Kurt Vonnegut
Vonnegut in 2004
Born	Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. November 11, 1922(1922-11-11) Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Died	April 11, 2007 (aged 84) New York, New York, United States
Occupation	Novelist, Essayist
Nationality	American
Writing period	1950-2005
Genres	Literary fiction Satire Black comedy Science Fiction
Influences Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Joseph Heller, William March, Mark Twain, George Orwell, Eugene V. Debs, Powers Hapgood, George Bernard Shaw, James Thurber
Influenced Douglas Adams[1], Bill Bryson, Paul Auster, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Jhonen Vasquez, Louis Sachar, George Saunders, Haruki Murakami, Carlton Mellick III, Kula Shaker, Chris Bachelder, James Rivera, John Irving
Official website http://www.vonnegut.com/

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The City of New York New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Nationality is a relationship between a Person and their State of Origin, Culture, association Affiliation and/or Loyalty The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction Literary fiction is a term that has come into common usage since around 1970 principally to distinguish serious fiction (that is work with claims to Literary merit Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and Performing arts In satire human Black comedy, also known as black humor or dark comedy, is a sub-genre of Comedy and Satire where topics and events that are usually regarded Louis-Ferdinand Céline was the Pen name of French writer and doctor Louis-Ferdinand Destouches (27 May 1894 &ndash 1 July 1961 Joseph Heller (May 1 1923 – December 12 1999 was an American Satirical novelist Short story writer and playwright William March (born William Edward Campbell September 18 1893 – May 15 1954 was an American World War I veteran short-story writer and novelist cited Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30 1835 – April 21 1910 better known by the Pen name Mark Twain, was an American Humorist, satirist Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer Eugene Victor Debs (November 5 1855 &ndash October 20 1926 was an American union leader one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Powers Hapgood ( 28 December 1899 - 4 February 1949) was an American Trade Union Organizer and Socialist Party leader known George Bernard Shaw ( (26 July 1856 &ndash 2 November 1950 was an Irish Playwright. James Grover Thurber ( December 8, 1894 &ndash November 2, 1961) was an American Humorist and Cartoonist. Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 &ndash 11 May 2001 was an English author comic Radio dramatist William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, (born 8 December 1951 is a best-selling American Author of humorous books on Travel, as well Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947, Newark New Jersey) is a Brooklyn -based author known for works blending Absurdism T Coraghessan Boyle (also known as TC Boyle, born Thomas John Boyle on December 2, 1948) is a U Jhonen Vasquez (born September 1, 1974) also known by his Pseudonyms Mr Louis Sachar (ˈsækɚ or "Sacker" (born March 20, 1954) is an American Author of children's books who is best known for George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an acclaimed American Writer of short stories is a popular contemporary Japanese Writer and Translator. His work has been described by the Virginia Quarterly Review as "easily accessible Carlton Mellick III ( July 2, 1977, Phoenix, Arizona) is an American author currently residing in Portland, Oregon Kula Shaker are an English multi-platinum selling Psychedelic rock band who came to prominence during the Britpop era Chris Bachelder (born 1971 is an American Writer, E-book pioneer and frequent contributor to the publications McSweeney's Quarterly Concern James Rivera is a Heavy metal singer he was the singer for Seven Witches between 2002 and 2005 John Winslow Irving (born March 2, 1942 as John Wallace Blunt Jr (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) (pronounced /ˈvɒnəgət/) was a prolific and genre-bending American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy, and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973). Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and Performing arts In satire human Black comedy, also known as black humor or dark comedy, is a sub-genre of Comedy and Satire where topics and events that are usually regarded Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death (1969 by Kurt Vonnegut, is a Post-modern anti-war science-fiction novel For other uses see Cat's cradle (disambiguation. Cat's Cradle is a 1963 Science fiction Novel by Kurt Vonnegut Breakfast of Champions or Goodbye Blue Monday is a 1973 novel by the American author Kurt Vonnegut. ^[2]

Life

Early years

Kurt Vonnegut was born to fourth-generation German-American parents, son and grandson of architects in the Indianapolis firm Vonnegut & Bohn, on Armistice Day. German Americans ( German: Deutschamerikaner) are citizens of the United States of Ethnic German ancestry Armistice Day is the anniversary of the symbolic end of World War I on 11 November, 1918. ^[3] As a student at Shortridge High School in Indianapolis,^[4] Vonnegut worked on the nation's first daily high school newspaper, The Daily Echo. Shortridge High School is a Public high school located in Indianapolis Indiana. He attended Cornell University from 1940 to 1943^[5], where he served as assistant managing editor and associate editor for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun, and majored in chemistry^[6]. The Cornell Daily Sun is an independent daily Newspaper published in Ithaca New York by students at Cornell University. Chemistry (from Egyptian kēme (chem meaning "earth") is the Science concerned with the composition structure and properties While attending Cornell, he was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity, following in the footsteps of his father. Delta Upsilon ( ΔY) is the 6th oldest international all-male college Greek-letter social fraternity and is the first non-secret fraternity ever While at Cornell, Vonnegut enlisted in the U. S. Army. The army sent him to the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) and the University of Tennessee to study mechanical engineering. Carnegie Mellon University (also known as CMU) is a private Research University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United The University of Tennessee (also known as UT) sometimes called the University of Tennessee Knoxville ( UT Knoxville, or UTK) is the flagship ^[2] On May 14, 1944, Mothers' Day, his mother, Edith S. Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Mother's Day is a day honoring Mothers celebrated on various days in many places around the world (Lieber) Vonnegut^[7], committed suicide. ^[8]

World War II

Photo of Dresden shortly after the bombing. Dresden (etymologically from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the riverside forest, Drježdźany is the Capital city of the German

Kurt Vonnegut's experience as a soldier and prisoner of war had a profound influence on his later work. As a Private with the 106th Infantry Division, Vonnegut was cut off from his battalion along with 5 other battalion scouts and wandered behind enemy lines for several days until captured by Wehrmacht troops on December 14, 1944. Wehrmacht (literally "defense force" was the name of the unified Armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945 Events 1287 - St Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses killing over 50000 people Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[9] Imprisoned in Dresden, Vonnegut witnessed the fire bombing of Dresden in February 1945, which destroyed most of the city. Dresden (etymologically from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the riverside forest, Drježdźany is the Capital city of the German The Bombing of Dresden by the British Royal Air Force (RAF and United States Army Air Force (USAAF between 13 February and 15 February 1945 12 weeks Vonnegut was one of a few American prisoners of war in Dresden to survive, in their cell in an underground meat locker of a slaughterhouse that had been converted to a prison camp. A slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (from the French verb abattre, "to strike down" or freezing works ( New Zealand The administration building had the postal address Schlachthof Fünf (Slaughterhouse Five) which the prisoners took to using as the name for the whole camp. Vonnegut recalled the facility as "Utter destruction", "carnage unfathomable. " The Germans put him to work gathering bodies for mass burial. "But there were too many corpses to bury. So instead the Nazis sent in troops with flamethrowers. A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of Fire. All these civilians' remains were burned to ashes. "^[10] This experience formed the core of one of his most famous works, Slaughterhouse-Five, and is a theme in at least six other books. Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death (1969 by Kurt Vonnegut, is a Post-modern anti-war science-fiction novel ^[10]

