Difference between revisions of "Kurt Vonnegut"

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'''Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.''' (1913 – 2007) was a popular American author famous for his fictional works. His most prominent work, ''Slaughterhouse-Five'' (1969), is based on his personal experiences as a [[prisoner of war]] trapped in the [[Allied]] bombing of [[Dresden]] in [[World War II]].   
 
'''Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.''' (1913 – 2007) was a popular American author famous for his fictional works. His most prominent work, ''Slaughterhouse-Five'' (1969), is based on his personal experiences as a [[prisoner of war]] trapped in the [[Allied]] bombing of [[Dresden]] in [[World War II]].   
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''Breakfast of Champions'' (1973) was the most commercially successful though not as acclaimed by critics. U.S. Federal Judge [[Richard Posner]] called him one of America's top public intellectuals.<ref>[http://home.uchicago.edu/~rposner/publicintellect.htm] "Data for tables in Chapter 5 of Richard A. Posner, Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline" where Posner talks about the data he used for his book ''Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline''.</ref><ref>[http://home.uchicago.edu/~rposner/TABLE%20II.pdf] Table II, which is Posner's data for 607 public intellectuals. A PDF search of "Vonnegut" will show he is on Posner's list.</ref>
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''Breakfast of Champions'' (1973) was the most commercially successful though not as acclaimed by critics.
  
 
Vonnegut described himself as an [[atheist]] among other things,<ref>Some question whether Kurt Vonnegut was an atheist. He has described himself as a "[[secular humanist]]," and the majority of secular humanists are atheist or agnostic.</ref> and in 1992 won the "Humanist of the Year" award.<ref>http://www.celebatheists.com/index.php?title=Kurt_Vonnegut_Jr.</ref>  He attributed his atheism to having studied anthropology, and in ''Hocus Pocus'' one of his characters is disrespectful of those with faith, rebutting the observation of "there were no Atheists in foxholes" with the comment, 'There's a Chaplain who never visited the front.'<ref> [http://atheism.about.com/library/quotes/bl_q_KVonnegut.htm Kurt Vonnegut, Hocus Pocus, pg. 182] </ref> Also, in later writings Vonnegut referred to conservative Christians as "not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka “Christians,” " <ref>http://www.inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=38_0_4_0_C</ref>
 
Vonnegut described himself as an [[atheist]] among other things,<ref>Some question whether Kurt Vonnegut was an atheist. He has described himself as a "[[secular humanist]]," and the majority of secular humanists are atheist or agnostic.</ref> and in 1992 won the "Humanist of the Year" award.<ref>http://www.celebatheists.com/index.php?title=Kurt_Vonnegut_Jr.</ref>  He attributed his atheism to having studied anthropology, and in ''Hocus Pocus'' one of his characters is disrespectful of those with faith, rebutting the observation of "there were no Atheists in foxholes" with the comment, 'There's a Chaplain who never visited the front.'<ref> [http://atheism.about.com/library/quotes/bl_q_KVonnegut.htm Kurt Vonnegut, Hocus Pocus, pg. 182] </ref> Also, in later writings Vonnegut referred to conservative Christians as "not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka “Christians,” " <ref>http://www.inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=38_0_4_0_C</ref>

Revision as of 23:46, April 5, 2010

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1913 – 2007) was a popular American author famous for his fictional works. His most prominent work, Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), is based on his personal experiences as a prisoner of war trapped in the Allied bombing of Dresden in World War II. Breakfast of Champions (1973) was the most commercially successful though not as acclaimed by critics.

Vonnegut described himself as an atheist among other things,[1] and in 1992 won the "Humanist of the Year" award.[2] He attributed his atheism to having studied anthropology, and in Hocus Pocus one of his characters is disrespectful of those with faith, rebutting the observation of "there were no Atheists in foxholes" with the comment, 'There's a Chaplain who never visited the front.'[3] Also, in later writings Vonnegut referred to conservative Christians as "not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka “Christians,” " [4]

While serving as a US Army infantry battalion scout, Vonnegut was captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II in 1944. Taken to Germany as a prisoner of war, Vonnegut was then stuck in an underground meat locker with his fellow prisoners during the firebombing of Dresden on February 13, 1945. 135,000 Germans died in that attack, the same number who perished when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Afterwards, Vonnegut and his fellow prisoners were left to dig corpses out of the ruins. When he returned to America, Vonnegut was awarded a Purple Heart for his service.[5]

Robert Scholes gave this review of the Slaughterhouse-Five in the New York Times Book Review:[6]

Be kind. Don't hurt. Death is coming for all of us anyway, and it is better to be Lot's wife looking back through salty eyes than the Deity that destroyed those cities of the plain in order to save them. ... Slaughterhouse Five is an extraordinary success. It is a book we need to read, and to reread.

Vonnegut's timing was perfect, as America in 1969 was struggling with the Vietnam War and other issues relevant to the book, such as ecology, consumerism and claims of overpopulation.

Vonnegut's last book, Man Without a Country is a scathing criticism of the Bush administration and current U.S. foreign policy.

Vonnegut died on April 11, 2007 from brain injuries he received in a fall almost five weeks earlier.

Bibliography

List of Novels

(1952)Player Piano

(1959)The Sirens of Titan

(1961)Mother Night

(1963)Cat's Cradle

(1965)God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater; or, Pearls before Swine

(1969)Slaughterhouse-Five; or, The Children's Crusade

(1973)Breakfast of Champions; or, Goodbye Blue Monday

(1976)Slapstick; or, Lonesome No More

(1979)Jailbird

(1982)Deadeye Dick

(1985)Galápagos

(1987)Bluebeard

(1990)Hocus Pocus

(1997)Timequake

List of Short Stories or Essays

(1961)Canary in a Cathouse

(1968)Welcome to the Monkey House: A Collection of Short Works

(1974)Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons

(1981)Palm Sunday

(1991)Fates Worse than Death

(1999)Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction

(1999)God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian

(2005)A Man Without a Country

Posthumously Published

(2008)Armageddon in Retrospect

(2009)Look at the Birdie

References

  1. ↑ Some question whether Kurt Vonnegut was an atheist. He has described himself as a "secular humanist," and the majority of secular humanists are atheist or agnostic.
  2. ↑ http://www.celebatheists.com/index.php?title=Kurt_Vonnegut_Jr.
  3. ↑ Kurt Vonnegut, Hocus Pocus, pg. 182
  4. ↑ http://www.inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=38_0_4_0_C
  5. ↑ http://www.nndb.com/people/928/000022862/
  6. ↑ http://www.vonnegutweb.com/sh5/index.html
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