This collection features an introduction by Dave Eggers. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Palm Sunday Kurt Vonnegut, 2010-11-23 FROM THE ONE-OF-A-KIND IMAGINATION THAT BROUGHT US SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5 AND CAT'S CRADLE 'Kurt Vonnegut is either the funniest serious writer around or the most serious funny writer' Los Angeles Times Book Review An 'autobiographical collage' of speeches, stories and essays, in Palm Sunday, Kurt Vonnegut writes beguilingly about everything from country music to George Bush, his favourite comedians to his mother's midnight mania, and bittersweet tributes to a dead best friend and a dead marriage. Resonating with his singular voice, this is a self-portrait in writing that showcases why Kurt Vonnegut is as genius an essayist and commentator on American society as he is a novelist. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Hocus Pocus Kurt Vonnegut, 2011-08-31 'Although it is set in the near future, Hocus Pocus is the most topical, realistic Vonnegut novel to date, and shows the struggle of an artist a little impatient with allegory and more than a little impatient with his own country' - New York Times Book Review Some get all the luck – but not Eugene Debs Hartke. Ex-Vietnam vet, ex-college professor, and now a TB-stricken inmate at Tarkington State Reformatory, his life has been warped by one ludicrous farce after another. Here, on scraps of paper pilfered from the prison library, he recounts his own story for posterity, revealing the hypocrisy and injustices of a world that just doesn’t want him to thrive. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: The Writer's Crusade Tom Roston, 2021-11-09 The story of Kurt Vonnegut and Slaughterhouse-Five, an enduring masterpiece on trauma and memory Kurt Vonnegut was twenty years old when he enlisted in the United States Army. Less than two years later, he was captured by the Germans in the single deadliest US engagement of the war, the Battle of the Bulge. He was taken to a POW camp, then transferred to a work camp near Dresden, and held in a slaughterhouse called Schlachthof Fünf where he survived the horrific firebombing that killed thousands and destroyed the city. To the millions of fans of Vonnegut’s great novel Slaughterhouse-Five, these details are familiar. They’re told by the book’s author/narrator, and experienced by his enduring character Billy Pilgrim, a war veteran who “has come unstuck in time.” Writing during the tumultuous days of the Vietnam conflict, with the novel, Vonnegut had, after more than two decades of struggle, taken trauma and created a work of art, one that still resonates today. In The Writer’s Crusade, author Tom Roston examines the connection between Vonnegut’s life and Slaughterhouse-Five. Did Vonnegut suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? Did Billy Pilgrim? Roston probes Vonnegut’s work, his personal history, and discarded drafts of the novel, as well as original interviews with the writer’s family, friends, scholars, psychologists, and other novelists including Karl Marlantes, Kevin Powers, and Tim O’Brien. The Writer’s Crusade is a literary and biographical journey that asks fundamental questions about trauma, creativity, and the power of storytelling. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: The Vonnegut Encyclopedia Marc Leeds, 2016-10-25 Now expanded and updated, this authorized compendium to Kurt Vonnegut’s novels, stories, essays, and plays is the most comprehensive and definitive edition to date. Over the course of five decades, Kurt Vonnegut created a complex and interconnected web of characters, settings, and concepts. The Vonnegut Encyclopedia is an exhaustive guide to this beloved author’s world, organized in a handy A-to-Z format. The first edition of this book covered Vonnegut’s work through 1991. This new and updated edition encompasses his writing through his death in 2007. Marc Leeds, co-founder and founding president of the Kurt Vonnegut Society and a longtime personal friend of the author’s, has devoted more than twenty-five years of his life to cataloging the Vonnegut cosmos—from the birthplace of Kilgore Trout (Vonnegut’s sci-fi writing alter ego) to the municipal landmarks of Midland City (the midwestern metropolis that is the setting for Vonnegut’s 1973 masterpiece Breakfast of Champions). The Vonnegut Encyclopedia identifies every major and minor Vonnegut character from Celia Aamons to Zog, as well as recurring images and relevant themes from all of Vonnegut’s works, including lesser-known gems like his revisionist libretto for Stravinsky’s opera L’Histoire du soldat and his 1980 children’s book Sun Moon Star. Leeds provides expert notes explaining the significance of many items, but relies primarily on extended quotations from Vonnegut himself. A work of impressive scholarship in an eminently browsable package, this encyclopedia reveals countless connections readers may never have thought of on their own. A rarity among authors of serious fiction, Kurt Vonnegut has always inspired something like obsession in his most dedicated fans. The Vonnegut Encyclopedia is an invaluable resource for readers wishing to revisit his fictional universe—and those about to explore it for the first time. Praise for The Vonnegut Encyclopedia “An essential collection for fans of the singular satirist.