Spirit of America Bookstore
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
[1922-2007]
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short profile
Vonnegut's novels
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“We are here on earth to f*rt around. Don’t let anybody tell you any different.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
P R O F I L E
t e x t
h e r e
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. entry at Wikipedia
official Kurt Vonnegut website
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s movie credits [since 1954] at Internet Movie Database
The Kurt Vonnegut Society [est. 2008]
The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library [est. 2010] in downtown Indianapolis
 | "Kurt Vonnegut: Novels & Stories, 1950-1962" [2012] Edited by Sidney Offit Library of America 8x5 hardcover [4/2012] for $24.37 includes "Player Piano" [1952], "The Sirens of Titan" [1959], "Mother Night" [1962], six short stories |
 | "Kurt Vonnegut: Novels & Stories, 1963-1973" [2011] Edited by Sidney Offit Library of America 8x5¼ hardcover [6/2011] for $29.49 includes "Cat’s Cradle" [1963], "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" [1965], "Slaughterhouse-Five" [1966], "Breakfast of Champions" [1973], and three short stories |
 | "Kurt Vonnegut: Novels, 1976-1985" [2014] Edited by Sidney Offit Library of America 8x5 hardcover [5/2014] for $23.88 includes novels "Slapstick" [1976], "Jailbird" [1979], "Deadeye Dick" [1982], and "Galápagos" [1985] |
 | "Kurt Vonnegut: Novels, 1987-1997" [2016] Edited by Sidney Offit Library of America 8¼x5¼ hardcover [1/2016] for $23.88 includes novels "Bluebeard" [1987], "Hocus Pocus" [1990], and "Timequake" [1997] |
 | "Kurt Vonnegut: The Complete Novels" [2016] Edited by Sidney Offit Library of America 8¼x5½ hardcover [10/2016] 4 books for $126.04 slipcover four volume box set |
Vonnegut's Novels
browse Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Store at Amazon
"Player Piano" [1952]
"The Sirens of Titan" [1959]
"Mother Night" [1962]
"Cat's Cradle" [1963]
"God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" [1965]
"Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance With Death" [1969]
"The prologue to 'Slaughterhouse-Five' is the best thing Vonnegut ever wrote." — David Shields
listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Novels (10/2005)
author entry at Wikipedia •
novel entry at Wikipedia
"Slaughterhouse-Five" feature film [1972]
Directed by George Roy Hill • full credits at IMDb •
movie entry at Wikipedia
http://www.amazon.com/Slaughterhouse-Five-Michael-Sacks/dp/B0001FVDGY/
"Breakfast of Champions" [1973]
Kurt Vonnegut reads from "Breakfast of Champions" [May 1970 audio 26:54] on YouTube
"Slapstick" [1976]
"Jailbird: A Novel" [1979]
 | Vonnegut opines on labor movements and on the Sacco & Vanzetti case in chapters 18 & 19; the main plot (with Vonnegut's usual asides) is about Walter F. Starbuck, the least-important member of the WaterGate Conspiracy, who goes to prison and is released and then is sent to prison a second time. There is also an 'elaborate reference' to the story of the 'Radium Girls'.