Vonnegut was freed by Red Army troops in May 1945. The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya Upon returning to America, he was awarded a Purple Heart for what he called a "ludicrously negligible wound,"^[11] later writing in Timequake that he was given the decoration after suffering a case of "frostbite. The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving For an alternate meaning of timequake, see Millennium (film. Timequake is a semi- autobiographical Frostbite ( congelatio in Medical terminology) is the Medical condition whereby damage is caused to Skin and other tissues "^[12]

Post-war career

After the war, Vonnegut attended the University of Chicago as a graduate student in anthropology and also worked as a police reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. The University of Chicago is a Private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. Anthropology (/ˌænθɹəˈpɒlədʒi/ from Greek grc ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos, "human" -λογία -logia) is the study of City News Bureau of Chicago, or City Press, was a News bureau that served as one of the first Cooperative News agencies in the United States According to Vonnegut in Bagombo Snuff Box, the university rejected his first thesis on the necessity of accounting for the similarities between Cubist painters and the leaders of late 19th century Native American uprisings, saying it was "unprofessional. Bagombo Snuff Box is an assortment of short stories written by Kurt Vonnegut published in 1999 Cubism was a 20th century Avant-garde Art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States " He left Chicago to work in Schenectady, New York, in public relations for General Electric. Schenectady (skəˈnɛktədi Θkahnéhtati in Tuscarora) is a City in Schenectady County, New York, United States New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Public relations (PR is the practice of managing the flow of Information between an Organization and its Publics Public relations - often referred The University of Chicago later accepted his novel Cat's Cradle as his thesis, citing its anthropological content and awarded him the M. For other uses see Cat's cradle (disambiguation. Cat's Cradle is a 1963 Science fiction Novel by Kurt Vonnegut A. degree in 1971. ^[13]

On the verge of abandoning writing, Vonnegut was offered a teaching job at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. The University of Iowa, is a major teaching service and Research university located on a campus in Iowa City Iowa, on the banks of the Iowa River The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa is a graduate-level While he was there, Cat's Cradle became a best-seller, and he began Slaughterhouse-Five, now considered one of the best American novels of the 20th century, appearing on the 100 best lists of Time magazine^[14] and the Modern Library. Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death (1969 by Kurt Vonnegut, is a Post-modern anti-war science-fiction novel Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and ^[15]

Early in his adult life, he moved to Barnstable, Massachusetts, a town on Cape Cod. Barnstable is a city referred to as the Town of Barnstable, in the U The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Cape Cod (or simply the Cape to most New Englanders is a Peninsula nearly coextensive with Barnstable County Massachusetts and forming the easternmost ^[16]

Personal life

The author was known as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. , until his father's death in October 1957; after that he was known simply as Kurt Vonnegut. He was also the younger brother of Bernard Vonnegut, an atmospheric scientist who discovered that silver iodide could be used for cloud seeding, the process of artificial stimulation of rain. Dr Bernard Vonnegut ( August 29, 1914 – April 25, 1997) was an American atmospheric scientist credited with discovering Silver iodide ( Ag[[Iodine I]] is a Chemical compound used in Photography and as an Antiseptic in medicine Cloud seeding, a form of weather modification, is the attempt to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from Clouds by dispersing substances

He married his childhood sweetheart, Jane Marie Cox, after returning from World War II, but the couple separated in 1970. He did not divorce Cox until 1979, but from 1970 Vonnegut lived with the woman who would later become his second wife, photographer Jill Krementz. Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the termination of a Marriage. Jill Krementz (born 19 February 1940) is a Photographer and Author. ^[2] Krementz and Vonnegut were married after the divorce from Cox was finalized.

He raised seven children: three with his first wife, three more born to his sister Alice and adopted by Vonnegut after she died of cancer, and a seventh, Lily, adopted with Krementz. Cancer (medical term Malignant Neoplasm) is a class of Diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled Two of these children have published books, including his only biological son, Mark Vonnegut, who wrote The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity, about his experiences in the late 1960s and his major psychotic breakdown and recovery; the tendency to insanity he acknowledged may be partly hereditary, influencing him to take up the study of medicine and orthomolecular psychiatry. Mark Vonnegut (born 11 May, 1947) is an American Pediatrician and Writer. The Eden Express A Memoir of Insanity, is a 1975 book by Mark Vonnegut, son of American writer Kurt Vonnegut, about his experiences Psychosis (from the Greek ψυχή "psyche" for mind or soul and -οσις "-osis" for abnormal condition with adjective psychotic Orthomolecular medicine is a form of Complementary and alternative medicine which aims to prevent and treat disease with substances which are natural to the body Orthomolecular psychiatry is a branch of Orthomolecular medicine, an Alternative medicine known for its claims that Dietary supplements and other unorthodox Mark was named after Mark Twain, whom Vonnegut considered an American saint. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30 1835 – April 21 1910 better known by the Pen name Mark Twain, was an American Humorist, satirist A saint (from the Latin sanctus) is a human being to whom has been attributed (and who has generally demonstrated a high level of Holiness and Sanctity ^[17]

His daughter Edith ("Edie"), an artist, was named after Kurt Vonnegut's mother, Edith Lieber. Edith Vonnegut (born 1949 in Schenectady New York) is an American artist She has had her work published in a book titled Domestic Goddesses and was once married to Geraldo Rivera. His youngest daughter, Nanette ("Nanny"), was named after Nanette Schnull, Vonnegut's paternal grandmother. She is married to realist painter Scott Prior and is the subject of several of his paintings, notably "Nanny and Rose".

