Awful. Terrible. Couldn���t stand it

The typical Vonnegut-dear, yet a little more positive. Most of the stories lead to a happy ending, leaving us with the conclusion that goodness always wins. I liked the attitude, though. I love to think that if Vonnegut believes the world is a nice place to live in, well then that's how it is.

This is a collection of 23 short stories published in 1999. It contains all of Vonnegut's stories which were originally published in US periodicals in the 50s and 60s, and were not already collected in the 1968 Welcome to the Monkey House.
One might think that this means they are second grade, and at least in some sense this is factually the case. The 1968 collection probably included the stories which the author (or the editor) thought were better. In fact Vonnegut himself felt the quality of three of these stories was inadequate, and he rewrote the ending. There is also always the question of how well a story ages, now that we are 70 years after some of these stories were told. Some did not age well at all, while some remain quite current.
Having said all that, I think this is a valuable collection in two ways. First, I'm sure people who are interested in the growth of an artist will find it quite revealing. Second, while some of the stories were barely readable, and as I said above, some did not age well, I'm sure almost every short-story lover will fine the one or two stories in this book that will speak to them personally, which shows the Vonnegut always knew his way around the human spirit. I rate it three stars out of five.

I picked this book up at the beginning of the year. Having read Timequake a while back, I thought it was about time I read some more of Vonneguts work, this seemed to be a good place to start. A great collection of all his early short stories which had been published in various American literary magazines over the years, it's a wonderful insight into his beginnings of a novelist. The detail of emotion and feeling which he puts into the many personalities in the book leaves you with no doubt that not only is he a fantastic observer of the human character, but that there is a lot of himself in each of them. The anthological nature of Snuff Box also allows for easy occasional reading. Ironically, Vonnegut died in April just as I was finishing the book.

“A man sells something priceless for a price he can’t resist.”

The genre of short story is hit or miss with me. Kurt Vonnegut’s short stories are usually the same way. In his Introduction to this collection of “Buddhist catnaps” as Vonnegut calls all short stories, I am reminded why I love this writer so much. “Bagombo Snuff Box” is a collection of 23 stories that Vonnegut wrote during his days as a writer of short fiction peddling his wares to the various magazines of the day. Most were written in the 1950s.
As mentioned, I am not a fan of short stories in general, but Vonnegut’s gift for quick and artful characterization makes otherwise bland stories at least interesting. The first paragraph of the story “Souvenir” is one of the most adept brief characterizations I have come across in literature. My instant distaste for the character made me feel sadness, as there are many folks like Joe Bane (the character’s name) in this world. In one paragraph, Vonnegut captures their essence.
The collection also includes some lovely stories that follow Vonnegut’s persistent theme of simplicity. “Poor Little Rich Town” has a classic Vonnegut ring to it and a pastoral sense of life that is not driven by profit & commodity margins. The same feeling can be said of the story “The Cruise of the Jolly Roger”, a tribute to veterans and the beauty of a small and peaceful quiet village life.
This text also features three stories about George M. Helmholtz, director of the Lincoln High School Band. Helmholtz is one of my favorite Vonnegut creations. A complete character and one I adore. He was featured in one of my favorite Vonnegut stories from his 1968 collection “Welcome to the Monkey House”. I wish Helmholtz had been a protagonist of one of Vonnegut’s novels. The character was worthy of one.
Also noteworthy is the piece, “A Night for Love”. It is a love story, a simple story, and one unlike most Vonnegut I have read (stylistically). It is a story that speaks a simple, elegant truth about human interactions.
Some people have criticized this collection (published in 1999) as dated. Yep, some of the stories are certainly dated. They are products of their time, the 1950s. So what? They should be products of their time. You reading this review right now are a product of your time, why shouldn’t Vonnegut be one of his?
“Bagombo Snuff Box” ends with a short nonfiction essay that Vonnegut wrote about the Midwest for an Indianapolis magazine in 1999. It aptly demonstrates what I admire and love about him. Being an Ohio boy I am proud Vonnegut’s work was so firmly rooted in the ethos of Midwestern culture.
This collection is not good as an introduction to Mr. Vonnegut, but if you have read some of his stronger works and like what you have seen, you should pick this one up too.

