query: what school did kurt vonnegut go to?

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: is." Unless otherwise cited, items in this list are taken from Thomas F. Marvin's 2002 book "Kurt Vonnegut: A Critical Companion", and the date in brackets is the date the work was first published: Novels Short fiction collections Nonfiction Interviews Art Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (; November 11, 1922April 11, 2007) was an American writer. In a career spanning over 50 years, Vonnegut published 14 novels, three short story collections, five plays, and five works of non-fiction. He is most famous for his darkly satirical, best-selling novel "Slaughterhouse-Five" (1969). Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Vonnegut attended Cornell University

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (; November 11, 1922April 11, 2007) was an American writer. In a career spanning over 50 years, Vonnegut published 14 novels, three short story collections, five plays, and five works of non-fiction. He is most famous for his darkly satirical, best-selling novel "Slaughterhouse-Five" (1969). Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Vonnegut attended Cornell University but dropped out in January 1943 and enlisted in the United States Army. As part of his training, he studied mechanical engineering at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) and the University of Tennessee. He was then deployed to

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: Jane dropped out of the program after becoming pregnant with the couple's first child, Mark (born May 1947), while Kurt also left the University without any degree (despite having completed his undergraduate education) when his master's thesis on the Ghost Dance religious movement was unanimously rejected by the department. Shortly thereafter, General Electric (GE) hired Vonnegut as a publicist for the company's Schenectady, New York, research laboratory. Although the job required a college degree, Vonnegut was hired after claiming to hold a master's degree in anthropology from the University of Chicago. His brother Bernard had worked at GE since 1945,

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: bitter, and abusive. She labored to regain the family's wealth and status, and Vonnegut said she expressed hatred "as corrosive as hydrochloric acid" for her husband. Edith Vonnegut forayed into writing and tried to sell short stories to magazines like "Collier's" and "The Saturday Evening Post" with no success. Vonnegut enrolled at Shortridge High School in Indianapolis in 1936. While there, he played clarinet in the school band and became a co-editor (along with Madelyn Pugh) for the Tuesday edition of the school newspaper, "The Shortridge Echo". Vonnegut said his tenure with the "Echo" allowed him to write for a

title: Kurt Vonnegut Sr.

text: the suburban development of Williams Creek, Indiana in 1941. Its basement featured a small shop with a kiln for ceramics. The Vonnegut children attended good schools: Bernard attended Park School and earned a Bachelor of Science and PhD in Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Alice attended Tudor Hall School for Girls; Kurt Jr. attended private schools until the third grade, when he was removed for financial reasons, then attended Indianapolis Public School No. 43, Shortridge High School and Cornell University, where he studied physics, chemistry, and math before enlisting in the U.S. Army as a private during World War

title: Kurt Vonnegut Sr.

text: November 24, 1884 in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Nannie Schnull Vonnegut (d. 1929), daughter of Henry Schnull, and Bernard Vonnegut I (1855–1908), an architect and partner in the well-established firm of Vonnegut & Bohn. Vonnegut attended grammar school from 1890 to 1898 (Indianapolis Public School No. 10) and Shortridge High School. He attended the American College in Strasbourg for three years from around 1902 and earned a Bachelor of Science in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1908. Afterward, he continued his studies in Berlin, traveling "with his widowed mother and his sister, Irma" (later Irma Vonnegut

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: discharged from the U.S. Army and returned to Indianapolis. After he returned to the United States, 22-year-old Vonnegut married Jane Marie Cox, his high school girlfriend and classmate since kindergarten, on September 1, 1945. The pair relocated to Chicago; there, Vonnegut enrolled in the University of Chicago on the G.I. Bill, as an anthropology student in an unusual five-year joint undergraduate/graduate program that conferred a master's degree. He augmented his income by working as a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago at night. Jane accepted a scholarship from the university to study Russian literature as a graduate student.

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: large audience—his fellow students—rather than for a teacher, an experience he said was "fun and easy". "It just turned out that I could write better than a lot of other people", Vonnegut observed. "Each person has something he can do easily and can't imagine why everybody else has so much trouble doing it." After graduating from Shortridge in 1940, Vonnegut enrolled at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He wanted to study the humanities or become an architect like his father, but his father and brother, a scientist, urged him to study a "useful" discipline. As a result, Vonnegut majored

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: the advent of Prohibition in the United States. When the Great Depression hit, few people could afford to build, causing clients at Kurt Sr.'s architectural firm to become scarce. Vonnegut's brother and sister had finished their primary and secondary educations in private schools, but Vonnegut was placed in a public school, called Public School No. 43, now known as the James Whitcomb Riley School. He was not bothered by this, but both his parents were affected deeply by their economic misfortune. His father withdrew from normal life and became what Vonnegut called a "dreamy artist". His mother became depressed, withdrawn,

title: Kurt Vonnegut Sr.

text: Lindener), returning in 1910 to join his father's surviving partner, Arthur Bohn. Vonnegut joined as a partner in Vonnegut & Bohn, and while there he joined the University Club and taught lettering at the Herron Art Institute from 1912-1913 and architectural history from 1913 to 1915, and headed the Art Association of Indianapolis' Art School Committee from 1915-1927. He designed the original logo for the Indianapolis Children's Museum. The firm did little during the Great Depression and eventually the firm was renamed Vonnegut, Bohn & Mueller Architects with the addition of another partner. In 1946, Kurt Vonnegut Sr. was the

title: Kurt Vonnegut Sr.

text: do maintenance." Kurt Vonnegut Sr. Kurt Vonnegut Sr. (November 24, 1884 – October 1, 1957) was an American architect and architectural lecturer active in early- to mid-twentieth-century Indianapolis, Indiana. A member of the American Institute of Architects, he was partner in the firms of Vonnegut & Bohn, Vonnegut, Bohn & Mueller, and Vonnegut, Wright, and Yeager. He designed several churches, banks, and became the inhouse architect for Indiana Bell and Hooks Drug stores (prior to World War II), practicing extensively in the Art Deco style. He was the father of chemist Bernard Vonnegut and author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Kurt Vonnegut

title: Kurt Vonnegut Sr.

text: Kurt Vonnegut Sr. Kurt Vonnegut Sr. (November 24, 1884 – October 1, 1957) was an American architect and architectural lecturer active in early- to mid-twentieth-century Indianapolis, Indiana. A member of the American Institute of Architects, he was partner in the firms of Vonnegut & Bohn, Vonnegut, Bohn & Mueller, and Vonnegut, Wright, and Yeager. He designed several churches, banks, and became the inhouse architect for Indiana Bell and Hooks Drug stores (prior to World War II), practicing extensively in the Art Deco style. He was the father of chemist Bernard Vonnegut and author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Kurt Vonnegut was born