Of Vonnegut's four adopted children, three are his nephews: James, Steven, and Kurt Adams; the fourth is Lily, a girl he adopted as an infant in 1982. Nephew is a term referring to the son of one's Sibling. Sons of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews even though there is no blood relation James, Steven, and Kurt were adopted after a traumatic week in 1958, in which their father James Carmalt Adams was killed on September 15 in the Newark Bay rail crash when his commuter train went off the open Newark Bay bridge in New Jersey, and their mother—Kurt's sister Alice—died of cancer. Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event. Events 668 - Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II is assassinated in his bath at Syracuse Italy. The Central Railroad of New Jersey constructed a four track railroad bridge that consisted of four main lift spans opening in 1926 replacing an outdated two track span built in 1901 New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. In Slapstick, Vonnegut recounts that Alice's husband died two days before Alice herself and her family tried to hide the knowledge from her, but she found out when an ambulatory patient gave her a copy of the New York Daily News a day before she herself died. Slapstick, or Lonesome No More! is a Science fiction Novel by American author Kurt Vonnegut. The Daily News of New York City is the fifth most-widely circulated daily Newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 703137 The fourth and youngest of the boys, Peter Nice, went to live with a first cousin of their father in Birmingham, Alabama as an infant. Birmingham (ˈbɝmɪŋhæm is the largest City in the US state of Alabama and is the County seat of Jefferson County. Lily is a singer and actress.

On November 11, 1999, the asteroid 25399 Vonnegut was named in Vonnegut's honor. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Asteroids, sometimes called Minor planets or planetoids', are bodies—primarily of the inner Solar System —that are smaller than planets but 25399 Vonnegut is an asteroid discovered on November 11 1999 by C ^[18]

On January 31, 2001, a fire destroyed the top story of his home. Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Vonnegut suffered smoke inhalation and was hospitalized in critical condition for four days. He survived, but his personal archives were destroyed. After leaving the hospital, he recuperated in Northampton, Massachusetts. Northampton is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States.

Vonnegut smoked unfiltered Pall Mall cigarettes, which he claimed is a "classy way to commit suicide. Pall Mall Cigarettes are a brand of cigarettes produced by R J A cigarette ( French "small Cigar " from cigar + -ette) is a product consumed through Smoking and manufactured "^[19]

Death

Vonnegut died on April 11, 2007, in Manhattan after a fall at his Manhattan home several weeks prior resulted in irreversible brain injuries. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York Brain damage, or Acquired brain injury, is the destruction or degeneration of Brain cells. ^[2][20][21]

Posthumous tributes

• At the annual Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library McFadden Memorial Lecture at Butler University in Indianapolis, on April 27, 2007, where Vonnegut was being honored posthumously, his son Mark delivered a speech that the author wrote for the event, and which was reported as the last thing he wrote. The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library (IMCPL is the Public library system that serves the citizens of Marion County, Indiana, United Butler University is a private Liberal arts University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Events 1124 - David I becomes King of Scotland. 1296 - Battle of Dunbar: The Scots are defeated Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. It ends with this: "I thank you for your attention, and I'm outta here. "^[22]
• Following his death, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central gave Vonnegut a small tribute frame before the closing credits with his own famous phrase on death--"so it goes". The Daily Show (known in its current incarnation as The Daily Show Comedy Central is an American Cable television and Satellite television channel that carries predominantly Comedy programming There is also a short clip of him being interviewed by Jon Stewart, in which he claims that gonorrhea, giraffes and hippopotami are evidence of evolution being controlled by a divine power. Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28 1962 is an American Comedian, Satirist, Actor, Writer, and Gonorrhea (also gonorrhoea) caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae, is a common Sexually transmitted disease. The giraffe ( Giraffa camelopardalis) is an African Even-toed ungulate Mammal, the tallest of all land-living Animal Species The hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius) from the Greek ἱπποπόταμος ( hippopotamos, ιππος hippos meaning "horse" This is also a theme used in his print artwork. Confetti print #26 states "Evolution is so creative. eVolution is the third Album by eLDee, it was due to be released in 2008 That's how come we got giraffes and the clap. "
• Filmmaker Michael Moore included Vonnegut in the dedications for his 2007 film Sicko; at the end of the film, the words "Thank You Kurt Vonnegut for Everything" come up on the screen. Michael Francis Moore (born April 23 1954 is an Academy Award -winning American filmmaker author and liberal Political commentator. Sicko is a 2007 Documentary film by filmmaker Michael Moore that investigates the American health care system, focusing on its
• The satirical newspaper The Onion also contained a tribute to Vonnegut soon after he died. For the vegetable see Onion. The Onion is an American " fake news " organization In an incredibly rare instance of seriousness and respect for them, they paid a tribute to their fellow satirist by posting a notification of his death, followed by his famous quote "So it goes" and a humorous reference to his work Slaughterhouse Five stating that he shouldn't be referred to as dead ". Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death (1969 by Kurt Vonnegut, is a Post-modern anti-war science-fiction novel . . without checking Dresden for his younger self first. "^[23]
• Historian, friend, and fellow socialist Howard Zinn published an obituary retelling Vonnegut's literary contributions to the modern socialist movement. Howard Zinn (born August 24 1922 is an American Historian, political scientist, social critic, activist and Playwright, best known
• For a brief period after Vonnegut's death, the front page of the website for the famous alt-rock band Wilco carried a phrase from one of the author's works out of respect: "If I should die, let this be my epitaph: HIS ONLY PROOF FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC". Wilco is an American rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of Alternative country group

Works

See also: List of works by Kurt Vonnegut

Writing career

Vonnegut's first short story, "Report on the Barnhouse Effect" appeared in the February 11, 1950 edition of Collier's (it has since been reprinted in his short story collection, "Welcome to the Monkey House"). The following is a complete list of literary works by author Kurt Vonnegut. " Report on the Barnhouse Effect " is a Kurt Vonnegut Short story that is part of the collection Welcome to the Monkey House. Collier's Weekly was an American Magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957 His first novel was the dystopian novel Player Piano (1952), in which human workers have been largely replaced by machines. A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος alternatively cacotopia, kakotopia, cackotopia, or anti-utopia) is the vision of a society Player Piano, author Kurt Vonnegut's first Novel, was published in 1952. He continued to write short stories before his second novel, The Sirens of Titan, was published in 1959. The Sirens of Titan ( 1959) is a Comic science fiction Novel by Kurt Vonnegut. ^[24] Through the 1960s, the form of his work changed, from the relatively orthodox structure of Cat's Cradle (which in 1971 earned him a master's degree) to the acclaimed, semiautobiographical Slaughterhouse-Five, given a more experimental structure by using time travel as a plot device. For other uses see Cat's cradle (disambiguation. Cat's Cradle is a 1963 Science fiction Novel by Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death (1969 by Kurt Vonnegut, is a Post-modern anti-war science-fiction novel This article details time travel itself For other uses see Time Traveler.

