Vonnegut!

StellarJoe · February 13, 2007, 04:23:59 PM

Listen:
I've only recently gotten into his work, but I have quickly grown to love him and his work. I'm currently reading Bluebeard, and as a fellow egotistical abstract artist, I can't help but love every page of it so far.

So any Kurt Vonnegut fans beside me? If so, what's your favorite book by him? And so on...

starfighter · February 14, 2007, 09:15:57 PM

Joe, read through the "Favorite Books" thread for several mentions of Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse-5 seems to be most folks introduction to his work and was certainly the best represented in film.
Cat's Cradle is my other favorite from his earlier works. He should have taken the time to get tax-free status for Bokononism.
There are a few books with references to Kilgore Trout, culminating in Breakfast of Champions if I remember correctly. There is an original sci-fi novel "Venus on the Half-Shell" that is credited to Trout and ghost-written by Philip Jose Farmer which I would guess might be hard to find. I have it so I haven't had cause to look for it but I doubt it's still in print. Maybe eBay?
I did get one opportunity to see him speak to an audience several years ago when he was brought in to Davenport IA for the local colleges artist-in-residence program and he was every bit as interesting as I expected. I saw Hal Holbrook's stage presentation of Mark Twain a couple years ago and it just solidified my opinion that Vonnegut was the 20th Century Twain.

Pak-Man · February 15, 2007, 12:48:13 PM

My contemporary Literature teacher had a theory that Venus on the Halfshell was actually Ghost-Written by Vonnegut and backed it up by comparing the biographical information to some of Vonnegut's biographical information. Been too long or I'd cite specific proofs. :^)

Tarantulas · February 15, 2007, 01:34:55 PM

The brains (especially Kevin) are huge Vonnegut fans.

chinton · February 15, 2007, 02:53:43 PM

Love Vonnegut Slaughter-House Five is brilliant.

I also love:

Mother Night
Breakfast Of Champions
The Sirens Of Titan
Cats Cradle

starfighter · February 16, 2007, 12:17:22 AM

For more information on Venus on the Half-Shell, go to Amazon and read some of the reviews about it. It's more readily available through them than it was on eBay.
I was also surprised to see listings for CDs from a rock band named Kilgore Trout.

timechaser · February 17, 2007, 10:31:22 AM

The first of his I read was God Bless you, Mr. Rosewater, still one of my favorites. Of course Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse-5 are classics and should be read by everyone alive.

msmpls · February 22, 2007, 02:26:27 PM

Quote from: timechaser on February 17, 2007, 10:31:22 AM
The first of his I read was God Bless you, Mr. Rosewater, still one of my favorites.

MalachiConstant · February 23, 2007, 02:32:06 AM

I'm clearly a fan of Sirens of Titan, but also highly recommend Hocus Pocus and Deadeye Dick.

Nunyerbiz · February 23, 2007, 03:24:12 PM

Hey Vonnegut... I'm gonna stop payment on the check!!!!

F@*k me? Kurt... can you read lips? F#$k you! Next time I'll hire Robert Ludlam!

starfighter · April 11, 2007, 07:24:05 PM

Just ran across Mr. Vonnegut's death notice on a news site a few minutes ago. Died April 11, 2007 at the age of 84. Considering how much and how long he smoked, he really lived years beyond what many of his fans might have expected.
I'm going to have to pick out a couple of his books to reread in his honor.

6079SmithW · April 11, 2007, 07:33:57 PM

Oh, God dammit. He was my favorite living author for pretty much as long as I can remember.

Dammit dammit dammit dammit dammit.

He looked old as hell when he was on the Daily Show, but I really didn't ever think he was going to die. He's been old since before I was born.

RandyMistie · April 11, 2007, 07:43:48 PM

He fucking died???!!! Ah shit... I have loved his work since I was in Junior freakin' high school...

I am so depressed right now... I just saw him on the "Daily Show" last year, (as Smith mentioned). Holy crap...

I loved everything he wrote, there are no favorites... and now I am really sad...

"Cat's Cradle"... maybe... truly one of America's great writers.

StellarJoe · April 12, 2007, 06:56:52 AM

Damn, I wish this thread didn't turn into this.

RIP Vonnegut.

Maybe we'll figure out what would be in his potato barn.

RandyMistie · April 12, 2007, 07:02:25 AM

Quote from: StellarJoe on April 12, 2007, 06:56:52 AM
Damn, I wish this thread didn't turn into this.

RIP Vonnegut.

Maybe we'll figure out what would be in his potato barn.

Dude! Isn't it eerie that you, like, started this thread almost on the day he died?

The bright side is, you just started his work so you have so much great stuff of his to look forward to!

News:

Vonnegut!