Kindle Edition from Rosetta Books [8/2011] for $4.99 Kindle Edition from Dial Press [7/2010] for $4.99 Dell mass pb [1/99] out of print/many used Dial Press 8x5¼ pb [1/99] for $13.60 Doubleday 8¼x5½ hardcover [8/79] out of print/100+ used book entry at Wikipedia |
"Deadeye Dick" [1982]
"Galapagos" [1985]
"Bluebeard" [1987]
"Hocus Pocus" [1990]
"Fates Worse Than Death" [1991]
http://www.amazon.com/Fates-Worse-Than-Death-Vonnegut/dp/0425134067/
"Timequake" [1997]
Short Stories, Essays, Stageplays & Other Works
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s Broadway credits [1970-71] at Internet Broadway Database
"Canary In A Cathouse" [stories 1961]
"2 B R 0 2 B" is a short science fiction tale
originally published in the magazine "Worlds of If" in 1962 /1434458792/
"Welcome To The Monkey House" [stories 1968]
"World's Best Science Fiction: 1969" [anthology 1969]
"Happy Birthday, Wanda June" [1970 stageplay]
"The Big Space F*ck" [stories 1972]
"Again, Dangerous Visions" [anthology 1972]
"Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons" [stories 1974]
"Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage" [stories 1981] /0385334265/
"Nothing Is Lost Save Honor" [stories 1984]
 | "Varga: The Esquire Years - A Catalogue Raisonné" [1987] by Alberto Vargas [1896-1982], Foreword by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Alfred van der Marck Editions hardcover [4/95] out of print/used Alfred van der Marck Editions hardcover [9/87] out of print/used |
"The World Treasury of Science Fiction" [anthology 1989]
"The Wizards of Odd" [anthology 1996]
"The Flying Sorcerers" [anthology 1997]
"God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian" [stories 1999]
http://www.amazon.com/God-Bless-You-Dr-Kevorkian/dp/1609800737/
"Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction" [stories 1999]
"A Man Without A Country" [essays 2005]
 | "Armageddon In Retrospect" essays & drawings [2008] by Kurt Vonnegut, Introduction by Mark Vonnegut The April 2008 issue of Playboy Magazine featured an excerpt from this book Berkley Trade 8¼x5½ pb [4/2009] for $10.20 Putnam hardcover [4/2008] for $16.47 Penguin UNABR audio CD read by Rip Torn [4/2008] for $13.54 |
 | "Look At The Birdie: Unpublished Short Fiction" [14 stories 2009] by Kurt Vonnegut Kindle Edition from Random House Digital [10/2009] for $11.99 Delacorte Press 8¼x5¾ hardcover [10/2009] out of print/used |
 | "The Big Trip Up Yonder: A Science Fiction Story" [2009] by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Illustrated by Kossin A genre science fiction tale originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine in 1959 Aegypan/Alan Rodgers Books pb [10/2009] for $2.99 {sic} Aegypan/Alan Rodgers Books pb [5/2011] for $6.99 Aegypan/Alan Rodgers Books hardcover [6/2011] for $12.95 |
"Like Shaking Hands With God: A Conversation About Writing" [2010]
by Kurt Vonnegut & Lee Stringer /1609800745/
"While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" [2011] by Kurt Vonnegut
http://www.amazon.com/While-Mortals-Sleep-Unpublished-ebook/dp/B004C43EXU/
http://www.amazon.com/While-Mortals-Sleep-Unpublished-Fiction/dp/0385343736/
"Kurt Vonnegut: Letters" [Delacorte Press 10/2012] Edited & with Introduction by Dan Wakefield
http://www.amazon.com/Kurt-Vonnegut-Letters-ebook/dp/B0080Z5K16/
http://www.amazon.com/Kurt-Vonnegut-Letters/dp/0385343752/
 | "We Are What We Pretend To Be: The First and Last Works" [2012] by Kurt Vonnegut, with Special Commentary by Nanette Vonnegut Contains the unpublished long story "Basic Training", written in the 1940s, and the unfinished novella-sized "If God Were Alive Today", written in 2000, which seems more like notes for a novel; several Amazon reviewers were not pleased, but Vonnegut completists might be. Kindle Edition from Vanguard Press [9/2012] for $9.20 Vanguard Press 8½x5½ hardcover [10/2012] for $12.38 |
 | "Sucker's Portfolio: A Collection of Previously Unpublished Writing" [2012] by Kurt Vonnegut Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [11/2012] for $3.99 Amazon Publng 6¾x5 pb [3/2013] for $8.97 |
 | "Vonnegut By The Dozen: Twelve Pieces by Kurt Vonnegut" for Kindle [2013] Edited by Richard Lingeman Kindle Edition from The Nation Company, LLP [8/2013] for $9.99 Vonnegut wrote one or two thought pieces a year for The Nation Magazine from 1978 to 1998, and twelve of his best are selected here. |
