Thursday, April 12, 2007

Kurt Vonnegut, RIP.



Vonnegut, with his daughter Lily, in 1990.





Dead at 84. I didn't read a ton of his stuff, but I enjoyed Breakfast of Champions, Cat's Cradle and especially Mother Night.


Breakfast was his signature work, but I like Mother Night much more. MN was a really effective piece of existentialism, an examination of the effect of the masks we wear and so forth. BoC was funny, but I'll admit I picked it up as a collegian because of the penis jokes and butthole drawings.

[An aside to the ladies: if you haven't discovered it by now, all men have an inner 12-year old who stays with us forever. And not too infrequently takes control, guns blazing and hooting with laughter the whole time.]


Oh, and he had a hilarious cameo in Back to School. He didn't fall into the trap of taking himself too seriously, which speaks well of him.

Our friend Diane, a true devotee of his work, has a fine post about him worth your attention.

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