Synopses & Reviews
Never-before-collected, vintage Vonnegut.
"Vonnegut said that his last book, Timequake (1997), would be his last, but no one as imaginative and in love with language and story can resist the lure of the page, and it's obvious that he had a grand time working on this collection of his vintage stories. Bagombo Snuff Box resurrects Vonnegut's earliest efforts, stories written during the fifties and sixties for such popular venues as The Saturday Evening Post and Collier's. In his engagingly autobiographical introduction, Vonnegut describes his stints as a Chicago journalist and PR man for General Electric in Schenectady, New York; his decision to supplement his income by writing; and his rapid success and evolution into a full-time writer. So, here are his literary roots, a set of stories that reflects their era's eagerness to turn the horrors of war into anecdote and to equate technology with progress. Unabashedly fablelike, they can be either sly or sweet, sentimental or vaudevillian, but all are quietly subversive. . . . Rich in low-key humor and good old-fashioned morality, Vonnegut's stories are both wily and tender." Booklist
"You trust this voice . . . the pretentious are all brought to earth with his wit . . . These stories . . . speak only of simple truths." Chicago Sun-Times
Review
"He is a satirist with a heart, a moralist with a whoopee cushion". Jay McInerney, New York Times
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"Vonnegut evokes the cynical chortle, the knowing grin, the inner laughter that soothes our troubled reflections....He's mad as hell and laughing all the way to the Apocalypse." Playboy
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"These 23 short stories, dating from the early 1950's, are amiable, bittersweet, often with O. Henry-like twists and turns." Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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"Throughout this collection, the storytelling is precise and clear. Vonnegut writes with such simple vision, his prose so graceful." San Francisco Chronicle
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"The publications of his uncollected short fiction in Bagombo Snuff Box, a new audience of readers can discover the simple pleasures of Vonnegut's stories." Houston Chronicle
Synopsis
Never-before-collected, vintage Vonnegut.
Vonnegut said that his last book, Timequake (1997), would be his last, but no one as imaginative and in love with language and story can resist the lure of the page, and it's obvious that he had a grand time working on this collection of his vintage stories. Bagombo Snuff Box resurrects Vonnegut's earliest efforts, stories written during the fifties and sixties for such popular venues as The Saturday Evening Post and Collier's.
In his engagingly autobiographical introduction, Vonnegut describes his stints as a Chicago journalist and PR man for General Electric in Schenectady, New York; his decision to supplement his income by writing; and his rapid success and evolution into a full-time writer. So, here are his literary roots, a set of stories that reflects their era's eagerness to turn the horrors of war into anecdote and to equate technology with progress. Unabashedly fablelike, they can be either sly or sweet, sentimental or vaudevillian, but all are quietly subversive.
Synopsis
From the acclaimed author of Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions comes a compilation of twenty-three never-before-collected short stories. These vignettes of American life draw on Kurt Vonnegut's World War 2 experiences and the resolute optimism of the country after the war. Together, they present a poignant and humorous portrayal of an America peopled with overzealous high school band directors and their students, rebellious housewives, and boasting salesmen, soldiers misplaced during the war and people lost in their own gadget-filled homes.
In an era before television, Kurt Vonnegut found a ready and willing audience in the readers of such magazines as Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan, Argosy, and Redbook. These rare, rediscovered tales gives us a glimpse into a more innocent America--and into the developing genius of one of the greatest writers of our time.
About the Author
Kurt Vonnegut, one of the most acclaimed American writers of the past century, died in New York City on April 11, 2007. He was the New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels, including such literary classics as Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. Penguin Group (USA) was fortunate to publish several of Mr. Vonnegut’s books, including the novels Timequake and Hocus Pocus as well as a collection of short fiction, Bagombo Snuff Box.
Table of Contents
Preface by Peter Reed
Introduction
Thanasphere
Mnemonics
Any Reasonable Offer
The Package
The No-Talent Kid
Poor Little Rich Town
Souvenir
The Cruise of the Jolly Roger
Custom-Made Bride
Ambitious Sophomore
Bagombo Snuff Box
The Powder-Blue Dragon
A Present for Big Saint Nick
Unpaid Consultant
Der Arme Dolmetscher
The Boy Who Hated Girls
This Son of Mine
A Night for Love
Find Me a Dream
Runaways
2BR02B
Lovers Anonymous
Hal Irwin's Magic Lamp
Coda to My Career as a Writer for Periodicals