 | "Kurt Vonnegut: Complete Stories" [98 stories, 2017]  Selected & Introduced by Jerome Klinkowitz & Dan Wakefield, Foreword by Dave Eggers Seven Stories Press 9½x7 hardcover [9/2017] for $28.46 |
Movies & Television
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s movie credits [since 1954] at Internet Movie Database
browse Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s DVDs at Amazon
"Happy Birthday, Wanda June" [1971]
"Between Time and Timbuktu" [1972]
"Slaughterhouse-Five" [1972] Directed by George Roy Hill {see above}
"Next Door" [1975] /tt0073450/
Home Use DVD Buy new: $24.99 http://www.amazon.com/Next-Door-Home-Use/dp/B001E6V3RS/
Library price DVD Buy new: $59.99 http://www.amazon.com/Next-Door/dp/B001E6PFOU/
"Karikakramäng" [1977] (story) (segment "Promenaad")
"Who Am I This Time?" [American Playhouse TV 1982]
http://www.amazon.com/This-Vonnegut-Short-Story-Collection/dp/B001CZFAJS/
http://www.amazon.com/Who-Am-I-This-Time/dp/B000F9RLG2/
http://www.amazon.com/Who-Am-This-Time-VHS/dp/630269924X/
"Slapstick (of Another Kind)" [Europe 1982; USA 1984]
Adapted & directed by Steven Paul; starring Jerry Lewis, Madeline Kahn & Marty Feldman
http://www.amazon.com/Slapstick-Another-Kind-Jerry-Lewis/dp/B0009UD6M0/
"Displaced Person" [1985 TV]
adapted from Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s brilliant short story
http://www.amazon.com/D-P-VHS-Stan-Shaw/dp/6300198227/
"Long Walk To Forever" [1987]
"Kurt Vonnegut's Monkey House" [1991 TV series]
http://www.amazon.com/Kurt-Vonneguts-Welcome-Monkey-House/dp/B000CEOJNS/
http://www.amazon.com/Kurt-Vonneguts-Monkey-House-Boxed/dp/1569383006/ vhs
"Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron" TV movie [Showtime Aug 1995]
loosely adapted from Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 short story of the same name
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron_(film)
http://www.amazon.com/Harrison-Bergeron-VHS-Sean-Astin/dp/6303801919/
"Mother Night" [1996]
http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Night-Nick-Nolte/dp/B00004RFAJ/
http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Night-VHS-Nick-Nolte/dp/630438100X/
"Breakfast of Champions" [1999]
starring Bruce Willis, Nick Nolte, Albert Finney & Barbara Hershey
http://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Champions-Bruce-Willis/dp/B00004TCKI/
"A Man Without A Country" [2008]
"Bluebeard" [2008]
"2081" [2010]
based on Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron"; starring Patricia Clarkson & James Cosmo
http://www.amazon.com/2081-based-Vonneguts-22Harrison-Bergeron-22/dp/B002Y2BDEE/
Acting, Narration, Interviews & Cameos of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Kurt Vonnegut reads from "Breakfast of Champions" [May 1970 audio 26:54] on YouTube
"Brooklyn Bridge" [P.B.S. Nov 1981]
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Hour-long documentary on the design, construction, and recent history of the bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan, which opened in May 1883. Co-produced & directed by Ken Burns; co-produced & written by Amy Stechler; narrated by historian David McCullough; interviewees include Arthur Miller & Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.; Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature
P.B.S. Home Video color DVD [9/2004] for $17.49 P.B.S. Home Video color VHS [2/97] for $7.95 full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"Firing Line with William F. Buckley, Jr." [1985]
 | "What Does P.E.N. Have To Offer?" starring Norman Mailer & Kurt Vonnegut 30-minute episode taped on 2 December 1985 Southern Educational Commns Assn DVD-R [2/2011] for $10.00 series credits at IMDb |
"Back To School" [Fox June 1986]
 | A raucous millionaire enrolls in college to prove to his slacker son the importance of education, but soon is the campus party king. • Directed by Alan Metter; starring Rodney Dangerfield, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Keith Gordon, Robert Downey Jr., Paxton Whitehead, M. Emmet Walsh, Adrienne Barbeau, William Zabka, Ned Beatty, Severn Darden & Edie McClurg, with cameos by comedian Sam Kinison, author Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and the Oingo Boingo Band
M.G.M. widescreen color Extra-Curricular Edition DVD [8/2007] for $6.49 Good Times Video color VHS [5/2001] for $2.48 full credits at IMDb |
"1 Giant Leap" [DVD release Sept 2002]
