That's about when I started reading Vonnegut, Bluest, but I had shifted from Catholic school to public school by then.
And yeah, joe, I like the focus on time, and our perception of it, in the trailer. I don't know if you've read any Vonnegut, but this might be a great place to start.
I read Cat's Cradle first. Slaughterhouse Five is his most famous, but I'd recommend reading that one later, rather than sooner. Welcome to the Monkey House might also be a good place to start; it's a collection of short stories.
Oh, and where film is concerned, Hollywood has had a very hard time transferring Vonnegut's writing to the screen. Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions are pretty much disasters, although the latter does have Bruce Willis in drag at one point. Mother Night, with Nick Nolte, Sheryl Lee, John Goodman, Kirsten Dunst, and Alan Arkin is by far the best adaptation, and the short film based on his story Who Am I This Time, with Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken, is pretty great too.
Breakfast Of Champions was my first. Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle, of course Slaughterhouse-Five, and God Bless you Mr Rosewater (I thought it was God Bless you Eliot Rosewater). His earlier stuff was his best IMHO.
Player Piano was his first and a fun read.
My favorite quote of his, and I am paraphrasing, "I try to do the right thing. Not because I am worried about what happens after death, but because it is the right thing to do." Something like that.
That quote sums up Humanism quite succinctly, Mark. Vonnegut, of course, was the honorary president of the American Humanist Association for a number of years.
My favorite Vonnegut quote appears in his last novel Timequake, but it's attributed to his son Mark (who wrote a book titled The Eden Express about his experience living in a commune deep in the woods in British Columbia in the last 60s, finding out he had schizophrenia while he was there, and being committed to a psych ward in Vancouver for a time; these days, Mark is a doctor): "We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."
Thanks, MarkD. I also looked online and found "a top ten best" for Kurt from the Vonnegut Society? i believe, including the titles which you and mike suggested.
Winter is coming up and this is perfect. Much appreciated.
That article is behind a paywall, but this post from the Vonnegut Library isn't:
Black first discovered Vonnegut by reading Cat’s Cradle during a summer job as a kid. “Finally I didn’t feel crazy anymore,” Black wrote. “He made me feel comfortable in what I thought was my madness. I immediately followed it up by reading Sirens of Titan. And then whatever he wrote, I would read. He was my psychic road map.”
Hmm. I don't hit a paywall. IndyStar site looks just like the Bergen Record's site. Same Corporate Daddy, I assume.
The Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library's next board chair has an international reputation: comedian, author and actor Lewis Black. As a Vonnegut fan, he has long been involved with the museum and wanted to contribute more time to it, founder and CEO Julia Whitehead said.
Fittingly, the news was announced Thursday, on the day that would have been Vonnegut's 99th birthday.
The board voted Black into the position Wednesday. His term will begin Jan. 1 and lasts for a year. As chair, Black's responsibilities include ensuring fiscal responsibility, leading meetings virtually or in person and following the organization's strategic plan. The move also makes him a member of the governing board for three years.
"It's unprecedented for our organization to have this specific scenario," Whitehead said. "We've been trying to become a national organization for many years; it just naturally will happen with him as board chair.
"His own messages of social justice and just being kind to people, there's a lot of overlap between Lewis Black and Kurt Vonnegut. How fortunate for us that he is willing to spend that time with us and that knowledge and all of the work that goes along with being board chair," she said.
Black has been an honorary board member for about 10 years, assisting with fundraising, promoting the organization and getting to know those behind the museum. The comedian first learned about the museum around a decade ago, when Whitehead approached him after a show and requested that he sign some books.
She asked if he liked Vonnegut. He put down his pen and looked her in the face.
"Of course I do I probably shouted with glee," Black wrote IndyStar in an email.
At the time, Whitehead was building support for the museum, which moved into its first home in 2011. She asked if he'd like to be a member of the new organization, and Black said yes.
She's long enjoyed the comedian's work. Especially celebrated for his long-running segment on "The Daily Show," Black is known for his ranting style during his stand-up, which often centers on current events, social media, politics and ridiculous everyday occurrences.
"I did know that he had worked with Robin Williams on doing comedy shows for veterans," Whitehead said. "I know veterans mattered to him, and I'm so glad I did ask him if he was a Vonnegut fan because it turned out that he was not only a Vonnegut fan but he considered Vonnegut the person whose work inspired him to want to write comedy."