These structural experiments were continued in Breakfast of Champions (1973), which included many rough illustrations, lengthy non-sequiturs and an appearance by the author himself, as a deus ex machina. Breakfast of Champions or Goodbye Blue Monday is a 1973 novel by the American author Kurt Vonnegut. A deus ex machina ( lat. ˈdeːus eks ˈmaːkʰina literally "god from a/the machine" is an improbable

"This is a very bad book you're writing," I said to myself.

"I know," I said.

"You're afraid you'll kill yourself the way your mother did," I said.

"I know," I said.

Vonnegut attempted suicide in 1984 and later wrote about this in several essays. ^[25]

Breakfast of Champions became one of his best-selling novels. It includes, in addition to the author himself, several of Vonnegut's recurring characters. One of them, science fiction author Kilgore Trout, plays a major role and interacts with the author's character. Kilgore Trout is a Fictional character created by author Kurt Vonnegut.

In addition to recurring characters, there are also recurring themes and ideas. One of them is ice-nine (a central wampeter in his novel Cat's Cradle), said to be a new form of ice with a different crystal structure from normal ice. Ice-nine is a Fictional material conceived by writer Kurt Vonnegut in his novel Cat's Cradle. Bokononism is the fictional Religion practiced by many of the characters in Kurt Vonnegut 's novel Cat's Cradle. For other uses see Cat's cradle (disambiguation. Cat's Cradle is a 1963 Science fiction Novel by Kurt Vonnegut When a crystal of ice-nine is brought into contact with liquid water, it becomes a seed that "teaches" the molecules of liquid water to arrange themselves into ice-nine. A seed crystal is a small piece of Single crystal material from which a large Crystal of the same material typically is to be grown In Chemistry, a molecule is defined as a sufficiently stable electrically neutral group of at least two Atoms in a definite arrangement held together by This process is not easily reversible, however, as the melting point of ice-nine is 114. The melting point of a solid is the temperature range at which it changes state from solid to Liquid. 4 degrees Fahrenheit (45. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 8 degrees Celsius). The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale.

Although many of his novels involved science fiction themes, they were widely read and reviewed outside the field, not least due to their anti-authoritarianism. Authoritarianism describes a Form of government characterized by an emphasis on the Authority of the State in a republic or union For example, his seminal short story Harrison Bergeron graphically demonstrates how an ethos like egalitarianism, when combined with too much authority, engenders horrific repression. " Harrison Bergeron " is a Dystopian Science fiction Short story written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr Ethos (ˈiːθɒs (grc ἦθος ἔθος plurals ethe (ἤθη ethea (ἤθεα is a Greek word originally meaning "accustomed Egalitarianism (derived from the French word égal, meaning equal) is a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have

In much of his work, Vonnegut's own voice is apparent, often filtered through the character of science fiction author Kilgore Trout (whose name is based on that of real-life science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon), characterized by wild leaps of imagination and a deep cynicism, tempered by humanism. Theodore Sturgeon (born Edward Hamilton Waldo on February 26, 1918; died May 8, 1985) was an American Science fiction In the foreword to Breakfast of Champions, Vonnegut wrote that as a child, he saw men with locomotor ataxia, and it struck him that these men walked like broken machines; it followed that healthy people were working machines, suggesting that humans are helpless prisoners of determinism. Locomotor Ataxia is inability to control one's body movements as intended Determinism is the philosophical Proposition that every event including human cognition and behaviour decision and action is causally determined Vonnegut also explored this theme in Slaughterhouse-Five, in which protagonist Billy Pilgrim "has come unstuck in time" and has so little control over his own life that he cannot even predict which part of it he will be living through from minute to minute. The Protagonist or main character is the central figure of a story. Vonnegut's well-known phrase "So it goes", used ironically in reference to death, also originated in Slaughterhouse-Five and became a slogan for anti-Vietnam War protestors in the 1960s. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia "Its combination of simplicity, irony, and rue is very much in the Vonnegut vein. "^[20]

With the publication of his novel Timequake in 1997, Vonnegut announced his retirement from writing fiction. For an alternate meaning of timequake, see Millennium (film. Timequake is a semi- autobiographical He continued to write for the magazine In These Times, where he was a senior editor,^[26] until his death in 2007, focusing on subjects ranging from contemporary U. In These Times is a politically progressive monthly magazine of news and opinion published by the Institute for Public Affairs in Chicago. S. politics to simple observational pieces on topics such as a trip to the post office. In 2005, many of his essays were collected in a new bestselling book titled A Man Without a Country, which he insisted would be his last contribution to letters. A Man Without a Country is a collection of essays published in 2005 by the author Kurt Vonnegut. ^[27]

An August 2006 article reported:

He has stalled finishing his highly anticipated novel If God Were Alive Today—or so he claims. "I've given up on it . . . It won't happen. . . . The Army kept me on because I could type, so I was typing other people's discharges and stuff. And my feeling was, 'Please, I've done everything I was supposed to do. Can I go home now?' That's what I feel right now. I've written books. Lots of them. Please, I've done everything I'm supposed to do. Can I go home now?"^[10]

The April 2008 issue of Playboy will feature the first published excerpt from the upcoming posthumously published Vonnegut book. International holidays and other major events April 1 - April Fools' Day April 4 - Qingming Festival (Mainland Playboy is an American Men's magazine, founded in Chicago Illinois, by Hugh Hefner and his associates which has grown into Playboy An extract is a substance made by extracting a part of a Raw material, often by using a Solvent such as Ethanol or Water. It will be a collection of short stories never before published.

In April 2008, the only posthumous book by Vonnegut, Armageddon in Retrospect, was published. International holidays and other major events April 1 - April Fools' Day April 4 - Qingming Festival (Mainland Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of non-fiction short stories about war and peace written by Kurt Vonnegut. It included never before published short stories by the writer and a letter that was written to his family during WWII when Vonnegut was captured as a prisoner of war. The book also contains drawings that Vonnegut himself drew and a few speeches that he gave. The introduction of the book was written by his son, Mark Vonnegut.