 | 2½-hour musical and visual documentary, filmed around the world • Co-written, co-produced & co-directed by Duncan Bridgeman & Jamie Catto; featuring Kurt Vonnegut, Dennis Hopper, Ram Dass, Tom Robbins, Anita Roddick, Brian Eno, Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), Robbie Williams, Neneh Cherry, Speech (Arrested Development), Stewart Copeland, Baaba Maal, and many more
Palm Pictures DVD [9/2002] for $22.99 Palm Pictures soundtrack CD [4/2002] 12 tracks for $11.31 full credits at IMDb |
"NOW: Hosted by David Brancaccio" [P.B.S. Oct 2005]
 | One-hour episode aired 7 October 2005 with Kurt Vonnegut, interviewed about his life and about his views on democracy as it exists today by David Brancaccio P.B.S. color DVD [undated] out of prodn/scarce series credits at IMDb • P.B.S. official webpage |
—
 | "Essential Vonnegut: Interviews Conducted by Walter Miller" [2006]
Caedmon audio CD [11/2006] for $12.95 Three radio interviews by host Walter James Miller, each about 25 minutes long: a 1973 discussion of "Slaughterhouse Five", a 1981 talk about "Palm Sunday", and a 2006 interview about "Man Without A Country" |
"Never Down" [DVD release 2007]
 | Rico reunites with his ex-wife after five years in prison; Vonnegut plays a guardian angel helping Rico resist the pull of the old life. • Co-produced & co-written by Robert Oppel & Robert LaSardo; directed by Robert Oppel; starring Robert LaSardo, Alejandra Gutierrez, Mary Kelsey, Kurt Vonnegut, Lily Vonnegut & James Toback
Vanguard Cinema color DVD [2/2007] for $8.19 Vanguard Cinema color DVD-R [2/2009] for $19.95 full credits at IMDb |
"Will Eisner: Portrait of A Sequential Artist"
[festival circuit 2007]
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Cartoonist Will Eisner [1917-2005] had a sixty-year career, and influenced every aspect of graphic storytelling • Co-produced & written by Jon B. Cooke; directed by Andrew D. Cooke; narrated by Art Spiegelman; featuring interviews with Kurt Vonnegut, Michael Chabon, Jules Feiffer, Jack Kirby, Art Spiegelman, Frank Miller, Stan Lee, Gil Kane & many others
Montilla Pictures color Blu-ray [7/2010] out of prodn/used the Blu-ray disk includes the famous "Shop Talk" tapes Montilla Pictures color DVD [7/2010] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb • Will Eisner entry at Wikipedia |
"The American Ruling Class: America Rules The World, But Who Rules America?"
feature film [indep April 2008]
 | An unusual combination of documentary footage and scripted actors that thoroughly reveals America's ruling master class • Directed by John Kirby; written by Lewis H. Lapham; featuring Robert Altman, James A. Baker III, Bill Bradley, Harold Brown, Hodding Carter III, William T. Coleman, Jr., Walter Cronkite, Barbara Ehrenreich, Martin Garbus, Vartan Gregorian, Mike Medavoy, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Samuel Peabody, Peter G. Peterson, Pete Seeger, Lawrence H. Summers, Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr., William Howard Taft IV, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. & Howard Zinn
Alive Mind color DVD [1/2009] for $24.49 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia • official movie site |
Works About Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
"Kurt Vonnegut: A Self-Portrait" 29-minute documentary film [1976]
from Films For The Humanities, Princeton, NJ; produced & directed by Harold Mantell • not listed on IMDb
download available at http://www.fullmovies.com {registration required}
"Kurt Vonnegut: American Made" documentary [2012?]
Produced, written & directed by Robert B. Weide; featuring Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Edith Vonnegut,
Bernard Vonnegut & Nanette Vonnegut • DVD/Blu-ray not yet available •
credits at IMDb
 | "Conversations With Kurt Vonnegut" [1988] Edited by William Rodney Allen Univ Press of MS 9x6 pb [11/88] for $16.50 Univ Press of MS hardcover [11/88] out of print/used |
 | "The Vonnegut Encyclopedia: An Authorized Compendium" [1994] by Marc Leeds, with Original Foreword by Kurt Vonnegut, revised edition also includes New Foreword by Mark Vonnegut 'expanded & updated' Kindle Edition from Delacorte/Random House [10/2016] for $14.99 Delacorte Press 'expanded & updated' 9½x7½ hardcover [10/2016] for $27.19 Greenwood 9½x6½ hardcover [11/94] out of print/used |