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Indispensable.”—Publishers Weekly “If you’re somebody who has read one Kurt Vonnegut book then there’s a chance you’ve read them all. For the devout reader of Vonnegut there’s a voracious sense of completism. And, Marc Leeds and his new [The Vonnegut] Encyclopedia are here to guide you through it all. Just don’t blame him if you become unstuck in time while you’re reading.”—Inverse “Vonnegut enthusiasts will be delighted with Leeds’s exhaustive, almost obsessive, treatment of the characters, places, events, and tantalizingly mysterious references for which Vonnegut’s five-decade writing career is celebrated. . . . A wonderful and beautifully designed reference source.”—Booklist (starred review) “Leeds’s scholarship and genuine love for his subject matter render this encyclopedia a treasure trove for Vonnegut readers.”—The Nameless Zine |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Conversations with Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut, 1988 Gathers interviews with Vonnegut from each period of his career and offers a brief profile of his life and accomplishments. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Like Shaking Hands with God Kurt Vonnegut, Lee Stringer, 2011-01-04 Like Shaking Hands with God details a collaborative journey on the art of writing undertaken by two distinguished writers separated by age, race, upbringing, and education, but sharing common goals and aspirations. Rarely have two writers spoken so candidly about the intersection where the lives they live meet the art they practice. That these two writers happen to be Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer makes this a historic and joyous occasion. The setting was a bookstore in New York City, the date Thursday, October 1, 1998. Before a crowd of several hundred, Vonnegut and Stringer took up the challenge of writing books that would make a difference and the concomitant challenge of living from day to day. As Vonnegut said afterward, It was a magical evening. A book for anyone interested in why the simple act of writing things down can be more important than the amount of memory in our computers. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Deadeye Dick Kurt Vonnegut, 2010-10-31 Rudolf Waltz's principal objection to life was that it was too easy to make horrible mistakes. He was himself to become a double-murderer at the age of twelve - on Mother's Day. This would at least make subsequent mistakes seem fairly trivial. Rudolf's father, Otto Waltz, had in 1910 bought a painting in Vienna from a destitute Adolf Hitler, thereby possibly saving him from starvation for a future generation. He made the further mistake of setting himself up as an artist when he returned from Europe to Midland City, Ohio, where everyone knew Otto couldn't draw for sour apples. He had funds to indulge this grand illusion (in the splendor of a vast converted 'medieval granary' studio, reminiscent of Mount Fujiyama) because his father had made a fortune producing an opium-and-cocaine-laced quack medicine called Saint Elmo's Remedy, popularly known to be 'absolutely harmless unless discontinued'. The Waltz inheritance even stretched to a troupe of black servants, which was just as well since Rudy's mother was as disinclined to look after a home as his 'artist' father was to paint. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Between Time and Timbuktu Kurt Vonnegut, 1972 An experimental television play composed of excerpts from his novels and stories, Between Time and Timbuktu features Kurt Vonnegut’s special blend of scientific expertise, wit, and penetrating comment. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: The Brain-Dead Megaphone George Saunders, 2009-03-16 In the same vein as his much-loved weekly column for the Guardian Magazine, this is a hilarious and incisive collection of essays from George Saunders. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Unstuck in Time Gregory D. Sumner, 2011-11-08 In Unstuck in Time, Gregory Sumner guides us, with insight and passion, through a biography of fifteen of Kurt Vonnegut’s best known works, his fourteen novels starting with Player Piano (1952) all the way to an epilogue on his last book, A Man Without a Country (2005), to illustrate the quintessential American writer’s profound engagement with the American Dream in its various forms. Sumner gives us a poignant portrait of Vonnegut and his resistance to celebrating the traditional values associated with the American Dream: grandiose ambition, unbridled material success, rugged individualism, and winners over losers. Instead of a celebration of these values, we read and share Vonnegut’s outrage, his brokenhearted empathy for those who struggle under the ethos of survival-of-the-fittest in the frontier mentality—something he once memorably described as an impossibly tough-minded experiment in loneliness. Heroic and tragic, Vonnegut’s novels reflect the pain of his own life’s experiences, relieved by small acts of kindness, friendship, and love that exemplify another way of living, another sort of human utopia, an alternative American Dream, and the reason we always return to his books. