Synopses & Reviews
The Vonnegut Encyclopedia is the authorized, comprehensive, descriptive catalogue of the characters, themes, phrasing, and imagery found in Kurt Vonnegut's novels, short stories, plays, and essays. Starting with the false utopia governed by the ruling technocracy of Player Piano (1952) and on through Vonnegut's third collection of autobiographical and topical essays in Fates Worse Than Death (1991), the Encyclopedia enables the reader to recall the significance of any character (no matter how minor) and to trace the recurrence of characters and images across numerous texts. Additionally, Vonnegut's key images and inventive language are referenced to his first editions--the basis of his reprints--traceable down to the page and line number. Vonnegut's four decades of writing yield a world of characters and social commentary at once disarming, disturbing, and authentic. Since one of the chief allures for Vonnegut afficionados is the reappearance of significant characters, settings, and concepts, readers will especially appreciate the detailed treatment each receives in its various narrative incarnations. When viewed from this perspective, Vonnegut's work reveals a world as colorfully peopled and politically aware as Dickens' or Twain's. It firmly places him in the family of great American writers noted for their unique characters and fully developed social sensibilities. His major fictions are synopsized, and his images and constructs are explained and illustrated through the concordance. Few modern writers have created such a large body of work whose narrative settings consistently address the human condition in the midst of great political, scientific, and historical forces. Vonnegut's philosophical vision is neatly tracked through the Encyclopedia's attention to the building blocks of each text.
Review
Highly recommended for all American literature reference collections.Reference Book Review
Review
...The Vonnegut Encyclopedia is an outstanding reference tool....It is indeed unfortunate that Vonnegut is not given the credit he deserves in the academy since he is undoubtedly one of America's finest social critics. This volume should serve to reinforce this fact.H-Net Book Review
Review
Any guide to Vonnegut's novels must, therefore, refer the reader neither to obscure mythical or literary allusions nor to a self-contained world independent of the novels, but directly to the texts themselves. This is precisely what The Vonnegut Encyclopedia does with great thoroughness and efficiency. The Encyclopedia identifies every major or minor Vonnegut character from Celia Aamons to Zog, as well as recurring images and significant themes from all of Vonnegut's books and short stories, including his essay collections. Leeds provides italicized notes explaining the significance of many items, but relies primarily on extended quotations from Vonnegut himself, each of which is carefully cited by the page and line number of the first edition in which it appears. As useful as The Vonnegut Encyclopedia is for finding specific references to Vonnegut's major themes, it may be even more useful in identifying less obvious ideas and images that recur from work to work.SFRA Review
Synopsis
The authorized source for rediscovering Vonnegut, this encyclopedia provides a comprehensive descriptive catalog of characters, themes, phrasing, and imagery found in Kurt Vonnegut's novels, short stories, plays, and essays.
Synopsis
The Vonnegut Encyclopedia is the authorized, comprehensive, descriptive catalogue of the characters, themes, phrasing, and imagery found in Kurt Vonnegut's novels, short stories, plays, and essays. Starting with the false utopia governed by the ruling technocracy of Player Piano (1952) and on through Vonnegut's third collection of autobiographical and topical essays in Fates Worse Than Death(1991), the Encyclopedia enables the reader to recall the significance of any character (no matter how minor) and to trace the recurrence of characters and images across numerous texts. Additionally, Vonnegut's key images and inventive language are referenced to his first editions--the basis of his reprints--traceable down to the page and line number.
About the Author
MARC LEEDS, a graduate of the University of Buffalo, New York University, and Brooklyn College, directed computer-based writing programs at East Tennessee State University and later at Shawnee State University in Ohio, commuting across five states to do so.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Kurt Vonnegut
Preface
A Note about the Text
The Encyclopedia
Index