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Product Details
Hardcover: 464 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press; First Edition edition (October 30, 2012)
It's rare that a book's introduction makes me speak out loud while reading. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't reading aloud. I just found myself saying "Wow" and "Huh!" and "I didn't know that!" out loud, to myself, as I read this beautiful book. As an artist, I found the cover photo and art and even the fonts of the chapter headings both stunning and a fond visit back to the Seventies. But as a reader, and a passionate re-reader of writers I love, I was intrigued and fascinated by the introduction- written with passionate restraint by Dan Wakefield.
Honestly? I rarely read more than one page of book introductions, as they usually reveal more about the writer of the Introduction than the person the Introducer is introducing. But this is happily not the case with Dan Wakefield. I love Wakefield's books, especially "Expect A Miracle" and "Spiritually Incorrect." Actually, now that I think about it, I probably only began to read this Introduction because it was written by Dan Wakefield! His clear, concise and empathetic prose informed me deeply about Kurt Vonnegut and his influences, his family and his artistic struggles to have his iconic and iconoclastic voice published and read.
In fact, a unique and welcome addition to this book is the introduction of each era of letters- which smartly and helpfully places us in the context of Vonnegut's life when he wrote the letters and to whom he was writing. It's such a simple technique but begs the question of why this isn't done more with published letters of notable people... and in this book the chapter introductions serve to create more comprehension of Vonnegut's life and how he dealt with family, friends, associates, success and disappointment.Read more ›
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Perhaps I am wearing rose colored glasses when I read this, with KV being my favorite author, but this book will show you how the man thought throughout the decades in a way that no biographer can ever capture. His letters flourish with wit, humor, insecurity, grandiose notions, and indignation. He outlines his struggles to become a literary giant, while not understanding how he achieved this title.
You actually can picture him at the typewriter and share in the "mood of the moment" of his thoughts, written to a wide variety of people through the 60 years that this testaments span.
As a true fan of his literature, you won't be sorry for this purchase as you revisit books long past, and my guess is that after reading this you will be dusting off Breakfast of Champions and Cat's Cradle to fully understand what you have just enjoyed reading.
Finally you will receive a sense of American history and where the world was, is and is perhaps heading towards. Just loved it and snorted this book up like a cocaine addict.
5 stars.
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Have been a Vonnegut fan since *Slaughterhouse 5* and have read most of his fiction, and some of the non-fiction (*Timequake*). These letters are a cut above most of what he was publishing in those last 20 years, and they explain what was going on that made those later books so disappointing, to me anyway. The letters are especially well edited by a friend from his hometown, Indianapolis. Not a "getting even" book. More a "getting inside" the life of one of the most authentic writers of our time.
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This collection of correspondence really has it all: The unique, seemingly effortless, voice; the wry humor; and the humanistic outlook that is the hallmark of all Vonnegut's work. It is almost as good as reading one of his novels, this one about the trials , successes, heartaches and petty complaints that make up the long and complicated life of a novelist. What is most surprising here is to read about how difficult the writing was for him when to us, the avid reader, his prose has always seemed to flow so easily. The only complaint I really have here is not about content, but about price. 18 bucks for an ebook? It seems excessive, and made me consider purchasing the hardcover. If shelfspace was not a factor in my life... Regardless, this is a must read for Vonnegut fans. If you can stomach the price, buy it right away.
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I'm a big Vonnegut fun and even visited the KV Library in Indianapolis so anything he writes is going to be a joy for me. Some of his letters are simply wonderful where he writes about how any work of art is one half of the conversation (what the artist said) and the other half is what the observer says. Some letters are stinging and others witty. There are also a few others that you might not have the right amount of background to fully appreciate (sort of like the old joke...."you had to be there"). He professed no love for his former son-in-law, Geraldo Rivera and the struggles of keeping a marriage together and with wanting to be closer to his children. He writes to people about book banning and you get more insight into what he was thinking at the time of some of his work. It is a relatively quick read and I'd recommend it to fans of KV.
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