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: A Saucer of Loneliness Theodore Sturgeon, 2013-04-16 Kurt Vonnegut cites Theodore Sturgeon as the inspiration for his character Kilgore Trout. This volume includes 12 stories from 1953, considered Sturgeon's golden era. Among them are such favorites as the title story, The Silken-Swift, A Way of Thinking, The Dark Room, The Clinic, and The World Well Lost, a story very ahead of its time in advocating gay rights. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Little Drops of Water (Stories) Kurt Vonnegut, 2009-10-20 Look at the Birdie is a collection of fourteen previously unpublished short stories from one of the most original writers in all of American fiction. In this series of perfectly rendered vignettes, written just as he was starting to find his comic voice, Kurt Vonnegut paints a warm, wise, and often funny portrait of life in post–World War II America—a world where squabbling couples, high school geniuses, misfit office workers, and small-town lotharios struggle to adapt to changing technology, moral ambiguity, and unprecedented affluence. Vonnegut offers a pitch-perfect portrait of a singing instructor cum lothario whose perfectly ordered bachelor lifestyle is thrown into chaos by a jilted chanteuse who won't take Go away for an answer—and knows how to turn the force of habit against him. Little Drops of Water and the thirteen other never-before-published pieces that comprise Look at the Birdie serve as an unexpected gift for devoted readers who thought that Kurt Vonnegut's unique voice had been stilled forever—and provide a terrific introduction to his short fiction for anyone who has yet to experience his genius. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: The Big Trip Up Yonder Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., 2016-07-16 The Big Trip Up Yonder by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Illustrated by Kossin. The Ford family, headed by 172-year-old Harold (Gramps), lives in a three-room apartment on the 76th floor of Building 257 of Alden Village, New York City, Connecticut. Gramps' grandson Louis, his wife Emerald, and 20 other descendants are crowded into the space, perpetually jockeying for Gramps' favor. Gramps gets the best food and the only private bedroom, and controls everyone's life by constantly revising his will to disinherit anyone who earns his displeasure. An offhand remark by Lou prompts Gramps to disinherit him and exile Lou and Em to the worst sleeping space in the apartment, near the bathroom. Lou then catches his great-grandnephew, newly wed Mortimer, diluting Gramps' anti-gerasone in the bathroom. Fearing Gramps' reaction to such a scheme, he tries to empty the bottle and refill it with the full-strength medicine, but accidentally breaks the bottle and is caught by Gramps, who only tells him to clean up the mess. The next morning, the family finds Gramps' bed empty and a note informing them that he is gone and that he bequeaths his estate to all his descendants to hold in common, share and share alike. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Shout About It from the Housetops (Stories) Kurt Vonnegut, 2009-10-20 Look at the Birdie is a collection of fourteen previously unpublished short stories from one of the most original writers in all of American fiction. In this series of perfectly rendered vignettes, written just as he was starting to find his comic voice, Kurt Vonnegut paints a warm, wise, and often funny portrait of life in post—World War II America–a world where squabbling couples, high school geniuses, misfit office workers, and small-town lotharios struggle to adapt to changing technology, moral ambiguity, and unprecedented affluence. In “Shout About It from the Housetops,” an unassuming storm window salesman observes the effects of full disclosure firsthand when he drops in on the town’s freshly minted celebrity couple–a notorious ladies’ man and his novelist wife, author of a scandalous bestseller not-so-loosely based on her real marriage. “Shout About It from the Housetops” and the thirteen other never-before-published pieces that comprise Look at the Birdie serve as an unexpected gift for devoted readers who thought that Kurt Vonnegut’s unique voice had been stilled forever–and provide a terrific introduction to his short fiction for anyone who has yet to experience his genius. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: And So It Goes Charles J. Shields, 2012-10-16 From the author of Mockingbird—the first authoritative biography of Kurt Vonnegut Jr., a writer who forever altered American literature In 2006, Charles Shields reached out to Kurt Vonnegut in a letter asking for his endorsement for a planned biography. The first response was no (A most respectful demurring by me for the excellent writer Charles J. Shields, who offered to be my biographer). Unwilling to take no for an answer, propelled by a passion for his subject, and already deep into his research, Shields wrote again and this time, to his delight, the answer came back: O.K. For the next year—a year that ended up being Vonnegut's last—Shields had unprecedented access to Vonnegut and his letters. While millions know Vonnegut as a counterculture guru, antiwar activist, and satirist of American culture, few outside his closest friends and family knew the full arc of his extraordinary life. And So It Goes changes that, painting the portrait of a man who made friends easily but always felt lonely, sold millions of books but never felt appreciated, and described himself as a humanist but fought with humanity at large. As a former public relations man, Vonnegut crafted his image carefully—the avuncular, curly-haired humorist—though he admitted, I myself am a work of fiction. The extremely wide and overwhelmingly positive review coverage for And So It Goes has been nothing less than extraordinary and confirm it as the definitive biography of Kurt Vonnegut. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Posthumanism in the Novels of Kurt Vonnegut Andrew Hicks, 2023-05 Posthumanism in the Novels of Kurt Vonnegut: Matter That Complains So draws on New Materialist, Eco-Critical and Systems Theory methodologies to highlight posthumanist themes in six of Vonnegut's most famous novels, challenging the prevailing critical consensus that he was a humanist writer. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Slaughterhouse-five, Or, The Children's Crusade, a Duty-dance with Death Kurt Vonnegut, 1969 A fourth-generation German-American now living in easy circumstances on Cape Cod (and smoking too much), who, as an American infantry scout hors de combat, as a prisoner of war, witnessed the fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany, The Florence of the Elbe, a long time ago, and survived to tell the tale. This is a novel somewhat in the telegraphic schizophrenic manner of tales of the planet Tralfamadore, where the flying saucers come from. Peace. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: We Are What We Pretend To Be Perseus, 2012-10-09 Vonnegut was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Reading, Learning, Teaching Kurt Vonnegut Paul Lee Thomas, 2006 Our English classrooms are often only as vibrant as the literature that we teach. This book explores the writing of contemporary American author, Kurt Vonnegut, who offers readers and students engaging fiction and nonfiction works that confront the reader and the world. Here, teachers will find an introduction to the life and works of Vonnegut and an opportunity to explore how to bring his works into the classroom as a part of the reading and writing curriculum. This volume attempts to confront what we teach and how we teach as English teachers through the vivid texts Vonnegut offers his readers. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Colleen Hoover Ebook Boxed Set Maybe Someday Series Colleen Hoover, 2022-11-22 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us and It Starts with Us, the “brilliant and realistic” (Tracey Garvis Graves, New York Times bestselling author) Maybe Someday trilogy about friendship, loyalty, and love—now in one exclusive ebook collection. In Maybe Someday, college student Sydney is devastated when she discovers that her beloved boyfriend is cheating on her. Facing an uncertain future, she finds herself increasingly entranced by her mysterious neighbor, Ridge. In Maybe Not, a spinoff novella to Maybe Someday, Ridge’s roommate Warren jumps at the chance to have a female roommate. But the wrong kind of sparks fly, with the two barely able to stand being around one another. Nevertheless, Warren is determined to woo the passionate and fiery Bridgette, if only she'd stop fighting him long enough to see how charming he is. Picking up where Maybe Someday left off, Maybe Now concludes the magical series as Maggie grapples with her illness and determination to live life to the fullest. She includes Ridge on her adventures, raising Sydney’s suspicions. As each of them faces questions about their future, Sydney must make an important decision about her and Ridge’s relationship. Filled with “true emotion, unforgettable characters, and just the right amount of sexual tension” (Kirkus Reviews), this collection is the perfect gift for Colleen Hoover fans. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: The Shatzkin Files Mike Shatzkin, |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Best of Science Fiction Philip K. Dick, 2024-02-02 Embark on a mind-bending journey through the realms of science and philosophy with Best of Science: Exploring the Mind of Philip K. Dick by Philip K. Dick. Immerse yourself in the visionary world of Dick's imagination as he delves into the mysteries of consciousness, reality, and the nature of existence. As you delve into the pages of this captivating collection, prepare to be transported to alternate dimensions, dystopian futures, and mind-bending realities. Through his groundbreaking works of science fiction, Dick offers readers a thought-provoking exploration of the human condition and the nature of reality itself. But amidst the twists and turns of Dick's narratives, one question arises: What profound insights and philosophical questions does Dick's work provoke, and how do they challenge our understanding of the world? Explore the depths of Dick's mind and the boundaries of reality with him as your guide, as he navigates themes of identity, free will, and the nature of consciousness in his groundbreaking science fiction. Are you ready to embark on a journey of intellectual discovery and exploration through the mind of Philip K. Dick? Engage with Dick's visionary tales, allowing yourself to be captivated by the richness of his imagination and the depth of his philosophical insights. Don't miss the opportunity to experience the brilliance of Best of Science by Philip K. Dick. Dive into this extraordinary collection now, and discover the mind-bending worlds and thought-provoking ideas that await within. Seize the chance to explore the boundaries of science and philosophy. Purchase your copy of Best of Science today and embark on a journey of intellectual discovery and exploration that will expand your mind and challenge your perceptions. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: KURT VONNEGUT COLLECTION. KURT. VONNEGUT, 2011 |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: Ursula K. Le Guin: The Last Interview Ursula K. Le Guin, 2019-02-05 “Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.” —Ursula K. Le Guin When she began writing in the 1960s, Ursula K. Le Guin was as much of a literary outsider as one can be: a woman writing in a landscape dominated by men, a science fiction and fantasy author in an era that dismissed “genre” literature as unserious, and a westerner living far from fashionable East Coast publishing circles. The interviews collected here—spanning a remarkable forty years of productivity, and covering everything from her Berkeley childhood to Le Guin envisioning the end of capitalism—highlight that unique perspective, which conjured some of the most prescient and lasting books in modern literature. |
| kurt vonnegut ebook collection: The Internet Encyclopedia, 3 Volume Set Hossein Bidgoli, 2004 The Handbook of Information Security is a definitive 3-volume handbook that offers coverage of both established and cutting-edge theories and developments on information and computer security. The text contains 207 articles from over 200 leading experts, providing the benchmark resource for information security, network security, information privacy, and information warfare. (Midwest). |
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Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – c. April 5, 1994) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana.
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Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with …
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Discover the world of Kurt Geiger, new styles from the Kensington collection and the latest designer handbags, footwear, accessories.
Kurt Workholding
Our line of Kurt vises includes high precision CNC vises, 5-axis vises, rotary table workholding solutions for VMCs, and ToolBlox tombstones. Our precision workholding solutions provide …
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Kurt Manufacturing is a global leader in precision, engineered metal components and products manufacturing. Utilizing the newest manufacturing technology to produce CNC-machined parts …
Kurt Cobain - Wikipedia
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – c. April 5, 1994) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana.
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Kurt - Wikipedia
Kurt is a male given name in Germanic languages. Kurt or Curt originated as short forms of the Germanic Konrad/Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including …
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Discover our new season arrivals for every look. Each piece has been designed in-house by our London design team to reflect the mood, diversity and creativity of our founding city.
Kurt's Notes – By Dr. Kurt Schaberg
Jun 3, 2025 · Below are my notes for a range of conditions commonly encountered by surgical pathologists and cytopathologists. I developed these as teaching aides for my resident didactic …
Kurt Warner - Wikipedia
Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with …
Reservation of rooms, seats and equipment (KURT)
Apr 22, 2025 · KURT - KU Leuven Reservation Tool. Start on www.kuleuven.be/kurt to reserve: Group study rooms in the libraries and learning centres of KU Leuven; Seats for study or …