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: scholarly works have examined Vonnegut's writing and humor. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was born on November 11, 1922, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was the youngest of three children of Kurt Vonnegut Sr. and his wife Edith (born Lieber). His older siblings were Bernard (born 1914) and Alice (born 1917). Vonnegut was descended from German immigrants who settled in the United States in the mid-19th century; his patrilineal great-grandfather, Clemens Vonnegut of Westphalia, Germany, settled in Indianapolis and founded the Vonnegut Hardware Company. Kurt's father, and his father before him, Bernard, were architects; the architecture firm under Kurt Sr. designed such buildings

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: and destroying the icons of twentieth-century, middle-class American life, Vonnegut gently reveals their basic flimsiness." Vonnegut did not simply propose utopian solutions to the ills of American society, but showed how such schemes would not allow ordinary people to live lives free from want and anxiety. The large artificial families that the U.S. population is formed into in "Slapstick" soon serve as an excuse for tribalism, with people giving no help to those not part of their group, and with the extended family's place in the social hierarchy becoming vital. In the introduction to their essay "Kurt Vonnegut and Humor",

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: social critic and the premier novelist of the counterculture", and Dinitia Smith of "The New York Times" dubbed Vonnegut the "counterculture's novelist." Vonnegut has inspired numerous posthumous tributes and works. In 2008, the Kurt Vonnegut Society was established, and in November 2010, the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library was opened in Vonnegut's hometown of Indianapolis. The Library of America published a compendium of Vonnegut's compositions between 1963 and 1973 the following April, and another compendium of his earlier works in 2012. Late 2011 saw the release of two Vonnegut biographies, Gregory Sumner's "Unstuck in Time" and Charles J. Shields's "And So

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: 18 instances. In the case of "Island Trees School District v. Pico", the United States Supreme Court ruled that a school district's ban on "Slaughterhouse-Five"—which the board had called "anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy"—and eight other novels was unconstitutional. When a school board in Republic, Missouri decided to withdraw Vonnegut's novel from its libraries, the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library offered a free copy to all the students of the district. Tally, writing in 2013, suggests that Vonnegut has only recently become the subject of serious study rather than fan adulation, and much is yet to be written about

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: him arrogant and wayward. In "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater", readers may find it difficult to determine whether the rich or the poor are in worse circumstances as the lives of both groups' members are ruled by their wealth or their poverty. Further, in "Hocus Pocus", the protagonist is named Eugene Debs Hartke, a homage to the famed socialist Eugene V. Debs and Vonnegut's socialist views. In "Kurt Vonnegut: A Critical Companion", Thomas F. Marvin states: "Vonnegut points out that, left unchecked, capitalism will erode the democratic foundations of the United States." Marvin suggests that Vonnegut's works demonstrate what happens

title: Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library

text: German Renaissance Revival Architecture style. It has fine decorative detailing, totaling 35,000 square-feet. It has also served as an apartment building and commercial space. Several of its rooms were donated to the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library by the law firm Kat, Korin, Cunningham, which moved to the building in 2004. The space used for the library is the former home of the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art. Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is dedicated to championing the literary, artistic, and cultural contributions of the late writer, artist and Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut, Jr..

title: Kurt Vonnegut Sr.

text: II. Following Edith's death in 1944, Kurt remained somewhat isolated, eventually moving to a small cottage near Nashville, Indiana. Kurt was a lifetime smoker, suffered from emphysema, and died on October 1, 1957 at his home from lung cancer without treatment. He was buried October 3, 1957 in the Vonnegut lot in Crown Hill Cemetery next to his wife and parents. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. wrote of his brother's profession, his mother's death, and of his father as an architect, writing in "Hocus Pocus" that "Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to

title: Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library

text: Vonnegut edited as a teenager. Teachers can also look to the library for continuing education through the “Teaching Teachers to Teach Vonnegut” program, a program designed to assist educators in learning key methods of teaching Vonnegut's works to teenagers. The library holds an annual writing contest for high school students and winners receive scholarships such as the Kurt Vonnegut Writing Award and the Jane Cox Vonnegut Writing Award. Resources are also available to local professional and amateur writers including a variety of writing events and discussions. The library sponsors a literary magazine, "So It Goes," which debuted in December 2012.

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: the wars one fought were just wars. In 2011, NPR wrote, "Kurt Vonnegut's blend of anti-war sentiment and satire made him one of the most popular writers of the 1960s." Vonnegut stated in a 1987 interview that, "my own feeling is that civilization ended in World War I, and we're still trying to recover from that", and that he wanted to write war-focused works without glamorizing war itself. Vonnegut had not intended to publish again, but his anger against the George W. Bush administration led him to write "A Man Without a Country". "Slaughterhouse-Five" is the Vonnegut novel best known

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: contributing significantly to an iodine-based cloud seeding project. In 1949, Kurt and Jane had a daughter named Edith. Still working for GE, Vonnegut had his first piece, titled "Report on the Barnhouse Effect", published in the February 11, 1950 issue of "Collier's", for which he received $750. Vonnegut wrote another story, after being coached by the fiction editor at "Collier's", Knox Burger, and again sold it to the magazine, this time for $950. Burger suggested he quit GE, a course he had contemplated before. Vonnegut moved with his family to Cape Cod, Massachusetts to write full-time, and left GE in

title: Kurt Vonnegut Sr.

text: had had three children: Bernard Vonnegut (1914–1997), Alice Vonnegut (1917–1958); and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922–2007). Through Lieber's father, a trust fund from Lieber's grandfather (Peter Lieber), an inheritance from Vonnegut's mother, and Vonnegut's architectural practice, the family was upper-middle class, although during the Great Depression the Leiber brewery went bankrupt and Vonnegut & Bohn produced next to nothing. Around this time, Vonnegut designed and built a large brick residence for his family located at 4401 N. Illinois Street in Indianapolis. The home was heavily mortgaged and was eventually sold during the Depression. A smaller house was designed and built in

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: a genius and athlete forced to wear record-level "handicaps" and imprisoned for attempting to overthrow the government. He escapes to a television studio, tears away his handicaps, and frees a ballerina from her lead weights. As they dance, they are killed by the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers. Vonnegut, in a later letter, suggested that "Harrison Bergeron" might have sprung from his envy and self-pity as a high school misfit. In his 1976 biography of Vonnegut, Stanley Schatt suggested that the short story shows "in any leveling process, what really is lost, according to Vonnegut, is beauty, grace, and wisdom".

title: Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library

text: Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is dedicated to championing the literary, artistic, and cultural contributions of the late writer, artist and Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. It opened in January 2011 and is located in the Emelie Building, a structure on the National Register of Historical Places at 340 North Senate Avenue in Indianapolis, Indiana. The library serves as a cultural and educational resource facility, museum, art gallery and reading room. It supports language and visual arts education through programs and outreach activities with other local arts organizations to foster a strong arts network

title: Ilium (Kurt Vonnegut)

text: Ilium (Kurt Vonnegut) Ilium is a fictitious town in eastern New York state, used as a setting for many of Kurt Vonnegut's novels. The name most likely refers to Troy, New York (""Ilium"" was the name the Romans gave to ancient Troy), although Troy is mentioned as a separate city in "Player Piano". In all other respects, Ilium very closely resembles Schenectady, New York, with the fictional Iroquois River standing in for the real Mohawk River, which flows west–east through Schenectady. The Ilium Works is in roughly the same geographic location as the General Electric plant in Schenectady, where Vonnegut

title: Kurt Vonnegut Sr.