"I wanted to be a part of something that would tell the tale ... of someone who means so much to me," Black wrote.
He became a Vonnegut fan as a young person working a summer job as a parking lot attendant, which left him time to read in between collecting money. He said that Vonnegut's world in "Cat's Crade" changed him.
"Finally I didn't feel crazy anymore," Black wrote. "He made me feel comfortable in what I thought was my madness. I immediately followed it up by reading Sirens of Titan. And then whatever he wrote, I would read. He was my psychic road map."
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Thanks to his longtime involvement with the museum, Black has a comprehensive view. He's watched it move from its former home at 340 N. Senate Ave. to its new one at 543 Indiana Ave. The museum was recently selected as a Literary Landmark by the American Library Association's United for Libraries, the first designation in Indiana. It will roll out a major celebration of Vonnegut in 2022, the year he would have turned 100 years old.
"I had faith that it would continue to grow and it has," he wrote. "More than I ever imagined."
Footlite vows change after casting white actors for diverse showWatch the trailer for Kurt Vonnegut documentary 'Unstuck in Time'See Beef & Boards' 2022 season scheduleWhat makes symphony concertmaster Kevin Lin so extraordinary
Looking for things to do? Our newsletter has the best concerts, art, shows and more — and the stories behind them
Contact IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339 or [email protected]. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @domenicareports.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ismelltoadsmoke
Thanks, mike, this looks
Thanks, mike, this looks interesting.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Thumbkinetic
My reading Vonnegut was of
My reading Vonnegut was of serious concern to some nuns when I was in eighth grade.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
That's about when I started
That's about when I started reading Vonnegut, Bluest, but I had shifted from Catholic school to public school by then.
And yeah, joe, I like the focus on time, and our perception of it, in the trailer. I don't know if you've read any Vonnegut, but this might be a great place to start.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: MarkD
I can't overstate how
I can't overstate how important Vonnegut was to my intellectual development. A true hero.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: donster
Prolly my favorite author,
Prolly my favorite author, too ....
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
Mark, I'm with you about the
Mark, I'm with you about the intellectual development thing, but Vonnegut also played an outsize role in the development of my heart.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: MarkD
Yeah, he kinda brought the
Yeah, he kinda brought the two together.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ismelltoadsmoke
Any recommendations for
Any recommendations for essential Vonnegut reading and any order to read them in would be much appreciated, please and thanks.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
I read Cat's Cradle first.
I read Cat's Cradle first. Slaughterhouse Five is his most famous, but I'd recommend reading that one later, rather than sooner. Welcome to the Monkey House might also be a good place to start; it's a collection of short stories.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
Oh, and where film is
Oh, and where film is concerned, Hollywood has had a very hard time transferring Vonnegut's writing to the screen. Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions are pretty much disasters, although the latter does have Bruce Willis in drag at one point. Mother Night, with Nick Nolte, Sheryl Lee, John Goodman, Kirsten Dunst, and Alan Arkin is by far the best adaptation, and the short film based on his story Who Am I This Time, with Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken, is pretty great too.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ismelltoadsmoke
Thanks much, mike!
Thanks much, mike!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: |-|/-\|_|_
https://www.youtube.com/watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDLzLUmtU3w
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: fishcane
Too bad Jerry could never
Too bad Jerry could never bring that Sirens project together
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
Who Am I This Time? (In its
That might have been great, fishcane, or a complete disaster.
And speaking of disasters, I'm just remembering they did make a film of Slapstick, starring Jerry Lewis and Madeline Kahn.
Who Am I This Time? (In its entirety)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBPZBBqFM1c
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: MarkD
Breakfast Of Champions was
Breakfast Of Champions was my first. Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle, of course Slaughterhouse-Five, and God Bless you Mr Rosewater (I thought it was God Bless you Eliot Rosewater). His earlier stuff was his best IMHO.
Player Piano was his first and a fun read.
My favorite quote of his, and I am paraphrasing, "I try to do the right thing. Not because I am worried about what happens after death, but because it is the right thing to do." Something like that.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
That quote sums up Humanism
That quote sums up Humanism quite succinctly, Mark. Vonnegut, of course, was the honorary president of the American Humanist Association for a number of years.