Design career

Vonnegut's work as a graphic artist began with his illustrations for Slaughterhouse-Five and developed with Breakfast of Champions, which included numerous felt-tip pen illustrations, such as anal sphincters, and other less scatological images. Later in his career, he became more interested in artwork, particularly silk-screen prints, pursued in collaboration with Joe Petro III. Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink blocking stencil Joe Petro III ( May 3 1956 &ndash) is a second generation fine artist who works as a Sculptor in Bronze, Clay and printmaking

In 2004, Vonnegut participated in the project The Greatest Album Covers That Never Were, where he created an album cover for Phish called Hook, Line and Sinker, which has been included in a traveling exhibition for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Phish is an American Jam band noted for their Musical improvisation, extended Jam sessions and cult following The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a Museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland Ohio, United States

Beliefs

Politics

He was deeply influenced by early socialist labor leaders, especially Indiana natives Powers Hapgood and Eugene V. Debs, and he frequently quotes them in his work. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Powers Hapgood ( 28 December 1899 - 4 February 1949) was an American Trade Union Organizer and Socialist Party leader known Eugene Victor Debs (November 5 1855 &ndash October 20 1926 was an American union leader one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial He named characters after both Debs (Eugene Debs Hartke in Hocus Pocus and Eugene Debs Metzger in Deadeye Dick) and Russian Communist leader Leon Trotsky (Leon Trotsky Trout in Galápagos). Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Leon Trotsky ( Russian:, Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lyev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij He was a lifetime member of the American Civil Liberties Union and was featured in a print advertisement for them. The American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU) consists of two separate Non-profit organizations the ACLU Foundation a 501(c(3 organization which focuses

Vonnegut frequently addressed moral and political issues but rarely dealt with specific political figures until after his retirement from fiction. (Although the downfall of Walter Starbuck, a minor Nixon administration bureaucrat who is the narrator and main character in Jailbird (1979), would not have occurred but for the Watergate scandal, the focus is not on the administration. Jailbird is a Novel by Kurt Vonnegut, originally published in 1979. The Watergate scandals were a series of Political scandals during the presidency of Richard Nixon that resulted in the Indictment of several of Nixon's ) His collection God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian referenced controversial assisted suicide proponent Jack Kevorkian. God Bless You Dr Kevorkian, by Kurt Vonnegut, is a collection of short fictional Interviews written by Vonnegut and first broadcast on NPR. Assisted suicide is the process by which an individual who may otherwise be incapable is provided with the means (drugs or equipment to commit Suicide. Jack Kevorkian (kɛˈvɔrkiːɛn (born on May 26, 1928) is an Armenian-American

With his columns for In These Times, he began a blistering attack on the Bush administration and the Iraq war. In These Times is a politically progressive monthly magazine of news and opinion published by the Institute for Public Affairs in Chicago. The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign "By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East?" he wrote. Chimpanzee (often shortened to chimp) is the common name for the two extant Species of Apes in the Genus Pan. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. "Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas. " In These Times quoted him as saying "The only difference between Hitler and Bush is that Hitler was elected. In These Times is a politically progressive monthly magazine of news and opinion published by the Institute for Public Affairs in Chicago. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States. "^[28][29]

In A Man Without a Country, he wrote that "George W. A Man Without a Country is a collection of essays published in 2005 by the author Kurt Vonnegut. Bush has gathered around him upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography. " He did not regard the 2004 election with much optimism; speaking of Bush and John Kerry, he said that "no matter which one wins, we will have a Skull and Bones President at a time when entire vertebrate species, because of how we have poisoned the topsoil, the waters and the atmosphere, are becoming, hey presto, nothing but skulls and bones. The United States presidential election of 2004 was held on Tuesday November 2, 2004, to elect the President of the United States. } John Forbes Kerry (born December 11 1943 is an American Politician who is currently serving his fourth term as the junior United States Senator Skull and Bones is an elite Secret society based at Yale University, in New Haven Connecticut. "^[30]

In 2005, Vonnegut was interviewed by David Nason for The Australian. The Australian, also referred to as The Oz, is a Broadsheet Newspaper published in Australia Monday through Saturday each During the course of the interview Vonnegut was asked his opinion of modern terrorists, to which he replied, "I regard them as very brave people. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion " When pressed further Vonnegut also said that "They [suicide bombers] are dying for their own self-respect. It's a terrible thing to deprive someone of their self-respect. It's [like] your culture is nothing, your race is nothing, you're nothing . The term race or racial group usually refers to the concept of categorizing Humans into Populations or groups on the basis of various sets . . It is sweet and noble—sweet and honourable I guess it is—to die for what you believe in. " (This last statement is a reference to the line "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" ["it is sweet and appropriate to die for your country"] from Horace's Odes, or possibly to Wilfred Owen's ironic use of the line in his Dulce Et Decorum Est. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori is a line from the Roman lyrical Poet Horace 's Odes (iii 2 Quintus Horatius Flaccus, ( Venosa, December 8, 65 BC - Rome, November 27, 8 BC known in the English-speaking world as Horace Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (18 March 1893 &ndash 4 November 1918 was an English Poet and Soldier, regarded by many as one of the leading "Dulce et Decorum Est" is a poem written by a British soldier and poet Wilfred Owen during the First World War in 1917 and published posthumously in 1920 ) Nason took offense at Vonnegut's comments and characterized him as an old man who "doesn't want to live any more . . . and because he can't find anything worthwhile to keep him alive, he finds defending terrorists somehow amusing. " Vonnegut's son, Mark, responded to the article by writing an editorial to the Boston Globe in which he explained the reasons behind his father's "provocative posturing" and stated that "If these commentators can so badly misunderstand and underestimate an utterly unguarded English-speaking 83-year-old man with an extensive public record of saying exactly what he thinks, maybe we should worry about how well they understand an enemy they can't figure out what to call. The Boston Globe (and Boston Sunday Globe) is the most widely circulated daily Newspaper in Boston and in New England, English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States "^[31]

A 2006 interview with Rolling Stone stated, " . Rolling Stone is a United States -based Magazine devoted to Music, Politics, and Popular culture that is published . . it's not surprising that he disdains everything about the Iraq War. The very notion that more than 2,500 U. S. soldiers have been killed in what he sees as an unnecessary conflict makes him groan. 'Honestly, I wish Nixon were president,' Vonnegut laments. 'Bush is so ignorant. ' "^[10]

Religion

Vonnegut described himself variously as a skeptic,^[32] freethinker,^[33] humanist,^[33] Unitarian Universalist,^[34] agnostic,^[32] and atheist. Religious skepticism is a type of Skepticism relating to Religion, but should not be confused with Atheism. Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that Beliefs should be formed on the basis of Science and Logic and should not be influenced Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appealing to universal Unitarian Universalism ( UUism) is a theologically liberal Religion characterized by its support for a "free and responsible search for truth Agnosticism ( Greek: α- a-, without + γνώσις gnōsis, knowledge after Gnosticism) is the philosophical view that the Atheism ^[35]