text: sole partner and merged with the firms Pierre & Wright (of Indianapolis, Indiana) and Miller & Yeager (of Terre Haute, Indiana) to form Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager, which was located at 1126 Hume Mansur Building, Indianapolis, and 402 Opera House Building, Terre Haute. On Nov. 22, 1913, Vonnegut married Edith Sophia Lieber (d. May 14, 1944), the daughter of millionaire Indianapolis brewer Albert Lieber and Alice Barus, who had died of pneumonia when Edith was six. Shortly thereafter, Albert Lieber married Ora D. Lane, and later Meda Langtry, a widow near the same age as Edith. Kurt and Edith Vonnegut

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: short stories to various magazines. In 1954 the couple had a third child, Nanette. With a growing family and no financially successful novels yet, Vonnegut's short stories sustained the family. In 1958, his sister, Alice, died of cancer two days after her husband, James Carmalt Adams, was killed in a train accident. Vonnegut adopted Alice's three young sons—James, Steven, and Kurt, aged 14, 11, and 9, respectively. Grappling with family challenges, Vonnegut continued to write, publishing novels vastly dissimilar in terms of plot. "The Sirens of Titan" (1959) features a Martian invasion of Earth, as experienced by a bored billionaire,

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: you are against those perversions and for the rich, you're a conservative. What could be simpler?" Regarding political parties, Vonnegut said, "The two real political parties in America are the Winners and the Losers. The people don't acknowledge this. They claim membership in two imaginary parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, instead." Vonnegut disregarded more mainstream political ideologies in favor of socialism, which he thought could provide a valuable substitute for what he saw as social Darwinism and a spirit of "survival of the fittest" in American society, believing that "socialism would be a good for the common man". Vonnegut

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: he learned his atheism from his parents. He did not however disdain those who seek the comfort of religion, hailing church associations as a type of extended family. Like his great-grandfather Clemens, Vonnegut was a freethinker. He occasionally attended a Unitarian church, but with little consistency. "According to Vonnegut,he continued to say he was Unitarian Universalist". In his autobiographical work "Palm Sunday", Vonnegut says he is a "Christ-worshipping agnostic";. "In his 1984" (Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)) "Ware Lecture, "Vonnegut described his connection to Unitarian Universalism with characteristic sarcasm: "In order not to seem [spiritually inept] to strangers trying to get

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: ensconced in the American and world literary canon as well as in high school, college and graduate curricula". Tally writes of Vonnegut's work: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted Vonnegut posthumously in 2015. The asteroid 25399 Vonnegut is named in his honor. In the introduction to "Slaughterhouse-Five" Vonnegut recounts meeting filmmaker Harrison Starr at a party who asked him whether his forthcoming book was an anti-war novel — "I guess" replied Vonnegut. Starr responded "Why don't you write an anti-glacier novel?". This underlined Vonnegut's belief that wars were, unfortunately, inevitable, but that it was important to ensure

title: Bernard Vonnegut

text: of cancer on April 25, 1997, at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany, New York. His brother, Kurt Vonnegut, alluded to Bernard's work in some of his works, most famously in "Cat's Cradle". Bernard Vonnegut Bernard Vonnegut (August 29, 1914 – April 25, 1997) was an American atmospheric scientist credited with discovering that silver iodide could be used effectively in cloud seeding to produce snow and rain. He was the older brother of American novelist Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to architect Kurt Vonnegut Sr (November 24, 1884 – October 1, 1957), partner in the firm of Vonnegut,

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: and made devices such as nuclear weapons that can make their creators extinct. In "Deadeye Dick", Vonnegut features the neutron bomb, which he claims is designed to kill people, but leave buildings and structures untouched. He also uses this theme to demonstrate the recklessness of those who put powerful, apocalypse-inducing devices at the disposal of politicians. "What is the point of life?" is a question Vonnegut often pondered in his works. When one of Vonnegut's characters, Kilgore Trout, finds the question "What is the purpose of life?" written in a bathroom, his response is, "To be the eyes and ears

title: Ilium (Kurt Vonnegut)

text: of Dr. Felix Hoenikker—one of the fathers of the atomic bomb—thus, it is the town that John visits to interview Dr. Asa Breed, Hoenikker's former supervisor. In "Player Piano", it is where most of the action takes place. In "Slaughterhouse-Five", it is also the home town of the book's primary protagonist, Billy Pilgrim. Ilium is also where the events of the short story "Ed Luby's Key Club" (from "Look at the Birdie") take place. Ilium (Kurt Vonnegut) Ilium is a fictitious town in eastern New York state, used as a setting for many of Kurt Vonnegut's novels. The name most

title: Mark Vonnegut

text: Dr. Vonnegut respects the parents’ right to choose what is best for their children, and will support parents' decisions. His practice discourages psychiatric medication use in children, and instead offers therapy via social workers, reiki, yoga, and acupuncture. He is currently a pediatrician in Quincy, Massachusetts. Vonnegut published his second book, "Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So", in 2010. Like "The Eden Express", it is autobiographical. Mark Vonnegut Mark Vonnegut (born May 11, 1947) is an American pediatrician and memoirist. He is the son of writer Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and his first wife, Jane Cox. He is

title: Clemens Vonnegut

text: Clemens Vonnegut Clemens Vonnegut Sr. (November 20, 1824 – December 13, 1906) was a German emigrant to the United States and successful businessman. He was the patriarch of the prominent German-American Vonnegut clan (later Schnull-Vonnegut) of Indiana – he was the father and grandfather of architects Bernard Vonnegut I and Kurt Vonnegut Sr., respectively, and great-grandfather of scientist Bernard Vonnegut and author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Vonnegut was born in Münster, Westphalia, to a tax collector father who was an official for the Duke of Westphalia. He was educated in Hanover to the equivalent of a bachelor's degree, speaking French and

title: Vonnegut & Bohn

text: joined as a partner and the firm was renamed Vonnegut, Bohn & Mueller Architects. Arthur Bohn retired in the 1940s. In 1946, Kurt Vonnegut Sr. merged the firm with George Caleb Wright (b.April 25, 1889) of Pierre & Wright and Ralph Oscar Yeager (b.August 16, 1892) of Miller & Yeager (of Terre Haute, Indiana) forming Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager, which was located at 1126 Hume Mansur Building, Indianapolis, Indiana and 402 Opera House Building, Terre Haute, Indiana. Kurt Vonnegut Sr. was the father of author Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and is referred to, with the rest of the author's family, in

title: Bernard Vonnegut

text: Bernard Vonnegut Bernard Vonnegut (August 29, 1914 – April 25, 1997) was an American atmospheric scientist credited with discovering that silver iodide could be used effectively in cloud seeding to produce snow and rain. He was the older brother of American novelist Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to architect Kurt Vonnegut Sr (November 24, 1884 – October 1, 1957), partner in the firm of Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager, and homemaker Edith Sophia Lieber (d. May 14, 1944). He was named after his grandfather, architect Bernard Vonnegut Sr, co-founder of the firm of Vonnegut & Bohn. He attended

