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bryce_is_a_librarian's review
4.0
I really miss Kurt Vonnegut, there's no one better in making vile and ridiculous things look vile and ridiculous.
This is something of an odds and sods collection, a mixture of letters, speeches, family history, philosphy, lectures, short stories, unpublished work, and good old fashioned bitching. As a result the quality varies, in particular an unpublished script for a musical based on Dr. Jekyl And Mr. Hyde, is probably the worst thing I've ever read by Vonnegut. It's painfully unfunny, truly awful, and I'm the kind of Vonnegut fan who loves Slapstick and Hocus Pocus.
Still the grand majority of the writing here is more then fufilling. And his short explination of the value of reading is the best I've ever read.
The only problem with reading a Vonnegut book I haven't read is I know that it means I have one less chance to do so.
This is something of an odds and sods collection, a mixture of letters, speeches, family history, philosphy, lectures, short stories, unpublished work, and good old fashioned bitching. As a result the quality varies, in particular an unpublished script for a musical based on Dr. Jekyl And Mr. Hyde, is probably the worst thing I've ever read by Vonnegut. It's painfully unfunny, truly awful, and I'm the kind of Vonnegut fan who loves Slapstick and Hocus Pocus.
Still the grand majority of the writing here is more then fufilling. And his short explination of the value of reading is the best I've ever read.
The only problem with reading a Vonnegut book I haven't read is I know that it means I have one less chance to do so.
wwatts1734's review
3.0
This book is a collage of various essays, biographical sketches and interviews with Kurt Vonnegut about his life and career. It was OK. I suppose this book would be more appreciated if I were a Vonnegut fan, but he's not my favorite novelist. I did appreciate his discussion of his military career and life as a POW in Germany during the Dresden fire bombings, which gave him the insight that he used to write his novel "Slaughterhouse Five." After the war he spent a bit of time as a graduate student, and then on to become a professional writer, which, as is the case in far too many literary lives, was really the end of the interesting portion of his life.
I did appreciate that Vonnegut had a sense of humility despite his literary success. At one point he rated his novels with letter grades, like in grade school. Not all of his novels received A+, which is probably more than we could say if someone like Norman Mailer engaged in the same exercise.
Overall, I would recommend this book to fans of Kurt Vonnegut. Aside from fans, this book really does not have much to offer the general writer.
I did appreciate that Vonnegut had a sense of humility despite his literary success. At one point he rated his novels with letter grades, like in grade school. Not all of his novels received A+, which is probably more than we could say if someone like Norman Mailer engaged in the same exercise.
Overall, I would recommend this book to fans of Kurt Vonnegut. Aside from fans, this book really does not have much to offer the general writer.
steven_nobody's review
5.0
My original intention was to read just some of the chapters which seemed interesting. I read it all since every one of them held my attention.
samgoodale's review
3.0
This book is about Kurt Vonnegut. It’s all about Kurt. It is a Kurt deep cut. You will learn everything about Kurt. Probably a little too much. There’s not much of a plot or themes. Only Kurt. Maybe that’s cool: Kurt is the narrative.
It can be boring sometimes. I didn’t really need a whole chapter on the Vonnegut family history, but it’s here. I now know a lot about Germans and Indianapolis. Reading speeches isn’t always fun either, and that’s mainly what this book is. But Kurt is still a very good writer, so there’s plenty of fun and cool ideas to find here.
There’s not much else to say. In Kurt’s self-assessment, he gave this book a C. I feel like that might be a little harsh. Perhaps a B- might be more appropriate. There was a really funny Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde play in here, though. That part was good. Five stars for The Chemistry Professor.
I recommend this book to you if you are a chicken. You will get very good representation in here and not in the form of a nugget. What is sadness, even, to a chicken?
It can be boring sometimes. I didn’t really need a whole chapter on the Vonnegut family history, but it’s here. I now know a lot about Germans and Indianapolis. Reading speeches isn’t always fun either, and that’s mainly what this book is. But Kurt is still a very good writer, so there’s plenty of fun and cool ideas to find here.
There’s not much else to say. In Kurt’s self-assessment, he gave this book a C. I feel like that might be a little harsh. Perhaps a B- might be more appropriate. There was a really funny Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde play in here, though. That part was good. Five stars for The Chemistry Professor.
I recommend this book to you if you are a chicken. You will get very good representation in here and not in the form of a nugget. What is sadness, even, to a chicken?
misslupinelady's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
emilyghill's review
Not exactly what I expected - might pick up again in the future.