Vonnegut's views on religion were unconventional and nuanced. While rejecting the divinity of Jesus,^[35] he was nevertheless an ardent admirer, and believed that Jesus' Beatitudes informed his own humanist outlook. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) The Beatitudes (from Latin beatus, meaning "blessed" or "happy" is the beginning portion of the Sermon on the Mount of the Gospel of ^[36] Despite describing freethought, humanism and agnosticism as his "ancestral religion," and despite being a Unitarian, he also spoke of himself as being irreligious. Irreligion is a lack of religion indifference to religion or hostility to religion ^[33] In a press release by the American Humanist Association (of which Vonnegut was a prominent member), he was described as being "completely secular in his outlook. The American Humanist Association (AHA is an educational organization in the United States that advances Humanism. Secularism is generally the assertion that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from Religion or religious beliefs "^[37]

Vonnegut called himself a religious skeptic, and disbelieved in the supernatural. Religious skepticism is a type of Skepticism relating to Religion, but should not be confused with Atheism. ^[32] He considered religious doctrine to be "so much arbitrary, clearly invented balderdash," and believed people were motivated by loneliness to join religions. ^[38]

Vonnegut was descended from a family of German freethinkers, who were skeptical of "conventional religious beliefs. "^[39] His great-grandfather Clemens Vonnegut had authored a freethought book entitled Instruction in Morals, as well as an address for his own funeral in which he denied the existence of God, an afterlife, and Christian doctrines about sin and salvation. Kurt Vonnegut reproduced his great-grandfather's funeral address in his book Palm Sunday, and identified these freethought views as his "ancestral religion," declaring it a mystery as to how it was passed on to him. ^[32]

Vonnegut considered humanism to be a modern-day form of freethought,^[40] and advocated for it in various writings, speeches and interviews. His ties to organized humanism included membership as a Humanist Laureate in the Council for Secular Humanism's International Academy of Humanism. The Council for Secular Humanism (originally the Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism, or CODESH) is a secular humanist organization headquartered ^[41] Vonnegut also served as honorary president of the American Humanist Association (AHA), having taken over the position from his late colleague Isaac Asimov, and serving until his own death in 2007. Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian ^[42] In a letter to AHA members, Vonnegut wrote: "I am a humanist, which means, in part, that I have tried to behave decently without expectations of rewards or punishments after I am dead. "^[37]

Vonnegut identified himself as a Unitarian or Unitarian Universalist,^{[43] [34]} and was at one time a member of a Unitarian congregation. ^{[32] [44]}Palm Sunday reproduces a sermon he delivered to the First Parish Unitarian Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts concerning William Ellery Channing, who was a principal founder of Unitarianism in the United States. This article is about Dr William Ellery Channing the Unitarian theologian In 1986, Vonnegut spoke to a gathering of Unitarian Universalists in Rochester, New York, and the text of his speech is reprinted in his book Fates Worse Than Death. Also reprinted in that book was a "mass" by Vonnegut, which was performed by a Unitarian Universalist choir in Buffalo, New York. ^[45] Vonnegut identified Unitarianism as the religion that many in his freethinking family turned to when freethought and other German "enthusiasms" became unpopular in the United States during the World Wars. ^[33] Vonnegut's parents were married by a Unitarian minister, and his son had at one time aspired to become a Unitarian minister. ^[32] The Unitarian Universalist Association's website includes Vonnegut in its list of famous UUs. Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a liberal religious association ^[46]

Near the end of his life Vonnegut said that his epitaph ought to read: "The only proof he needed for the existence of God was music. "^[47]

Writing

In his book Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction, Vonnegut listed eight rules for writing a short story:

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia. Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the Lung. Frequently it is described as lung Parenchyma / alveolar inflammation and abnormal
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Vonnegut qualifies the list by adding that Flannery O'Connor broke all these rules except the first, and that great writers tend to do that. Mary Flannery O'Connor ( March 25 1925 &ndash August 3 1964) was an American Novelist, Short-story

In Chapter 18 of his book Palm Sunday, "The Sexual Revolution", Vonnegut grades his own works. He states that the grades "do not place me in literary history" and that he is comparing "myself with myself. " The grades are as follows:

• Player Piano: B
• The Sirens of Titan: A
• Mother Night: A
• Cat's Cradle: A-plus
• God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: A
• Slaughterhouse-Five: A-plus
• Welcome to the Monkey House: B-minus
• Happy Birthday, Wanda June: D
• Breakfast of Champions: C
• Slapstick: D
• Jailbird: A
• Palm Sunday: C

The last lines that Vonnegut wrote, in his last book, go thus:

When the last living thing
Has died on account of us,
How poetical it would be
If Earth could say,
In a voice floating up
Perhaps
From the floor
Of the Grand Canyon,
"It is done. Player Piano, author Kurt Vonnegut's first Novel, was published in 1952. The Sirens of Titan ( 1959) is a Comic science fiction Novel by Kurt Vonnegut. Mother Night is a novel by American author Kurt Vonnegut, first published in 1961 For other uses see Cat's cradle (disambiguation. Cat's Cradle is a 1963 Science fiction Novel by Kurt Vonnegut God Bless You Mr Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine is a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death (1969 by Kurt Vonnegut, is a Post-modern anti-war science-fiction novel Welcome to the Monkey House is also an album by The Dandy Warhols. Happy Birthday Wanda June is a play by Kurt Vonnegut, and a 1971 film adaptation of the play directed by Mark Robson. Breakfast of Champions or Goodbye Blue Monday is a 1973 novel by the American author Kurt Vonnegut. Slapstick, or Lonesome No More! is a Science fiction Novel by American author Kurt Vonnegut. Jailbird is a Novel by Kurt Vonnegut, originally published in 1979. Palm Sunday is a 1981 collection of short stories speeches essays letters and other previously unpublished works by author Kurt Vonnegut Jr The Grand Canyon "
People did not like it here. ''