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: arms, is mentioned in almost all of Vonnegut's novels. In "Player Piano", the computer EPICAC is given control of the nuclear arsenal, and is charged with deciding whether to use high-explosive or nuclear arms. In "Cat's Cradle", John's original purpose in setting pen to paper was to write an account of what prominent Americans had been doing as Hiroshima was bombed. Vonnegut was an atheist and a humanist, serving as the honorary president of the American Humanist Association. In an interview for "Playboy", he stated that his forebears who came to the United States did not believe in God, and

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: and conscience of the Creator of the Universe, you fool." Marvin finds Trout's theory curious, given that Vonnegut was an atheist, and thus for him, there is no Creator to report back to, and comments that, "[as] Trout chronicles one meaningless life after another, readers are left to wonder how a compassionate creator could stand by and do nothing while such reports come in." In the epigraph to "Bluebeard", Vonnegut quotes his son Mark, and gives an answer to what he believes is the meaning of life: "We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: Vonnegut originates many of the techniques he would use in his later works. The comic, heavy-drinking Shah of Bratpuhr, an outsider to this dystopian corporate United States, is able to ask many questions that an insider would not think to ask, or would cause offense by doing so. For example, when taken to see the artificially intelligent supercomputer EPICAC, the Shah asks it "what are people for?" and receives no answer. Speaking for Vonnegut, he dismisses it as a "false god". This type of alien visitor would recur throughout Vonnegut's literature. "The New York Times" writer and critic Granville Hicks

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: when a "hereditary aristocracy" develops, where wealth is inherited along familial lines: the ability of poor Americans to overcome their situations is greatly or completely diminished. Vonnegut also often laments social Darwinism, and a "survival of the fittest" view of society. He points out that social Darwinism leads to a society that condemns its poor for their own misfortune, and fails to help them out of their poverty because "they deserve their fate". Vonnegut also confronts the idea of free will in a number of his pieces. In "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Timequake" the characters have no choice in what they do;

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: "first fancy city [he had] ever seen". He lived in a slaughterhouse when he got to the city, and worked in a factory that made malt syrup for pregnant women. Vonnegut recalled the sirens going off whenever another city was bombed. The Germans did not expect Dresden to get bombed, Vonnegut said. "There were very few air-raid shelters in town and no war industries, just cigarette factories, hospitals, clarinet factories." On February 13, 1945, Dresden became the target of Allied forces. In the hours and days that followed, the Allies engaged in a fierce firebombing of the city. The offensive

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: Sirens of Titan" and "Cat's Cradle". In "The Sirens of Titan", Rumfoord proclaims The Church of God the Utterly Indifferent. "Slaughterhouse-Five" sees Billy Pilgrim, lacking religion himself, nevertheless become a chaplain's assistant in the military and display a large crucifix on his bedroom wall. In "Cat's Cradle", Vonnegut invented the religion of Bokononism. Vonnegut did not particularly sympathize with liberalism or conservatism, and mused on the specious simplicity of American politics. "If you want to take my guns away from me, and you're all for murdering fetuses, and love it when homosexuals marry each other ... you're a liberal. If

title: Something to Believe In: Is Kurt Vonnegut the Exorcist of Jesus Christ Superstar?

text: Something to Believe In: Is Kurt Vonnegut the Exorcist of Jesus Christ Superstar? Something to Believe in: Is Kurt Vonnegut the Exorcist of Jesus Christ Superstar? is a 1977 book by Robert L. Short, which discusses the deleterious effects of organized religions on people's faith. Through the use of cartoons, religious history, historical figures and references to popular culture, Short argues that most organized religions are doing a disservice to people, with their mischaracterizations of God, and thus are perversely driving people away from religion and causing them to look for alternatives, most of which result in disappointment. Short's opinion

text: is of no more significance than the killing of six million cockroaches when a tenement building is fumigated." He quotes a speech by a priest in the book "The Brothers Karamazov", who makes the point that morality cannot exist without immortality, because if there is nothing beyond this world, then human beings are the same as animals (we do not have a soul), and as a result, anything is permitted. Something to Believe In: Is Kurt Vonnegut the Exorcist of Jesus Christ Superstar? Something to Believe in: Is Kurt Vonnegut the Exorcist of Jesus Christ Superstar? is a 1977 book

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: wars. Vonnegut called George Orwell his favorite writer, and admitted that he tried to emulate Orwell. "I like his concern for the poor, I like his socialism, I like his simplicity", Vonnegut said. Vonnegut also said that Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four", and "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, heavily influenced his debut novel, "Player Piano", in 1952. Vonnegut commented that Robert Louis Stevenson's stories were emblems of thoughtfully put together works that he tried to mimic in his own compositions. Vonnegut also hailed playwright and socialist George Bernard Shaw as "a hero of [his]", and an "enormous influence." Within his own

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: seen by a younger generation when he played himself in Rodney Dangerfield's film "Back to School". The last of Vonnegut's fourteen novels, "Timequake" (1997), was, as University of Detroit history professor and Vonnegut biographer Gregory Sumner said, "a reflection of an aging man facing mortality and testimony to an embattled faith in the resilience of human awareness and agency." Vonnegut's final book, a collection of essays entitled "A Man Without a Country" (2005), became a bestseller. In a 2006 "Rolling Stone" interview, Vonnegut sardonically stated that he would sue the Brown & Williamson tobacco company, the maker of the Pall

title: If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young

text: If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young (Seven Stories Press) is a 2013 collection of nine commencement speeches from Kurt Vonnegut, selected and introduced by Dan Wakefield. After the publication of his novel "Slaughterhouse-Five" brought him worldwide acclaim in 1969, Kurt Vonnegut became one of America's most popular graduation speakers. There were years when public speaking was Vonnegut's main source of income. "We are performing animals," he used to say somewhat sardonically. In these speeches Vonnegut jokes, entertains, inspires, and conveys something of the momentousness of life.

title: Bernard Vonnegut I

text: Bernard Vonnegut I Bernard Vonnegut I, WAA, FAIA, (August 8, 1855 – August 7, 1908) was an American lecturer and architect active in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Indiana. He was a co-founder of the locally renowned Indianapolis architectural firm of Vonnegut and Bohn, and was active in a range of residential, religious, institutional, civic, and commercial commissions. He is the namesake and grandfather of scientist Bernard Vonnegut, father of the architect Kurt Vonnegut Sr., and grandfather of author Kurt Vonnegut. Bernard Vonnegut I was born on August 8, 1855 in Indianapolis, Indiana to Freethinker German-American parents Katarina Blank, a homemaker, and

