Customer Reviews

The Vonnegut Encyclopedia: An Authorized Compendium

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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!

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.

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!