Writers: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

 I find that knowing something of the writer's background is helpful for me in understanding their work. I should have been a historian, I tend towards categorizing writers not by personality but historical epoch. One thing wholly lacking in prison is information. The federal Bureau of Prisons is quite terrified of the internet, so no Google. This lack of information aids in infantilizing prisoners. This is part of a series of writers that I did look up when I got internet access. Some will be about the writer, and others may feature the writer. I went to YouTube for my main source, but others will also include some other material relating to the book or author discussed. One thing I did not have when younger was access to information about how writers wrote. I think that kept me from understanding the actual work, which, in turn, led me away from writing.

I have written elsewhere on here about Vonnegut. You can find those posts here. He is the last well-known writer from Indiana. My family has a slight connection with him, my Uncle Bob and Aunt Mary Ellen Finholt worked with Kurt and his brother at GE. My mother met Kurt Vonnegut; she told me that she was the only one who could get Kurt's son Mark from crying.

Vonnegut was the writer for those of us who were readers in high school. Yes, there was the cachet of his being a Hoosier, but his attitude of idealism and cynicism fit us. 

I lost track of Vonnegut in high school. He may have lost track of himself after Jailbird. We touched base towards the end of the last century, then separated again. Maybe I lost the sense that humanism was a going concern.

When I was in prison, I set out re-reading (and in the case of Galápagos, reading) Vonnegut. I think Bluebeard remains unread. What I found was how much I missed Vonnegut.

I do not know if people younger than me read Vonnegut; I do not know anyone younger than me who does read novels.

For those who might read novels, those who are fans of Vonnegut, these videos are for you:

Rachel’s Suggested Vonnegut Reading Order (Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library)

sch 6/11

Am I being too polite with my writing?

This is a movie version of one of Vonnegut's short stories; I have it here out of a sense of whimsy.

Vonnegut's letter to the future:

Here I will close out.

sch 6/15