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: family, Vonnegut stated that his mother, Edith, had the greatest influence on him. "[My] mother thought she might make a new fortune by writing for the slick magazines. She took short-story courses at night. She studied magazines the way gamblers study racing forms." Early on in his career, Vonnegut decided to model his style after Henry David Thoreau, who wrote as if from the perspective of a child, allowing Thoreau's works to be more widely comprehensible. Using a youthful narrative voice allowed Vonnegut to deliver concepts in a modest and straightforward way. Other influences on Vonnegut include "The War of

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: have, at various times, been labeled science fiction, satire and postmodern. He also resisted such labels, but his works do contain common tropes that are often associated with those genres. In several of his books, Vonnegut imagines alien societies and civilizations, as is common in works of science fiction. Vonnegut does this to emphasize or exaggerate absurdities and idiosyncrasies in our own world. Furthermore, Vonnegut often humorizes the problems that plague societies, as is done in satirical works. However, literary theorist Robert Scholes noted in "Fabulation and Metafiction" that Vonnegut "reject[s] the traditional satirist's faith in the efficacy of satire

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: At times, Vonnegut was disgruntled by the personal nature of his detractors' complaints. In 1979, Vonnegut married Jill Krementz, a photographer whom he met while she was working on a series about writers in the early 1970s. With Jill, he adopted a daughter, Lily, when the baby was three days old. In subsequent years, his popularity resurged as he published several satirical books, including "Jailbird" (1979), "Deadeye Dick" (1982), "Galápagos" (1985), "Bluebeard" (1987), and "Hocus Pocus" (1990). Although he remained a prolific writer in the 1980s Vonnegut struggled with depression and attempted suicide in 1984. Two years later, Vonnegut was

title: Edith Vonnegut

text: and "Edith Vonnegut Squibb". Vonnegut learned Transcendental Meditation with her mother, Jane, in 1967. Edith Vonnegut Edith "Edie" Vonnegut (born 1949 in Schenectady, New York) is an American painter. Her work—most of which heavenly beings and mundane activities—has been showcased at galleries across the United States, and is featured in the book "Domestic Goddesses", along with her humorous commentary. Vonnegut is the daughter of novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and his first wife, Jane Marie (Cox), and the sister of Mark Vonnegut and Nanette Vonnegut. She was named for her paternal grandmother, Edith Lieber Vonnegut. She was once married to television

title: Edith Vonnegut

text: Edith Vonnegut Edith "Edie" Vonnegut (born 1949 in Schenectady, New York) is an American painter. Her work—most of which heavenly beings and mundane activities—has been showcased at galleries across the United States, and is featured in the book "Domestic Goddesses", along with her humorous commentary. Vonnegut is the daughter of novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and his first wife, Jane Marie (Cox), and the sister of Mark Vonnegut and Nanette Vonnegut. She was named for her paternal grandmother, Edith Lieber Vonnegut. She was once married to television personality Geraldo Rivera and has published under the names "Edith Vonnegut", "Edith Vonnegut Rivera"

title: Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager

text: Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager was an architectural firm active in mid-twentieth-century Indiana. The firm was organized in 1946 as a partnership between the surviving partners of three Indiana firms: Kurt Vonnegut Sr. (1884–1957) of Vonnegut, Bohn & Mueller Architects; George Caleb Wright (b. April 25, 1889) of Pierre & Wright; and Ralph Oscar Yeager (b. August 16, 1892) of Miller & Yeager. It was located at 1126 Hume Mansur Building, Indianapolis, Indiana and 402 Opera House Building, Terre Haute, Indiana. Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager was formed in 1946. In 1957, after the death of partner Kurt

text: In 2016, Seven Stories Press released what it called a "(much) expanded second edition" of the book. If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young (Seven Stories Press) is a 2013 collection of nine commencement speeches from Kurt Vonnegut, selected and introduced by Dan Wakefield. After the publication of his novel "Slaughterhouse-Five" brought him worldwide acclaim in 1969, Kurt Vonnegut became one of America's most popular graduation speakers. There were years when public speaking was Vonnegut's main source of income. "We are performing animals," he used to say

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: closed on March 14, 1971. In 1972, Universal Pictures adapted "Slaughterhouse-Five" into a film which the author said was "flawless". Meanwhile, Vonnegut's personal life was disintegrating. His wife Jane had embraced Christianity, which was contrary to Vonnegut's atheistic beliefs, and with five of their six children having left home, Vonnegut said the two were forced to find "other sorts of seemingly important work to do." The couple battled over their differing beliefs until Vonnegut moved from their Cape Cod home to New York in 1971. Vonnegut called the disagreements "painful", and said the resulting split was a "terrible, unavoidable accident

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: the final German offensive of the war. During the battle, the 106th Infantry Division, which had only recently reached the front and was assigned to a "quiet" sector due to its inexperience, was overrun by advancing German armored forces. Over 500 members of the division were killed and over 6,000 were captured. On December 22, Vonnegut was captured with about 50 other American soldiers. Vonnegut was taken by boxcar to a prison camp south of Dresden, in Saxony. During the journey, the Royal Air Force bombed the prisoner trains and killed about 150 men. Vonnegut was sent to Dresden, the

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: Tally and Peter C. Kunze suggest that Vonnegut was not a "black humorist", but a "frustrated idealist" who used "comic parables" to teach the reader absurd, bitter or hopeless truths, with his grim witticisms serving to make the reader laugh rather than cry. "Vonnegut makes sense through humor, which is, in the author's view, as valid a means of mapping this crazy world as any other strategies." Vonnegut resented being called a black humorist, feeling that, as with many literary labels, it allows readers to disregard aspects of a writer's work that do not fit the label's stereotype. Vonnegut's works

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: It Goes". Shields's biography of Vonnegut created some controversy. According to "The Guardian", the book portrays Vonnegut as distant, cruel and nasty. "Cruel, nasty and scary are the adjectives commonly used to describe him by the friends, colleagues, and relatives Shields quotes", said "The Daily Beast"'s Wendy Smith. "Towards the end he was very feeble, very depressed and almost morose", said Jerome Klinkowitz of the University of Northern Iowa, who has examined Vonnegut in depth. Vonnegut's works have evoked ire on several occasions. His most prominent novel, "Slaughterhouse-Five", has been objected to or removed at various institutions in at least

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: a fix on me, I sometimes say I'm a Unitarian Universalist. So that denomination claims me as one of their own."" "Despite his blasé view of religious affiliation, Vonnegut was a deeply grounded person whose life was indeed an expression of UU values.". However, he was keen to stress that he was not a Christian. Vonnegut was an admirer of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, particularly the Beatitudes, and incorporated it into his own doctrines. He also referred to it in many of his works. In his 1991 book "Fates Worse than Death", Vonnegut suggests that during the Reagan administration,