Cameos

• Vonnegut played himself in a cameo in 1986's Back to School, in which he is hired by Rodney Dangerfield's Thornton Melon to write a paper on the topic of the novels of Kurt Vonnegut. A cameo role or cameo appearance (often shortened to just cameo) is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the Performing arts, such as For the movie see Back to School. Back to school, in Clothing Retail, is a product season and is characterized by a display of items appropriate Rodney Dangerfield ( November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004) born Jacob Cohen, was an American Comedian Recognizing the work as not Melon's own, Professor Turner tells him, "Whoever did write this doesn't know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut. "
• Vonnegut also makes brief cameos in the film adaptations of his novels Mother Night and Breakfast of Champions. Plot Germany Pre-WWII Campbell is born in New York State but due to his father relocating for business reasons he moves to Germany as a child Breakfast of Champions is a 1999 film adapted and directed by Alan Rudolph from the novel of the same name by Kurt Vonnegut Jr Mother Night was directed by Keith Gordon, who starred as Dangerfield's son in Back to School. Keith Gordon (born February 3, 1961) is an American Actor and Film director.
• He made a guest appearance on the 2002 DVD released by 1 Giant Leap leading the producers of the film to say "probably the most unbelievable result in our whole production was getting Kurt Vonnegut to agree to an interview". DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is This article is about the band For the Heroes episode see " One Giant Leap " In the film he states "music is, to me, proof of the existence of God. It is so extraordinarily full of magic and in tough times of my life I can listen to music and it makes such a difference"
• Vonnegut narrates and wrote the narrative of two oratorios with composer Dave Soldier recorded by the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, "A Soldier's Story" based on the execution of Private Eddie Slovik and "Ice-9 Ballads", adapted from Cat's Cradle. Dave Soldier (born November 6, 1956) is an American Composer and Performer residing in New York. The Manhattan Chamber Orchestra is a chamber Orchestra based in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Edward Donald Slovik ( February 18, 1920 &ndash January 31, 1945) was a private in the United States Army during World War For other uses see Cat's cradle (disambiguation. Cat's Cradle is a 1963 Science fiction Novel by Kurt Vonnegut
• Vonnegut appears briefly in the 2005 dramatic documentary The American Ruling Class playing himself. The American Ruling Class ( 2007) is a dramatic documentary film written by Lewis Lapham and directed by John Kirby that "explores
• Vonnegut appears briefly in the 2005 Dutch release of the three part BBC documentary 'D-Day to Berlin. The allies journey to victory', telling about his memories of the bombing of Dresden
• In 2007 Vonnegut is featured in the film Never Down as Robert and appears in several scenes.

In Pop culture

• There was a widely-circulated rumour that Vonnegut gave a commencement speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1997 in which he issued simple advice, most notably advising students to "wear sunscreen. A rumour or rumor (see spelling differences) is often viewed as "an unverified account or explanation of events circulating from person to person and UNHGradjpg|thumb|right| George H W Bush and Bill Clinton speaking at the University of New Hampshire commencement Wear Sunscreen or Sunscreen Speech are the common names of an essay actually called "Advice like youth probably just wasted on the young" written by Mary Schmich " In fact, the commencement speaker at MIT in 1997 was Kofi Annan; the text which circulated in Vonnegut's name, and which was later released as a spoken-word single by Baz Luhrmann, came from an article published in the Chicago Tribune on 1997 June 1 by columnist Mary Schmich. Kofi Atta Annan, GCMG (born 8 April 1938 is a Ghanaian Diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations Baz Luhrmann (born Mark Anthony Luhrmann on 17 September 1962 is an Oscar and Golden Globe -nominated Australian Film director, Screenwriter The Chicago Tribune is a major daily Newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and owned by the Tribune Company Events 193 - Roman Emperor Didius Julianus is Assassinated 987 - Hugh Capet is elected Mary Theresa Schmich is a Columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Born in Savannah Georgia, the oldest of eight children Schmich grew up in This confusion may have resulted from a statement Vonnegut made in 1999 in God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian:

  "I wish one and all long and happy lives, no matter what may become of them afterwards. Use sunscreen! Don’t smoke cigarettes. Cigars, however, are good for you. . . . Firearms are also good for you. . . . Gunpowder has zero fat and zero cholesterol. That goes for dumdums, too. "

• In 1974, Venus on the Half-Shell, a book by Philip José Farmer in a style similar to that of Vonnegut and attributed to Kilgore Trout, was published. Venus on the Half-Shell was first published in two parts beginning in the December 1974 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Philip José Farmer (born January 26 1918) is an American Author, principally known for his Science fiction and fantasy Kilgore Trout is a Fictional character created by author Kurt Vonnegut. This action caused some confusion among readers. For some time many assumed that Vonnegut must have written it; when the truth of its authorship came out, Vonnegut was reported as being "not amused"; in an issue of the semi-prozine The Alien Critic/Science Fiction Review, published by Richard E. Geis, Farmer claimed to have received an angry, obscenity-laden telephone call from Vonnegut about it. Richard E Geis is an American erotica and science fiction writer who won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1981 and 1982.
• In 2001's film Bridget Jones's Diary, the fictitious book, "Kafka's Motorbike" is described as being "Vonnegut-esque. "
• There is a song by the Psychedelic Rock band Nebula titled "So It Goes. Psychedelic rock is a style of Rock music that attempts to replicate the mind-altering experiences of hallucinogenic drugs. Nebula is a psychedelic Stoner rock band formed by Guitarist Eddie Glass and Drummer Ruben Romano after departing from " The entire song is an allusion to Slaughterhouse-Five. Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death (1969 by Kurt Vonnegut, is a Post-modern anti-war science-fiction novel
• There is a pop song by the band Ambrosia titled "Nice, Nice, Very Nice," that was inspired by, and directly references, concepts taken from Cat's Cradle. Ambrosia is a Musical group formed in the Los Angeles area during the early 1970s For other uses see Cat's cradle (disambiguation. Cat's Cradle is a 1963 Science fiction Novel by Kurt Vonnegut
• At the end of the film Can't Hardly Wait, Preston states that he will be attending a work shop with Kurt Vonnegut.
• On City and Colour's 2006 album Sometimes, track five is titled In the Water I Am Beautiful, a direct quote from the preface of Welcome to the Monkey House. City and Colour is an acoustic side-project fronted by Dallas Green, rhythm guitarist and singer for the Canadian post-hardcore band Alexisonfire. Welcome to the Monkey House is also an album by The Dandy Warhols.
• Vonnegut was paid tribute in the 1994 film The Stoned Age. The Stoned Age (also known as ' Tack's Chicks') is a 1994 American Comedy film directed by James Melkonian, set during
• Rapper Kyle Lucas named his live hip-hop band Vonnegutt after Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Their first cd was titled The Vice-Nine Ep referring the chemical "Ice-Nine" from Vonnegut's book Cat's Cradle.
• In the Criminal Minds episode Fear and Loathing Prentiss and Morgan turn out to be avid fans of Kurt Vonnegut and discuss Mother Night and Slaughterhouse-Five. Criminal Minds is an American crime drama that premiered September 22, 2005 on CBS. Mother Night is a novel by American author Kurt Vonnegut, first published in 1961 Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death (1969 by Kurt Vonnegut, is a Post-modern anti-war science-fiction novel
• The novel Marienbad My Love by Mark Leach contains excerpts from a novel titled “Let Me Love You,” which Leach claims he attempted to write in the style of some of Vonnegut’s later works, most notably Timequake. For an alternate meaning of timequake, see Millennium (film. Timequake is a semi- autobiographical ^[48]
• On Modest Mouse's 2001 release Sad Sappy Sucker, track 14 is titled "Secret Agent X-9," a reference to Frank Hoenikker's high school nickname in Cat's Cradle. Modest Mouse are an American Alternative rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah Washington by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Sad Sappy Sucker is the name of the 2001 album release by Indie rock band Modest Mouse. For other uses see Cat's cradle (disambiguation. Cat's Cradle is a 1963 Science fiction Novel by Kurt Vonnegut
• In the Lost episode, The Constant, the character Desmond is said to have become "unstuck in time", similarly to the Slaughterhouse-Five protagonist, Billy Pilgrim. Lost is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American serial drama television series. Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death (1969 by Kurt Vonnegut, is a Post-modern anti-war science-fiction novel Additionally, in the episode Meet Kevin Johnson during the game show Michael is watching, Slaughterhouse-Five and Vonnegut are both named in one of the questions. Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death (1969 by Kurt Vonnegut, is a Post-modern anti-war science-fiction novel
• mewithoutYou has a song titled "Everything was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt" on their album I Never Said I Was Brave
• Crime In Stereo's song "Bicycles For Afghanistan" takes its name from a chapter title in Cat's Cradle. MewithoutYou (stylised as mewithoutYou, where the capitalized "You" refers to God is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -based experimental rock band Crime In Stereo is a Long Island -based punk band Comparable to Gorilla Biscuits, Dag Nasty, Brand New, and Lifetime For other uses see Cat's cradle (disambiguation. Cat's Cradle is a 1963 Science fiction Novel by Kurt Vonnegut
• Joe Satriani's 1987 album Surfing with the Alien contains an instrumental entitled "Ice 9". Joseph "Satch" Satriani (born July 15, 1956 in Westbury New York, U Surfing with the Alien is the second Album by Instrumental rock solo artist Joe Satriani, released in 1987

