The Vonnegut Encyclopedia: An Authorized Compendium [Hardcover]

Marc Leeds (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0313292302 | ISBN-13: 978-0313292309

The Vonnegut Encyclopedia is the authorized, comprehensive, descriptive catalogue of the characters, themes, phrasing, and imagery found in Kurt Vonnegut's novels, short stories, plays, and essays. Starting with the false utopia governed by the ruling technocracy of Player Piano (1952) and on through Vonnegut's third collection of autobiographical and topical essays in Fates Worse Than Death (1991), the Encyclopedia enables the reader to recall the significance of any character (no matter how minor) and to trace the recurrence of characters and images across numerous texts. Additionally, Vonnegut's key images and inventive language are referenced to his first editions--the basis of his reprints--traceable down to the page and line number. Vonnegut's four decades of writing yield a world of characters and social commentary at once disarming, disturbing, and authentic. Since one of the chief allures for Vonnegut afficionados is the reappearance of significant characters, settings, and concepts, readers will especially appreciate the detailed treatment each receives in its various narrative incarnations. When viewed from this perspective, Vonnegut's work reveals a world as colorfully peopled and politically aware as Dickens' or Twain's. It firmly places him in the family of great American writers noted for their unique characters and fully developed social sensibilities. His major fictions are synopsized, and his images and constructs are explained and illustrated through the concordance. Few modern writers have created such a large body of work whose narrative settings consistently address the human condition in the midst of great political, scientific, and historical forces. Vonnegut's philosophical vision is neatly tracked through the Encyclopedia's attention to the building blocks of each text.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Highly recommended for all American literature reference collections.”–Reference Book Review

“...The Vonnegut Encyclopedia is an outstanding reference tool....It is indeed unfortunate that Vonnegut is not given the credit he deserves in the academy since he is undoubtedly one of America's finest social critics. This volume should serve to reinforce this fact.”–H-Net Book Review

“Any guide to Vonnegut's novels must, therefore, refer the reader neither to obscure mythical or literary allusions nor to a self-contained world independent of the novels, but directly to the texts themselves. This is precisely what The Vonnegut Encyclopedia does with great thoroughness and efficiency. The Encyclopedia identifies every major or minor Vonnegut character from Celia Aamons to Zog, as well as recurring images and significant themes from all of Vonnegut's books and short stories, including his essay collections. Leeds provides italicized notes explaining the significance of many items, but relies primarily on extended quotations from Vonnegut himself, each of which is carefully cited by the page and line number of the first edition in which it appears. As useful as The Vonnegut Encyclopedia is for finding specific references to Vonnegut's major themes, it may be even more useful in identifying less obvious ideas and images that recur from work to work.”–SFRA Review

“Leeds's style is lively, even slangy-not inappropriate for dealing with an author of Vonnegut's fervid imagination.”–ARBA

About the Author

MARC LEEDS, a graduate of the University of Buffalo, New York University, and Brooklyn College, directed computer-based writing programs at East Tennessee State University and later at Shawnee State University in Ohio, commuting across five states to do so.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 712 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (November 30, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313292302
• ISBN-13: 978-0313292309
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,091,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for any Vonnegut fanatic, February 28, 2001

By 

KJ "KJ" (Charleston, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Vonnegut Encyclopedia: An Authorized Compendium (Hardcover)

I think the best word to describe this encyclopedia is "excessive." This book has more information about Vonnegut's characters and images and phrasing than Kurt himself probably has. After spending just five minutes browsing through it, I had concerns about Marc Leeds' health; after reading the whole thing, I had grave misgivings. This is the authoritative guide to Vonnegut's works...pick it up!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vast, thorough, and easy-to-use, January 21, 2006

By 

D. Crocker "O. Brother" (Boston, Mass.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Vonnegut Encyclopedia: An Authorized Compendium (Hardcover)

An invaluable tool for finding facts - both facts as in the date and place of birth of Mr. Vonnegut, and facts (all of them - including contradictions) about the date and place of birth of famed author Kilgore Trout, and Dwayne Hoover, and Eliot Rosewater and thousands of other facts as they exist only in the pages of a work by Kurt Vonnegut. Provides concise explanations of characters, themes, and sources for a vast amount of the Vonnegut oeuvre - published in 1995, it lacks information from Vonnegut's work since Hocus Pocus. Mr. Leeds has crafted a very readable, and extremely informative compilation of what has made Kurt Vonnegut's writing so powerful and resonant in America and throughout the world for nearly 60 years. Though Greenwood has made this vital reference source hard to obtain by conventional fans and scholars, it is worth its excessive price, and should be made available to all throughout the libraries of the world.

A remarkable and impressive achievement of scholarship, and a crucial tool for the study of a crucial American writer.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vonnegut Fans, Memory Failing You?, February 28, 2001

By 

Anne Mooney (St. Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Vonnegut Encyclopedia: An Authorized Compendium (Hardcover)

If you memory isn't what it used to be and you love Vonnegut, this encyclopedia is just what you need to read or reread Vonnegut's works with full knowledge of plot, character setting and historical detail. A true find and a great buy...I love this book!