Customer Reviews

2 B R 0 2 B

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While I understand that there is a market for this book for Vonnegut completists, it is available at Project Gutenberg for free for those who just want to read it. here is a link, if Amazon doesn't publish the link just Google Project Gutenberg and search for Vonnegut on that site, it'll come right up.

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If you are a fan of Vonnegut's work, 2BR02B is a quick read that reminds me of an old "Outer Limits" or "Twilight Zone" episode. This short story is a small sample of Vonnegut's quick-witted cynicism in conjunction with his signature macabre comedic feel. I give the book a rating of 3 stars due to the length of the book and the fact that some of his more well known books are frankly better than this in comparison. Overall, if you want a small sample of Vonnegut's work or are a big fan that would like to add another story to your collection, order it up.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., who's mostly known for his irreverent fiction, wrote a number of science fiction novels and stories in his early years (though some of his later fiction borders on science fiction as well).

The short story 2BR02B was originally published in 1962 in the magazine Worlds of If and never published anywhere since. Now it is available in an inexpensive paperback edition that is simple, but nicely done.

In the not so near future, long after humanity has recovered from 20+ billion people on the planet, disease and aging have been conquered and the people of the planet live in harmony with it and each other. And, now that the population of the United States has stabilized at 40 million souls, all living as long as they want, having a child requires for someone to voluntarily end their life at the Federal Bureau of Termination.

But, what is a father to do if his wife is now scheduled to have triplets?!?

2BR02B is a simple tale of a Utopian future where not everyone is perfectly satisfied.

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A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

I bought this for two reasons - 1) I love Vonnegut and 2) at that price even if I didn't like it, at least I didn't spend much. Well you know what? It was still a ripoff. I spent 2 dollars and change for 17 pages of text... text that was available online for free, there are more blank pages in this book than there are pages with writing on them. I am highly disappointed.

As far as the short story itself... it's not one of his better works, it's about a world where there is no more death or aging and the effect that has on people. It's very short and belonged in a larger collection rather than a few folded in half pieces of paper labeled a "book."

I love Kurt Vonnegut and this story didn't disappoint me. But paying a "book" price for what should have been a chapter in a book did upset me! Somehow I don't think Kurt would think this was a good way to make money.

This is too short to sell separately. You're screwing people selling it stand-alone. I'm sure Kurt is rolling in his grave.

"2 B R 0 2 B" is one of Kurt Vonnegut's classic early science fiction stories. Magazine publication came in 1962, but it was never reprinted; this was presumably Vonnegut's intention, but his death has opened the proverbial floodgates, and it is now available in book form. It is important to realize that this is but one short story, though quite good. The subject - population control - was one Vonnegut dealt with often, and this has all the vast imagination, black humor, and cynical misanthropy that made him great. Like nearly all his work, it is both highly emotional and very thought-provoking; it works well as a story but also has great sociopolitical relevance. One wonders why it was never reprinted, especially as it is better than most of the stories in Bagombo Snuff Box, Vonnegut's uncollected fiction collection. Perhaps he simply forgot about it. Those who believe authors' wishes should be paramount will be aghast at its publication, but fans will certainly want it. As another reviewer points out, it is available for free online at Project Gutenberg, but the dedicated will of course want a physical copy. Needless to say, neophytes will be better off with Welcome to the Monkey House, Vonnegut's main story collection, or the best-known novels, but fans will want this in some form.

This short story by Kurt Vonnegut, originally appearing in January, 1962, in Worlds of If, and nowhere else until this smart little book, looks at a future world where population control is strictly enforced by a simple law: for every child born into the world, someone must volunteer to leave it through government sponsored suicide. In this way, the world has managed to reduce its population to what the experts declare are manageable levels. With his quick wit and acerbic wisdom, Vonnegut asks, At What Cost?, as one father-to-be is faced with the prospect of triplets. This is vintage Vonnegut in the concise format of the short story -- a brilliant addition to anyone's Vonnegut collection and an excellent study piece for writers who strive to create short stories with meaning.

I'm a big Vonegut fan, but I think this was designed to sucker us in to buying it. I could swear I read this story in some other collection.