My favorite Vonnegut quote appears in his last novel Timequake, but it's attributed to his son Mark (who wrote a book titled The Eden Express about his experience living in a commune deep in the woods in British Columbia in the last 60s, finding out he had schizophrenia while he was there, and being committed to a psych ward in Vancouver for a time; these days, Mark is a doctor): "We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ismelltoadsmoke
Thanks, MarkD. I also looked
Thanks, MarkD. I also looked online and found "a top ten best" for Kurt from the Vonnegut Society? i believe, including the titles which you and mike suggested.
Winter is coming up and this is perfect. Much appreciated.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
I just finished watching the
I just finished watching the documentary. I give it my highest recommendation.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Vann Kliburn
ALways liked reading his
ALways liked reading his stuff when I was younger. Slaughterhouse, SIrens of Titan and Welcome to the Monkey House.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Thumbkinetic
https://www.indystar.com
https://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/arts/2021/11/11/kurt-vonneg...
Lewis Black to chair board of Vonnegut Library.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
That article is behind a
That article is behind a paywall, but this post from the Vonnegut Library isn't:
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Thumbkinetic
Hmm. I don't hit a paywall.
Hmm. I don't hit a paywall. IndyStar site looks just like the Bergen Record's site. Same Corporate Daddy, I assume.
The Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library's next board chair has an international reputation: comedian, author and actor Lewis Black. As a Vonnegut fan, he has long been involved with the museum and wanted to contribute more time to it, founder and CEO Julia Whitehead said.
Fittingly, the news was announced Thursday, on the day that would have been Vonnegut's 99th birthday.
The board voted Black into the position Wednesday. His term will begin Jan. 1 and lasts for a year. As chair, Black's responsibilities include ensuring fiscal responsibility, leading meetings virtually or in person and following the organization's strategic plan. The move also makes him a member of the governing board for three years.
"It's unprecedented for our organization to have this specific scenario," Whitehead said. "We've been trying to become a national organization for many years; it just naturally will happen with him as board chair.
"His own messages of social justice and just being kind to people, there's a lot of overlap between Lewis Black and Kurt Vonnegut. How fortunate for us that he is willing to spend that time with us and that knowledge and all of the work that goes along with being board chair," she said.
Black has been an honorary board member for about 10 years, assisting with fundraising, promoting the organization and getting to know those behind the museum. The comedian first learned about the museum around a decade ago, when Whitehead approached him after a show and requested that he sign some books.
She asked if he liked Vonnegut. He put down his pen and looked her in the face.
"Of course I do I probably shouted with glee," Black wrote IndyStar in an email.
At the time, Whitehead was building support for the museum, which moved into its first home in 2011. She asked if he'd like to be a member of the new organization, and Black said yes.
She's long enjoyed the comedian's work. Especially celebrated for his long-running segment on "The Daily Show," Black is known for his ranting style during his stand-up, which often centers on current events, social media, politics and ridiculous everyday occurrences.
"I did know that he had worked with Robin Williams on doing comedy shows for veterans," Whitehead said. "I know veterans mattered to him, and I'm so glad I did ask him if he was a Vonnegut fan because it turned out that he was not only a Vonnegut fan but he considered Vonnegut the person whose work inspired him to want to write comedy."
"I wanted to be a part of something that would tell the tale ... of someone who means so much to me," Black wrote.
He became a Vonnegut fan as a young person working a summer job as a parking lot attendant, which left him time to read in between collecting money. He said that Vonnegut's world in "Cat's Crade" changed him.
"Finally I didn't feel crazy anymore," Black wrote. "He made me feel comfortable in what I thought was my madness. I immediately followed it up by reading Sirens of Titan. And then whatever he wrote, I would read. He was my psychic road map."
Your stories live here.
Fuel your hometown passion and plug into the stories that define it.
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Thanks to his longtime involvement with the museum, Black has a comprehensive view. He's watched it move from its former home at 340 N. Senate Ave. to its new one at 543 Indiana Ave. The museum was recently selected as a Literary Landmark by the American Library Association's United for Libraries, the first designation in Indiana. It will roll out a major celebration of Vonnegut in 2022, the year he would have turned 100 years old.
"I had faith that it would continue to grow and it has," he wrote. "More than I ever imagined."
Footlite vows change after casting white actors for diverse showWatch the trailer for Kurt Vonnegut documentary 'Unstuck in Time'See Beef & Boards' 2022 season scheduleWhat makes symphony concertmaster Kevin Lin so extraordinary
Looking for things to do? Our newsletter has the best concerts, art, shows and more — and the stories behind them
Contact IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339 or [email protected]. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @domenicareports.