Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons: (Opinions) [Paperback]

Kurt Vonnegut (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 1999

Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (Opinions) is a rare opportunity to experience Kurt Vonnegut speaking in his own voice about his own life, his views of the world, his writing, and the writing of others. An indignant, outrageous, witty, deeply felt collection of reviews, essays, and speeches, this is a window not only into Vonnegut’s mind but also into his heart.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“He is our strongest writer . . . the most stubbornly imaginative.”—John Irving

“A book filled with madness and truth and absurdity and self-revelation . . . [Vonnegut is] a great cosmic comedian and rattler of human skeletons, an idealist disguised as a pessimist.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer.”—Time

About the Author

Kurt Vonnegut’s black humor, satiric voice, and incomparable imagination first captured America’s attention in The Sirens of Titan in 1959 and established him as “a true artist” (The New York Times) with Cat’s Cradle in 1963. He was, as Graham Greene declared, “one of the best living American writers.” Mr. Vonnegut passed away in April 2007.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback (January 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385333811
• ISBN-13: 978-0385333818
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis in 1922. He studied at the universities of Chicago and Tennessee and later began to write short stories for magazines. His first novel, Player Piano, was published in 1951 and since then he has written many novels, among them: The Sirens of Titan (1959), Mother Night (1961), Cat's Cradle (1963), God Bless You Mr Rosewater (1964), Welcome to the Monkey House; a collection of short stories (1968), Breakfast of Champions (1973), Slapstick, or Lonesome No More (1976), Jailbird (1979), Deadeye Dick (1982), Galapagos (1985), Bluebeard (1988) and Hocus Pocus (1990). During the Second World War he was held prisoner in Germany and was present at the bombing of Dresden, an experience which provided the setting for his most famous work to date, Slaughterhouse Five (1969). He has also published a volume of autobiography entitled Palm Sunday (1981) and a collection of essays and speeches, Fates Worse Than Death (1991).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Vonnegut for a Vonnegut reader, June 26, 2001

By 

arye orona - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons: (Opinions) (Paperback)

This collection is probably most interesting to those who are arleady Vonnegut fans. It doesn't really even pretend to contend with the writer's greater works. I think that, perhaps, this book is most helpful to those who already know Vonnegut's body of work, and simply wish to understand more about the author himself. "Wampeter's, Foma, and Granfalloons" basically consists of Vonnegut's public speeches, as well as various essays. The book can help a reader, already familiar with Vonnegut, understand more about the writer, and the ideas behind his novels. However, I would recomend that a first time reader pick up one of Vonegut's actual novels (Slaughter House five and Mother Night are higly recomended) before looking at this. I would recomend this book to an avid Vonegut reader/fan.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 Stars - Vonnegut fans only, March 21, 2002

By 

Bill R. Moore (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons: (Opinions) (Paperback)

Although you'd never guess it from the title, Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons is a collection of essays, speeches, and reviews from Kurt Vonnegut - along with one piece of fiction and one interview. Certainly, it isn't on par with his wonderful fiction (or even his marvelous non-fiction book, Fates Worse Than Death), but neither does it pretend to be. This is a book for those who have already read most of what else Kurt Vonnegut has written. The reviews are nothing to write home about, though some of the essays are quite good - but his public speeches, as always, make for excellent reading. There is a handful of them in here. The highlight of the book, though, for any Vonnegut fan is his long interview with Playboy magazine that closes the book. It's an essential read for any KV fan. I reccommend this book to those who love Kurt Vonnegut and his fiction, and know it. If you're not familar with this quite amusing author, you should pick up some of his marvelous fiction first...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll Enjoy It!, February 9, 2005

By 

James F. Barron (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons: (Opinions) (Paperback)

Again, Kurt Vonnegut produces an excellent work of art through literature. This book, Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (Opinions) is a collection of essays written by Vonnegut. It took me only a few hours to begin and finish this book while drinking coffee in front of a coffee shop on a Saturday morning. I found the book to be highly entertaining, generously humorous, and, of course, packed with blithe satire.

Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (Opinions) exists in an aura of surreality, recounting the experiences had by Vonnegut. The preface, itself, explains that the novel contains situations related to ideas that are not only abnormal but not tangible, either. The word wampeter comes from Vonnegut's book, Cat's Cradle (see my review of Cat's Cradle at http://preview.epinions.com/book-review-5DE0-39E4406-397F4030-prod6 ), and it describes any "object around which the lives of many otherwise unrelated people may revolve". This definition, alone, prompts the reader to realize that the book will involve many exemplifications of abstract ideology.

The novel contains essays describing events and satiring politics and societal figures. Vonnegut is one of the world's greatest black-humorists, and it is expected that he will try to offend quite a few persons while writing his works. Thus, Vonnegut's writing may not be for the light-hearted, and if this means you, then maybe you should not rush out to the bookstore and buy this book. However, if you dare to delve into the depths of derogatory literature, then this should be your next book. Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Vonnegut, but very much on my mind since I purchased it off Amazon is "The Losers' Club" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.