 | "Kurt Vonnegut (Bloom's Critical Views)" [1994] Edited by literary critic Harold Bloom [1930-2019] Chelsea House 9¼x6¼ hardcover [12/2008] for $42.14 Chelsea House 9½x6½ library hardcover [2000] out of print/used "Kurt Vonnegut (Bloom's Great Writers)" biography [2004] by John Tomedi Chelsea House 9x6 hardcover [4/2004] for $30.23 |
 | "Vonnegut In Fact: The Public Spokesmanship of Personal Fiction" [1998] by Jerome Klinkowitz Univ SC Press 8¾x6 pb [8/2009] for $21.95 Univ SC Press 9x6 hardcover [6/98] out of print/used |
 | "At Millennium's End: New Essays On The Work of Kurt Vonnegut" [2001] Edited by Kevin Alexander Boon S.U.N.Y. Press 9x6 pb [4/2001] for $24.95 S.U.N.Y. Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [4/2001] for $54.50 |
 | "The Vonnegut Effect" [2004] by Jerome Klinkowitz
"regarded as one of the most comprehensive studies of Vonnegut ever written" Univ SC Press 9x6 pb [11/2011] for $21.95 Univ SC Press hardcover [2/2004] for $37.59 |
 | "Kurt Vonnegut's Crusade: or, How A Postmodern Harlequin Preached A New Kind of Humanism" [2006] by Todd F. Davis
S.U.N.Y. Press 8¾x6 pb [1/2008] for $29.95 S.U.N.Y. Press 9x6 hardcover [3/2006] for $38.00 |
 | "Critical Companion To Kurt Vonnegut: A Literary Reference To His Life and Work" [2008] by Susan Elizabeth Farrell Facts On File library 9¼x7¼ hardcover [8/2008] for $75.00 |
 | "Kurt Vonnegut's America" [2009] by Jerome Klinkowitz Univ SC Press 8¾x6 pb [9/2010] for $23.38 Univ SC Press 9x6 hardcover [8/2009] for $32.97 |
 | "And So It Goes - Kurt Vonnegut: A Life" [2011] by Charles J. Shields Henry Holt & Co. 9¼x6¼ hardcover [11/2011] for $17.78 |
 | "Kurt Vonnegut: The Last Interview - and Other Conversations" [2011] Edited by Tom McCartan Kindle Edition from Melville House [12/2011] for $9.57 Melville House 8¼x5½ pb [12/2011] for $11.96 |
 | "Vonnegut and Me: Conversations and Close Encounters" [2013] by Greg Mitchell Kindle Edition from Sinclair Books [8/2013] for $2.99 |
Family & Friends
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was born in Indiana on 1922 and died in New York City in 2007 at age 84.
father Kurt Vonnegut, Sr. [1884-1957]
mother Edith Lieber Vonnegut [?-1944]
older brother Bernard Vonnegut [1914-97]
sister Alice Vonnegut Adams [1917-58]
first wife Jane Marie Cox Vonnegut Yarmolinsky [?-1986], married 1946?, separated 1970, divorced 1979
"Angels Without Wings: A Courageous Family's Triumph Over Tragedy" [1987] by Jane Vonnegut Yarmolinsky
son Dr. Mark Vonnegut, MD [b. 1947] see below
daughter Edith 'Edie' Vonnegut Rivera [b. 1949]
daughter Nanette 'Nanny' Vonnegut
three adopted nephews {sons of sister Alice} James, Steven & Kurt Adams
son Dr. Mark Vonnegut, MD [b. 1947]
currently in practice as a pediatrician in Quincy, Massachusetts
 | "The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity" [1975] by Mark Vonnegut Seven Stories Press 8x5½ pb [11/2002] for $11.53 Praeger 9½x6 hardcover [1975] out of print/many used |
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"Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So: A Memoir" [2010] by Mark Vonnegut, MD Bantam pb [9/2011] for $10.20 Delacorte Press 8x5½ hardcover [10/2010] for $16.32 |
second wife photographer Jill Krementz Vonnegut [b. 1940] - married 1979, widowed 2007
adopted daughter Lily [b. 1982]
longtime mistress Loree Rackstraw
 | "Love As Always, Kurt: Vonnegut As I Knew Him" [2009] by Loree Rackstraw Da Capo Press 8½x5¾ hardcover [3/2009] for $5.63 |
L i n k s
official Kurt Vonnegut website
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. entry at Wikipedia
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. entry at Internet Speculative Fiction Database
browse Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Store at Amazon
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s movie credits [since 1954] at Internet Movie Database
browse Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s DVDs at Amazon
received the 1981 Eugene Debs Award from the Eugene V. Debs Foundation [est. 1962]
The Kurt Vonnegut Society [est. 2008]
The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library [est. 2010] in downtown Indianapolis
Duke University Kurt Vonnegut site
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Novel Settings weblog [est. 4/2010]
Dr. Jerome F. Klinkowitz, noted authority on Vonnegut {UI homepage}
Online sales in association with 
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