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: that reflected family and emotional stresses Vonnegut was going through at the time. After spending almost two years at the writer's workshop at the University of Iowa, teaching one course each term, Vonnegut was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for research in Germany. By the time he won it, in March 1967, he was becoming a well-known writer. He used the funds to travel in Eastern Europe, including to Dresden, where he found many prominent buildings still in ruins. At the time of the bombing, Vonnegut had not appreciated the sheer scale of destruction in Dresden; his enlightenment came only slowly

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: gave "Player Piano" a positive review, favorably comparing it to Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World". Hicks called Vonnegut a "sharp-eyed satirist". None of the reviewers considered the novel particularly important. Several editions were printed—one by Bantam with the title "Utopia 14", and another by the Doubleday Science Fiction Book Club—whereby Vonnegut gained the repute of a science fiction writer, a genre held in disdain by writers at that time. He defended the genre, and deplored a perceived sentiment that "no one can simultaneously be a respectable writer and understand how a refrigerator works." After "Player Piano", Vonnegut continued to sell

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: subsided on February 15, with around 25,000 civilians killed in the bombing. Vonnegut marveled at the level of both the destruction in Dresden and the secrecy that attended it. He had survived by taking refuge in a meat locker three stories underground. "It was cool there, with cadavers hanging all around", Vonnegut said. "When we came up the city was gone ... They burnt the whole damn town down." Vonnegut and other American prisoners were put to work immediately after the bombing, excavating bodies from the rubble. He described the activity as a "terribly elaborate Easter-egg hunt". The American prisoners

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: as information dribbled out, and based on early figures he came to believe that 135,000 had died there. Vonnegut had been writing about his war experiences at Dresden ever since he returned from the war, but had never been able to write anything acceptable to himself or his publishers—Chapter 1 of "Slaughterhouse-Five" tells of his difficulties. Released in 1969, the novel rocketed Vonnegut to fame. It tells of the life of Billy Pilgrim, who like Vonnegut was born in 1922 and survives the bombing of Dresden. The story is told in a non-linear fashion, with many of the story's climaxes—Billy's

title: Mark Vonnegut

text: Mark Vonnegut Mark Vonnegut (born May 11, 1947) is an American pediatrician and memoirist. He is the son of writer Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and his first wife, Jane Cox. He is the brother of Edith Vonnegut and Nanette Vonnegut. He described himself in the preface to his 1975 book as "a hippie, son of a counterculture hero, BA in religion, (with a) genetic disposition to schizophrenia." Mark Vonnegut (whom his parents named after Mark Twain) graduated from Swarthmore College in 1969. He briefly worked at Duthie Books and was also briefly chief of a 20-man detachment of special state police

title: Norb Vonnegut

text: "Mr. Vonnegut dreams up diabolically elegant business crimes, then sends smart-talking characters to follow the money." and reaffirms the genre with her claim that "This is money-porn beach reading" Vonnegut grew up in Charleston, South Carolina where his father was based as a pilot in the United States Air Force. He is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post. He now resides in Bronxville, New York and Narragansett, Rhode Island. He is a fourth cousin to Kurt Vonnegut. Norb Vonnegut Norb Vonnegut (born April 24, 1958) is an American author of Wall Street thrillers and a financial commentator on his

title: What I Go to School For

text: What I Go to School For "What I Go to School For" is the debut single by English pop rock band Busted. It was written by James Bourne, Charlie Simpson, Steve Robson, Graham Jay, John McLaughlin and Richard Rashman, and produced by Robson. The song was inspired by a teacher that Matt Willis had a crush on at school. The song was released on 16 September 2002 and reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. A young Jade Ewen from girl group Sugababes appeared in the music video. In 2003, the real-life inspiration for the song was revealed to

title: Vonnegut & Bohn

text: many of his books. Vonnegut & Bohn Vonnegut & Bohn was an architectural firm in Indianapolis, Indiana in the United States. Founded in 1888 by Bernard Vonnegut Sr., FAIA (1855–1908) and Arthur Bohn (b. 1861), all the partners were German Americans and were trained in both American and German architectural academies, which gave their works a distinct German influence. The firm was responsible for many public, institutional, commercial, religious and residential buildings throughout Indiana, particularly in Indianapolis. Bernard Vonnegut died in 1908. In 1910, Vonnegut's son, Kurt Vonnegut Sr. (1884–1957), returned from studying in Germany and became a principal in

title: Vonnegut & Bohn

text: Vonnegut & Bohn Vonnegut & Bohn was an architectural firm in Indianapolis, Indiana in the United States. Founded in 1888 by Bernard Vonnegut Sr., FAIA (1855–1908) and Arthur Bohn (b. 1861), all the partners were German Americans and were trained in both American and German architectural academies, which gave their works a distinct German influence. The firm was responsible for many public, institutional, commercial, religious and residential buildings throughout Indiana, particularly in Indianapolis. Bernard Vonnegut died in 1908. In 1910, Vonnegut's son, Kurt Vonnegut Sr. (1884–1957), returned from studying in Germany and became a principal in the firm. Later, Mueller

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: telephone conversations. Vonnegut's compositions are also laced with distinct references to his own life, notably in "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Slapstick". Vonnegut believed that ideas, and the convincing communication of those ideas to the reader, were vital to literary art. He did not always sugarcoat his points: much of "Player Piano" leads up to the moment when Paul, on trial and hooked up to a lie detector, is asked to tell a falsehood, and states, "every new piece of scientific knowledge is a good thing for humanity". Robert T. Tally Jr., in his volume on Vonnegut's novels, wrote, "rather than tearing down

title: Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library

text: for both the local and national community. One of the goals for the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is to help tourism to Indianapolis. Tourism officials from the city look at the library as a new attraction and reason for people to visit. The library is one of several efforts supported by the city and institutions such as the Lilly Endowment and Ball State University to expand the city's cultural activities, alongside the Indianapolis Museum of Art and The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. The Lilly Endowment Inc. granted the library a $50,000 grant and the funds will be used, in

title: Bernard Vonnegut I

text: and the firm was briefly renamed Vonnegut, Bohn & Mueller before a 1946 merger that wiped out the latter two names. Photo of Herron Art Institute Bernard Vonnegut I Bernard Vonnegut I, WAA, FAIA, (August 8, 1855 – August 7, 1908) was an American lecturer and architect active in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Indiana. He was a co-founder of the locally renowned Indianapolis architectural firm of Vonnegut and Bohn, and was active in a range of residential, religious, institutional, civic, and commercial commissions. He is the namesake and grandfather of scientist Bernard Vonnegut, father of the architect Kurt Vonnegut Sr., and