Tribute to Vonnegut in the film The Stoned Age. The Stoned Age (also known as ' Tack's Chicks') is a 1994 American Comedy film directed by James Melkonian, set during

• Kurt Vonnegut is the title of a song by Born Ruffians on the 2008 release Red, Yellow & Blue and features a verse from Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle:

  "Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly;
  Man got to sit and wonder why, why, why;
  Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land;
  Man got to tell himself he understand. Born Ruffians are a Canadian Indie rock band originally from the small town of Midland Ontario, located near Georgian Bay. For other uses see Cat's cradle (disambiguation. Cat's Cradle is a 1963 Science fiction Novel by Kurt Vonnegut "

Notes and references

Bibliography

• Haught, James A. 2,000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People with the Courage to Doubt. Amherst: Prometheus Books, 1996. ISBN 1-57392-067-3
• Vonnegut, Kurt. Fates Worse Than Death: An Autobiographical Collage of the 1980s. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1991. ISBN 0-399-13633-9
• Vonnegut, Kurt. A Man without a Country. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1-58322-713-8
• Vonnegut, Kurt. Palm Sunday. New York: The Dial Press, 1981 (reprinted 2006). ISBN 978-0-385-33426-6

External links

• Vonnegut.com Kurt Vonnegut's official website
• Kurt Vonnegut's online fiction at Free Speculative Fiction Online
• The "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut

Databases

• Kurt Vonnegut at the Internet Book List
• Kurt Vonnegut Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
• Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Reviews

• Kurt Vonnegut's Unpublished Writings - The Village Voice reviews Vonnegut's Armageddon in Retrospect.
• So It Goes: The Work Of Kurt Vonnegut The New York Times. Reviews of books by Vonnegut, and Vonnegut's reviews of other authors' books
• Kurt Vonnegut on DVD: So it goes DVD Spin Doctor. Roundup of Vonnegut films on DVD posted after his death
• Kurt Vonnegut's Unpublished Writings a review of the posthumously published volume Armageddon in Retrospect, and Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace

Interviews

• Kurt's son Mark Vonnegut talks about his father on The Young Turks.
• The Paris Review Interview by David Hayman, David Michaelis, George Plimpton, Richard Rhodes. Issue 69, Spring 1977.
• CBS Radio Audio interview by Don Swaim. 1981. RealAudio] at Wired for Books. Wired for Books is an online educational project of the WOUB Center for Public Media at Ohio University in Athens Ohio.
• Whad'Ya Know? Audio interview by Michael Feldman. October 2, 1999. Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) RealPlayer
• NOW Interview on PBS. October 2005.
• Beating Around the Bush: An Evening of Satire Kurt Vonnegut and Art Buchwald, Barry Crimmins and Paul Krassner at The New York Society for Ethical Culture. Arthur Buchwald (October 20 1925 &ndash January 17 2007 was an American humorist best known for his long-running column that he wrote in The Paul Krassner (born April 9, 1932) was the founder editor and a frequent contributor to the Freethought magazine The Realist, first October 6, 2005. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
• ABC Radio National Audio interview by Phillip Adams. October 2005.
• Kurt Vonnegut Judges Modern Society Audio interview on NPR. January 23, 2006. Events 393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
• The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti Audio interview on CBC. February 1, 2006. Events 1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
• Kurt Vonnegut’s Final Interview(s) from the New York Observer (July 10, July 15, 2007). The New York Observer is a weekly newspaper first published in New York City on September 22, 1987, by Arthur L Events 48 BC - Battle of Dyrrhachium, Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat to Pompey in Macedonia. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final
• The Infinite Mind in Second Life with Kurt Vonnegut. August 2006 The Infinite Mind, made broadcast history as it aired a four-part special taped inside the 3-D virtual on-line community Second Life. Among those interviewed in front of a live, virtual audience was this 40-minute conversation with author Kurt Vonnegut.

Fan sites and remembrances

• The Vonnegut Web
• Neil Gaiman, Orson Scott Card, David Brin and John Shirley Remember Kurt Vonnegut on MarsDust. com
• When Kurt Vonnegut Met Sammy Davis, Jr. at 10 Zen Monkeys
• Thanks Kurt Vonnegut by Ethan Bodnar
• StarShipSofa audio podcast on life and works of Kurt Vonnegut Jr
• Page 13 Missing subtitled: The End of an Era and the end of a Feud (a tribute to Vonnegut) by Attila Gyenis

Obituaries and memorials

• The New York Times Obituary
• The Economist Obituary
• The Times (London) Obituary
• "Thank You Mr. Vonnegut" Joel Bleifuss. In These Times