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Vonnegut Bibliography
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Kurt
Vonnegut
His Life Is an Open Book
There's nothing I can
tell you about the work of
Kurt Vonnegut which you
couldn't learn better
yourself by reading his
books. This to me has long
been his appeal--that he
is so straightforward,
that he says what he
means, that he explains
his allusions rather than
make the "uninformed"
reader feel bad or lost
for not getting the
literary or historical
reference. It was a
revelation to me when at
14 I read these words:
"There are two symbols in
this book..." What!?
Symbols were what we were
being taught to dutifully
flush out of hiding in my
high school English
classes. Reading was about
interpretation, all texts
were obscure codes needing
keen analytical skill to
decipher.
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| Vonnegut
subverts that assumption,
often repeating that reading
is hard enough as it is, so
it's the writer's job to 1)
have something to say and 2)
say it clearly. Maybe this
is why he wasn't taught at
his billion-dollar alma
mater Cornell
when I was a student there
in the late 1980's-- he
makes professors feel
obsolete. That, to me, is a
good thing. After all, one
of the myths about American
life which Vonnegut lays
bare is that of the
importance of higher
education-- it's not so much
about learning as it is
about making connections. |
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| Not that
connections are bad
per se, but
one must be able to
distinguish
meaningful
associations based
on common goals and
interests (karasses)
from trumped-up
distinctions devised
to create an
us-vs.-them
mentality (granfalloons).
Vonnegut introduces
the terms karass
and granfalloon
in Cat's
Cradle,
a satiric novel
whose observation of
social structures
was so keen it
fulfilled Vonnegut's
anthropology
dissertation
requirement long
after the author had
abandoned his
studies at the
University of
Chicago. Instead of
going off to study
"primitive"
cultures, Vonnegut
brings his curiosity
and talent to bear
on the society in
which he lives
--America in the
latter half of the
20th century-- and
exposes its flaws,
foibles, and
frailties with
a wit and insight
which is inevitably
compared to his
hero's, Mark
Twain.
Criticized by
his own father for
never having
created a villain,
Vonnegut's
characters are
motivated by
either
lonesomeness,
boredom ("What are
people for?"), or
biological and
environmental
factors beyond
their control. But
an at least
partial corrective
for all three
conditions
exists--artificial
extended families
analogous to the
tribal cultures of
his anthropolgy
studies and the
real-life extended
family of
Vonnegut's idyllic
Indiana boyhood.
The theme gains
prominence with
each subsequent
book, most overtly
explained in the
flawed Slapstick and most eloquently summarized in God Bless You, Mr.
Rosewater:
"We're here to
help each other
get through this
thing, whatever it
is."
Vonnegut's ideas
are so humane, his
words so
compassionate, his
advice
so sensible,
that
his readers
feel a strong
connection to the
man, and, by
extension, to one
another. Perhaps
his greatest
contribution has
been the unwitting
creation of a
global family of
admirers who share
and recognize in
one another the
desire to exhibit
that most uncommon
of human
traits--common
decency.
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| In His Own
Words |
| Vonnegut calls
these collections of
letters, essays, speeches,
and autobiographical
sketches blivits,
a word he defines
as "two pounds of shit
in a one-pound bag." |
| This is where you can find
numerous commencement
speeches, book reviews, and
meditations on the creative
process and the importance
of family, not to
mention the lyrics
to his favorite country
song. |
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| The most
revealing of the batch is Conversations...,
a compilation of 20 years'
worth of interviews from
various sources. |
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Back to
Vonnegut Bibliography
For a truly comprehensive
site, visit http://www.duke.edu/~crh4/vonnegut/
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