Changes

His parents' wedding was held in 1913 as a grand event in Indianapolis, attended by those in the highest social circles there.<ref>''Palm Sunday'', p. 51.</ref> His father was trained as an architect at [[MIT]]<ref>''Palm Sunday'', p. 62.; Vonnegut, Kurt (1991). ''Fates Worse Than Death: An Autobiographical Collage of the 1980s'' (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons), p. 117.</ref>, and Vonnegut recounts he would often tell true stories with what he felt were unusual outcomes and that stood on their own merit as worth telling.<ref>Vonnegut, Kurt (1979). ''Jailbird'' (New York: Dell), pp. 15-16.</ref>

His parents' wedding was held in 1913 as a grand event in Indianapolis, attended by those in the highest social circles there.<ref>''Palm Sunday'', p. 51.</ref> His father was trained as an architect at [[MIT]]<ref>''Palm Sunday'', p. 62.; Vonnegut, Kurt (1991). ''Fates Worse Than Death: An Autobiographical Collage of the 1980s'' (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons), p. 117.</ref>, and Vonnegut recounts he would often tell true stories with what he felt were unusual outcomes and that stood on their own merit as worth telling.<ref>Vonnegut, Kurt (1979). ''Jailbird'' (New York: Dell), pp. 15-16.</ref>

Vonnegut was one of three children, his brother Bernard growing up to become an esteemed atmospheric physicist.<ref>''Palm Sunday'', p. 99.</ref> Like so many in America when the Great Depression hit, his family suffered from financial insecurity, and in 1932 when his father brought over a businessman offering a suspicious investment that gave his father hope of regaining that security, the precocious younger Vonnegut questioned the issuer, much to the consternation of his father, but the businessman later ended up cheating many in Indianapolis out of their wealth when his scheme turned out to be fraudulent.<ref>''Palm Sunday'', pp. 221-224.</ref>

Vonnegut was one of three children, his brother Bernard growing up to become an esteemed atmospheric physicist.<ref>''Palm Sunday'', p. 99.</ref> Like so many in America when the Great Depression hit, his family suffered from financial insecurity, and in his family it took the form of an unemployment of his architect father lasting over a decade.

 

In 1932 when his father brought over a businessman offering a suspicious investment that gave his father hope of regaining a greater financial security, the precocious younger Vonnegut questioned the issuer, much to the consternation of his father, but the businessman later ended up cheating many in Indianapolis out of their wealth when his scheme turned out to be fraudulent.<ref>''Palm Sunday'', pp. 221-224.</ref>

Vonnegut recounted growing up in Indianapolis with a fondness for reading Mark Twain and the kind of pranks often found in his works.  When he was a high school sophomore, his socialist uncle gave him a copy of ''Theory of the Leisure Class'' by [[Thorstein Veblen]], critical of the empty prestige found among wealthy Americans, which he "loved".<ref>''Palm Sunday'', p. 59.</ref> This grew into a talent for writing, and when Vonnegut attended [[Cornell University]] he became an editor of the ''Cornell Daily Sun''<ref>''Palm Sunday'', p. 62.</ref>, despite failing his classes by his junior year (1942) after having taken an accelerated schedule, shortly before he was conscripted into the Army during World War II.  Vonnegut pulled a prank during his battalion enlistment muster, however, ensuring he would remain a private for most of the war.<ref>''Fates Worse Than Death'', p. 21.</ref>

Vonnegut recounted growing up in Indianapolis with a fondness for reading Mark Twain and the kind of pranks often found in his works.  When he was a high school sophomore, his socialist uncle gave him a copy of ''Theory of the Leisure Class'' by [[Thorstein Veblen]], critical of the empty prestige found among wealthy Americans, which he "loved".<ref>''Palm Sunday'', p. 59.</ref> This grew into a talent for writing, and when Vonnegut attended [[Cornell University]] he became an editor of the ''Cornell Daily Sun''<ref>''Palm Sunday'', p. 62.</ref>, despite failing his classes by his junior year (1942) after having taken an accelerated schedule, shortly before he was conscripted into the Army during World War II.  Vonnegut pulled a prank during his battalion enlistment muster, however, ensuring he would remain a private for most of the war.<ref>''Fates Worse Than Death'', p. 21.</ref>