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: 1951. On Cape Cod, Vonnegut made most of his money writing pieces for magazines such as "Collier's", "The Saturday Evening Post", and "Cosmopolitan". He also did a stint as an English teacher, wrote copy for an advertising agency, and opened the first USA Saab dealership, which eventually failed. In 1952, Vonnegut's first novel, "Player Piano", was published by Scribner's. The novel has a post-Third World War setting, in which factory workers have been replaced by machines. "Player Piano" draws upon Vonnegut's experience as an employee at GE. He satirizes the drive to climb the corporate ladder, one that in "Player

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: in biochemistry, but he had little proficiency in the area and was indifferent towards his studies. As his father had been a member at MIT, Vonnegut was entitled to join the Delta Upsilon fraternity, and did. He overcame stiff competition for a place at the university's independent newspaper, "The Cornell Daily Sun", first serving as a staff writer, then as an editor. By the end of his freshman year, he was writing a column titled "Innocents Abroad" which reused jokes from other publications. He later penned a piece, "Well All Right", focusing on pacifism, a cause he strongly supported, arguing

title: What I Go to School For

text: The musical was written by Elliot Davis with songs from the Busted albums and new music by James Bourne. It was directed by Steven Dexter and played at the Theatre Royal, Brighton in 2016. The video for the song features model Lorna Roberts as Miss McKenzie, the object of the band's desire. Then 14-year-old Jade Ewen, who later joined the Sugababes, appears in the video as a schoolgirl. What I Go to School For "What I Go to School For" is the debut single by English pop rock band Busted. It was written by James Bourne, Charlie Simpson, Steve Robson,

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: the Worlds" author H. G. Wells, and satirist Jonathan Swift. Vonnegut credited newspaper magnate H. L. Mencken for inspiring him to become a journalist. In his book "Popular Contemporary Writers", Michael D. Sharp describes Vonnegut's linguistic style as straightforward; his sentences concise, his language simple, his paragraphs brief, and his ordinary tone conversational. Vonnegut uses this style to convey normally complex subject matter in a way that is intelligible to a large audience. He credited his time as a journalist for his ability, pointing to his work with the Chicago City News Bureau, which required him to convey stories in

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: would often return to a quote by socialist and five-time presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs: "As long as there is a lower class, I am in it. As long as there is a criminal element, I'm of it. As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free." Vonnegut expressed disappointment that communism and socialism seemed to be unsavory topics to the average American, and believed that they may offer beneficial substitutes to contemporary social and economic systems. Vonnegut's writing was inspired by an eclectic mix of sources. When he was younger, Vonnegut stated that he read

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: him. "The time for scholars to say 'Here's why Vonnegut is worth reading' has definitively ended, thank goodness. We know he's worth reading. Now tell us things we don't know." Todd F. Davis notes that Vonnegut's work is kept alive by his loyal readers, who have "significant influence as they continue to purchase Vonnegut's work, passing it on to subsequent generations and keeping his entire canon in print—an impressive list of more than twenty books that [Dell Publishing] has continued to refurbish and hawk with new cover designs." Donald E. Morse notes that Vonnegut, "is now firmly, if somewhat controversially,

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: people, such as a fraternal group or a nation". Similarly, in "Slapstick", the U.S. government codifies that all Americans are a part of large extended families. Fear of the loss of one's purpose in life is a theme in Vonnegut's works. The Great Depression forced Vonnegut to witness the devastation many people felt when they lost their jobs, and while at General Electric, Vonnegut witnessed machines being built to take the place of human labor. He confronts these things in his works through references to the growing use of automation and its effects on human society. This is most starkly

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: five plays and five non-fiction books. A book composed of Vonnegut's unpublished pieces, "Armageddon in Retrospect", was compiled and posthumously published by Vonnegut's son Mark in 2008. When asked about the impact Vonnegut had on his work, author Josip Novakovich stated that he has "much to learn from Vonnegut—how to compress things and yet not compromise them, how to digress into history, quote from various historical accounts, and not stifle the narrative. The ease with which he writes is sheerly masterly, Mozartian." "Los Angeles Times" columnist Gregory Rodriguez said that the author will "rightly be remembered as a darkly humorous

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: 14, 1944, Vonnegut returned home on leave for Mother's Day weekend to discover that his mother had committed suicide the previous night by overdosing on sleeping pills. Possible factors that contributed to Edith Vonnegut's suicide include the family's loss of wealth and status, Vonnegut's forthcoming deployment overseas, and her own lack of success as a writer. She was inebriated at the time and under the influence of prescription drugs. Three months after his mother's suicide, Vonnegut was sent to Europe as an intelligence scout with the 106th Infantry Division. In December 1944, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge,

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: invited to speak at numerous rallies, and gave college commencement addresses around the country. In addition to briefly teaching at Harvard University as a lecturer in creative writing in 1970, Vonnegut taught at the City College of New York as a distinguished professor during the 1973–1974 academic year. He was later elected vice president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and given honorary degrees by, among others, Indiana University and Bennington College. Vonnegut also wrote a play called "Happy Birthday, Wanda June", which opened on October 7, 1970, at New York's Theatre de Lys. Receiving mixed reviews, it

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: against U.S. intervention in World War II. The attack on Pearl Harbor brought the U.S. into the war. Vonnegut was a member of Reserve Officers' Training Corps, but poor grades and a satirical article in Cornell's newspaper cost him his place there. He was placed on academic probation in May 1942 and dropped out the following January. No longer eligible for a student deferment, he faced likely conscription into the United States Army. Instead of waiting to be drafted, he enlisted in the army and in March 1943 reported to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for basic training. Vonnegut was trained

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: In the nearly 20 years that followed, Vonnegut published several novels that were only marginally successful, such as "Cat's Cradle" (1963) and "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" (1964). Vonnegut's breakthrough was his commercially and critically successful sixth novel, "Slaughterhouse-Five". The book's anti-war sentiment resonated with its readers amidst the ongoing Vietnam War and its reviews were generally positive. After its release, "Slaughterhouse-Five" went to the top of "The New York Times" Best Seller list, thrusting Vonnegut into fame. He was invited to give speeches, lectures and commencement addresses around the country and received many awards and honors. Later in his

title: Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager

text: Vonnegut Sr., George Caleb Wright left the firm to become senior partner in the Indianapolis firm Wright, Porteus & Lowe. Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager was an architectural firm active in mid-twentieth-century Indiana. The firm was organized in 1946 as a partnership between the surviving partners of three Indiana firms: Kurt Vonnegut Sr. (1884–1957) of Vonnegut, Bohn & Mueller Architects; George Caleb Wright (b. April 25, 1889) of Pierre & Wright; and Ralph Oscar Yeager (b. August 16, 1892) of Miller & Yeager. It was located at 1126 Hume Mansur Building, Indianapolis, Indiana and 402 Opera House

