Read for the first time in August 2012.
This is a collection of Vonnegut’s essays, speeches, short stories and other artifacts with some original writing tying everything together. It’s not a whole lot dissimilar to his later novels but without an overarching plot. It mostly covers the period 1974 - 1979 or so. It is very good.
It’s not even terribly dated. Not even the cold war stuff. It doesn’t feel like an artifact at all. It also reminds me of the importance of Vonnegut. He is not my favorite author really, though I do think he is really great. I read most of his novels about ten years ago and loved all of them except for Player Piano (run-of-the-mill dystopia, tedious read) and Timequake (weird small-mindedness; bitterness and cynicism pervades).
I don’t believe that Vonnegut is necessarily among the greatest novelists as producer of novels as a literary art form, but I do believe his ideas about how to be a human being are hugely important. If there is any author that I think people should read, it is Vonnegut. Even more so than people who I think wrote better novels.
People should read Vonnegut the way some people read the Bible, as a source of moral instruction.
There’s a lot of powerful stuff in here, including a non-religious passion play about Jesus that is a total highlight. A lot of great thoughts and a lot of great quotes. And just really a lot of great thoughts on how to be a human being.
His entire oeuvre (with exception of Timequake and Player Piano) should be studied and read and inculcated in children by good liberal parents everywhere.
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