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mollyluckhurst's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
he couldn’t help but write with an abundance of love
kb_208's review against another edition
5.0
Even though it is not one of his novels, this group of his letters is just as touching and endearing as anything he has put in novel form. The letters collected here are in chronological order starting in the 40's and going to 2007. I wouldn't have thought I could be entertained by reading someone's letters to people, but it is a very well put together book. It gives you a very good glimpse into his personal life. He writes letters just as cleverly as he writes his books. Vonnegut fans will enjoy this book for sure.
jennareadingbooks's review against another edition
DNF
It's not really doing anything for me, and feels like maybe these were never meant to be published. I feel like I'm intruding on his personal conversations.. lol and they are quite unessential
It's not really doing anything for me, and feels like maybe these were never meant to be published. I feel like I'm intruding on his personal conversations.. lol and they are quite unessential
glowbird's review against another edition
3.0
I skimmed this one. The letters are really interesting, particularly when he's writing to his family, but overall the correspondence centers on writers talking about writing/publishing and that was of less interest to me. Having no real background in Vonnegut's work I'm certainly eager to read more now.
lauramolenaar's review against another edition
He was pretty sympathetic at first but then he was kinda misogynistic and narcissistic so dnf.
plaidpladd's review against another edition
4.0
Really interesting! Reading 60 years of anyone's correspondence would be interesting, but Kurt Vonnegut is, of course, a great writer on top of that.
raybudbury's review against another edition
5.0
It's so interesting seeing what's behind the curtain into people's lives besides what we know them for. And currently I'm in a Vonnegut spiral. My favourite letter out of all the decades he was alive, was a letter during the 90's, here's a section of it:
"If you want to write fiction, then you must be patient, for you need experiences, and those take time to accumulate. Unfortunately television offers the illusions of experiences writers used to come by the hard way, in courtrooms, on ships, in hospitals, whatever. Please don't rely on those, unless you want to be popular"
"If you want to write fiction, then you must be patient, for you need experiences, and those take time to accumulate. Unfortunately television offers the illusions of experiences writers used to come by the hard way, in courtrooms, on ships, in hospitals, whatever. Please don't rely on those, unless you want to be popular"
jgoins's review against another edition
5.0
I love Vonnegut! Love love love him. I enjoyed this glimpse into his private and personal life. As an archivist, this collection is a wonderfully annotated grouping of archival materials. I didn't finish all of this book because it's not like it has a plot to follow. The letters are chronological and individually explained within each section. I plan on purchasing this book (was reading my library's copy) because it's the kind of book you can pick up and read any page at any time.