4.12.2007
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1922 - 2007
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1922 - 2007
Kurt Vonnegut died on Wednesday. My first thought was "I hate it when the good people die." Chances are if you are a fan of this blog, you have read at least one Vonnegut book, so I will spare you the rundown of his life. The man was a cultural & literary icon. His humor, humanity, and scathing condemnation of the cruel and the dumb is well known. His skill as a writer and storyteller have been praised. Like many of you, I read all of his books and reread plenty. He is one of my favorite writers.
I really can't add anything else other than a line of his from a radio interview in the early 1990s. I am not sure what the context is but I don't think it matters, as the sentiment is just as true today as it ever was. The man said, "It's about time we called people scumbags again." When I started a community newspaper in the late 90s, I stuck those words atop the masthead. Rest in peace, Kurt Vonnegut.
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Reads Cat's Cradle LP (Caedmon, 1973)
Excerpt 1
Excerpt 2
# posted by Scott Soriano : 00:00
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Thanks very much for this. I don't know why I have always felt that Kurt Vonnegut would be exempt from death when the rest of us aren't, but I was stung and personally affronted to hear he'd gone.
Also note the number of band names/ song titles that they took from Mr. Vonnegut: So It Goes, Now It Can Be Told, Slaughterhouse 5, Kilgore Trout, etc. etc. Any bands looking for a name could do worse than check out this list of great (fictional, of course) Kilgore Trout titles: http://www.vonnegutweb.com/vonnegutia/trout/index.html
I loved Vonnegut's books; only recently reread Mother Night, probably my favourite. A sad loss, but at least he didn't die of lung cancer!
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I loved Vonnegut's books; only recently reread Mother Night, probably my favourite. A sad loss, but at least he didn't die of lung cancer!
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