Procrastinet

Slaughterhouse Five, Cat's Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions. My goodness the man had a way.
Mother Night, too. Wow. I think I've read more consecutive pages by Vonnegut than any other author; I did 5 books in a row one summer. And I also was the kid who did no assigned reading, except Heart of Darkness, and half of Moby Dick. I saved that time for the more interesting writers, like Vonnegut and Douglas Adams, and Burroughs (understood none of it, I was 16). I also told people I read Kafka, which I hadn't. And I denied reading Shakespeare, which I actually loved. Ah, high school.
R.I.P. Kilgore Trout

Vonnegut was some fine mud!

In his later years his bitterness about what he took to be the not-fine mud that created more pain than was necessary, began to etch his face and his work with acid in a way I found sad. I suspect he has let go of that bitterness now that he has a clearer view of how fine the creation was, is and can be...

It's lighter out there where he's looking for his next story. It'll be a good one.

I read a bunch of Vonnegut books when I was about 14 or 15. I barely remember a thing about them. I saw him speak at UNC when I was in high school, around the time Galapagos came out, and details of that night are etched in my mind. I bought a couple of his books tonight from a used book store, the proprietor of which, amazingly, had not heard he had died, even though I'd known for about 9 hours. (Kind of nice to know there are still some bookstores without internet connections.) As I get older, I find myself re-reading stuff that I'd read so long ago it's like reading it for the first time. Vonnegut has been on my "to do" list for a while. A pity it took his death to jolt me. Who's left from his generation, whose death is likely to sadden us to this extent? Ray Bradbury is next, I suppose. (Another guy I read a lot of as a kid, and have only recently re-discovered.)

I just realized I have an informal proscription against reading living authors. It's not a strict ban; it's just that my tastes tend to run to early 20th century, and few of those guys are left alive. I can count on one hand the number of living authors I've read over the past few years. (Sorry, Procrastimom!) Now that Kurt's joined that club, I can start digging back into his oevre.

I don't think I like the tone of "Ray Bradbury is next, I suppose."
Are you ordering a hit or something?

Yeah, Bradbury's history unless he delivers the suitcase full of unmarked bills to the big tree in the middle of the park by Monday. I'm putting several other octo- and nonagenerians whose work I admire on alert. Bob Elliott, Stan Freberg, Norman Corwin -- I'm coming after you next. (Okay, those are all writer-performers and/or scriptwriters, not novelists. Right now I can't think of any other old novelist I like who hasn't kicked it already.)

I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different. -Kurt Vonnegut

Always wear sunscreen? Wish I'd said that...
-"not" Kurt Vonnegut