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: Mall-branded cigarettes he had been smoking since he was twelve or fourteen years old, for false advertising. "And do you know why?" he said. "Because I'm 83 years old. The lying bastards! On the package Brown & Williamson promised to kill me." He died on the night of April 11, 2007 in Manhattan, as a result of brain injuries incurred several weeks prior from a fall at his New York brownstone home. His death was reported by his wife Jill. Vonnegut was 84 years old. At the time of his death, Vonnegut had written fourteen novels, three short story collections,

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: leaving him feeling "ignorant and rootless." Vonnegut later credited Ida Young, his family's African-American cook and housekeeper for the first 10 years of his life, for raising him and giving him values. "[She] gave me decent moral instruction and was exceedingly nice to me. So she was as great an influence on me as anybody." Vonnegut described Young as "humane and wise", adding that "the compassionate, forgiving aspects of [his] beliefs" came from her. The financial security and social prosperity that the Vonneguts once enjoyed were destroyed in a matter of years. The Liebers's brewery was closed in 1921 after

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: Europe to fight in World War II and was captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. He was interned in Dresden and survived the Allied bombing of the city by taking refuge in a meat locker of the slaughterhouse where he was imprisoned. After the war, Vonnegut married Jane Marie Cox, with whom he had three children. He later adopted his sister's three sons, after she died of cancer and her husband was killed in a train accident. Vonnegut published his first novel, "Player Piano", in 1952. The novel was reviewed positively but was not commercially successful.

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: works of pulp fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and action-adventure. He also read the Classics, like those of Aristophanes. Aristophanes, like Vonnegut, wrote humorous critiques of contemporary society. Vonnegut's life and work also share similarities with that of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" writer Mark Twain. Both shared pessimistic outlooks on humanity, and a skeptical take on religion, and, as Vonnegut put it, were both "associated with the enemy in a major war", as Twain briefly enlisted in the South's cause during the American Civil War, and Vonnegut's German name and ancestry connected him with the United States' enemy in both world

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: career, Vonnegut published several autobiographical essays and short-story collections, including "Fates Worse Than Death" (1991), and "A Man Without a Country" (2005). After his death, he was hailed as a morbidly comical commentator on the society in which he lived and as one of the most important contemporary writers. Vonnegut's son Mark published a compilation of his father's unpublished compositions, titled "Armageddon in Retrospect". In 2017, Seven Stories Press published "Complete Stories", a collection of Vonnegut's short fiction including 5 previously unpublished stories. "Complete Stories" was collected and introduced by Vonnegut friends and scholars Jerome Klinkowitz and Dan Wakefield. Numerous

title: Mark Vonnegut

text: effective treatment since the diagnostic tools are based on statistics (a group of symptoms and how long they last and what is the age of the patient), making them inherently weak on predictability. This is made worse given the short duration of any treatment because of the prohibitive costs of longer term productive treatment. He subsequently studied medicine at Harvard Medical School and later came to the conclusion that he actually had bipolar disorder. Dr. Vonnegut, despite odds against him, graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1979. After graduation, Dr. Vonnegut completed a pediatric Internship and Residency at Massachusetts General

title: What I Go to School For

text: Blair: "My husband thinks its "(sic)" hilarious and takes the mickey. I don't think he's really worried I'm going to run off with a pop star. I'm proud of them. Looking back it was obvious Matt had what it takes." On 4 November 2012, Michelle Blair appeared as the correct answer in the "line-up" section of BBC Two panel "Never Mind the Buzzcocks". "What I Go to School For" became the title of a musical theatre production produced by Youth Music Theatre UK following the story of Busted from their origins in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, through to their break-up in 2002.

text: is basically that of universal reconciliation, that Christ died for all persons, everyone will get into heaven when they die, and not merely those who are "saved." The title of the book is an amalgam of the name of the author Kurt Vonnegut, whom Short knew personally; the motion picture "The Exorcist"; and the play (and subsequent movie) "Jesus Christ Superstar", commenting on their references to religion. The book looks into the ways in which popular culture at any particular time, tends to change the face of God and how people see Him. One of the arguments Short makes is

title: Vonnegut Hardware Company

text: Vonnegut Hardware Company Clemens Vonnegut, Sr., a German former textile salesman in Amsterdam, arrived in Indianapolis in 1850 and entered into a partnership with fellow German Charles Vollmer shortly thereafter. Their merchandising store was called Vollmer & Vonnegut. Vollmer left to go out West in 1852 but was never heard from again. In 1858, Vonnegut bought the merchandise store he and his business partner Charles Volmer had run for several years. In 1898 Vonnegut, Sr. moved the business to 120 and 124 East Washington Street. Vonnegut, Sr. would remain president of the company until his death in 1906. In 1908

title: Bernard Vonnegut I

text: did not share most of her husband's interests and by all accounts theirs was not a happy marriage. "Kurt and Irma...identified with their father, while Alex identified with his mother." Feeling unappreciated in Indianapolis, he returned to being silent and unsociable. He frequently suffered indigestion and headaches and died at the age of fifty-three, only two years after his father, of intestinal cancer, never living to see any of his children married. In 1886, Vonnegut was "elected a member of the Western Association of Architects," and following their consolidation with the American Institute of Architects in 1889, he became a

title: Vonnegut Hardware Company

text: the store was incorporated as the Vonnegut Hardware Company. His business was located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana and would remain a fixture for over 100 years. Over time his sons had various interests in the company; some long-term and some only briefly. Vonnegut Hardware Company Clemens Vonnegut, Sr., a German former textile salesman in Amsterdam, arrived in Indianapolis in 1850 and entered into a partnership with fellow German Charles Vollmer shortly thereafter. Their merchandising store was called Vollmer & Vonnegut. Vollmer left to go out West in 1852 but was never heard from again. In 1858, Vonnegut bought the merchandise

title: Bluebeard (Vonnegut novel)

text: Bluebeard (Vonnegut novel) Bluebeard, the Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian (1916–1988) is a 1987 novel by best-selling author Kurt Vonnegut. It is told as a first person narrative and describes the late years of fictional Abstract Expressionist painter Rabo Karabekian, who first appeared as a minor character in Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions" (1973). Circumstances of the novel bear rough resemblance to the fairy tale of Bluebeard popularized by Charles Perrault. Karabekian mentions this relationship once in the novel. At the opening of the book, the narrator, Rabo Karabekian, apologizes to the arriving guests: "I promised you an autobiography, but something went

title: Kurt Vonnegut

text: to fire and maintain howitzers and later received instruction in mechanical engineering at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the University of Tennessee as part of the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP). In early 1944, the ASTP was canceled due to the Army's need for soldiers to support the D-Day invasion, and Vonnegut was ordered to an infantry battalion at Camp Atterbury, south of Indianapolis in Edinburgh, Indiana, where he trained as a scout. He lived so close to his home that he was "able to sleep in [his] own bedroom and use the family car on weekends". On May