The second of only 2 short story collections that Vonnegut released in his life this one is a mixed bag, as is his first. There are some gems here however, as well as some yawns but that’s to be expected from Vonnegut’s short stories, depending on the magazine he was writing for you get a drastically different style of short fiction.

This collection although just thrown together for this book, oddly has a recurring theme throughout. Fathers and Sons. It’s no secret that Vonnegut felt strongly about father and son relationships and in this collection you get both sides of that relationship: loving and strained. Some of the more interesting stories are about these themes, but with that you also get just the out of nowhere oddballs in the bunch, “The Boy Who Hated Girls” and “ 2BR02B” is another. One great futuristic stories and a great story about a recurring character in this book, Mr. Helmholtz. Mix that in with the more mundane American life stuff Vonnegut was interested in and you have a wide choice of stories. Including a great war story called "Souvenir" which is a stark story within a story of the chaos and randomness of war.

Along with a great little gangster story which he did not do often there is plenty to love in this collection but worth that there is also a lot to be unimpressed with. Stories of relationships that are a bit dated and sexist now but would have felt right at home in the 1950’s. The book also boosts a great afterword by Vonnegut about why he enjoyed writing short fiction and how it helped him get better as a writer and how sad that teaching yourself style of writer isn’t alive anymore. If your a fan of Vonnegut like I am this collection is a must read just to see the wide array of topics he tackled early on if your a casual fan probably best to just pick out the greatest hits and enjoy those because when Vonnegut hits a home run it’s a grand slam.

I love a good short story, and Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favorite writers. I remember reading "Welcome to the Monkeyhouse" the first time and just loving the stories. He was able to get so much across in just a pages. I have gone back and read that collection a few times since and the stories are just as good now as they were back then. Hell, I even got one of my sons to read (and enjoy) the stories.

It has been a while since I read anything by Vonnegut, but one quickly recognizes his voice/writing style when you read the stories within this collection. Overall, "Monkeyhouse" is more consistently impressive in it's stories, but there are some in this collection which can stand with those stories. "Thanasphere" & "2BR02B" are classic Vonnegut sci-fi/futuristic stories. The first telling the story of a astronaut who can here the voices of the dead. The second story of a future with population cap and the willingness of people to volunteer to end their lives with the Federal Bureau of Termination.

There are also the classic Vonnegut love stories.."Runaways", "Lovers Anonymous", "A Night for Love", "Custom-Made Bride" (to name a few). Like other stories, his vision of love and relationships have a twist. In "Runaways" two teenagers run away from home (hence the name) and are brought back by their parents and reprimanded for wanting to be together. Only after attempting to run away again and their parents acceptance of their relationship does the young couple decide that they are not ready for the relationship; they are too young.

As I stated earlier, the stories in this collection are not as consistent as they are in "Monkeyhouse", but it is definitely worth a read for the Vonnegut fan, or anyone who enjoys the ancient art of a good short story.

A nice collection of independent short stories, that almost all seem to evolve around people pretending to be someone they are not.

Written at the total beginning of his career, these stories are not Vonnegut's best. It was not his own idea to dig up these stories originally published in magazines, and Vonnegut Jr. himself calls some of these stories 'fossils' in the epilogue, written by the 'half human being, half the orangutan I used to be'. It is true that some of them seem outdated, from a societal point of view. Still, they are enjoyable, funny, definitely recognizable as 'Vonneguts' and worth reading.

Overall, I liked this collection of short stories from one of my favorite authors when I was young. Maybe they're outdated although it was nostalgic reading about a fancy sports car that was priced at $5800. Some stories were better than others, but I enjoyed them all to a greater or lesser extent. Many were about ordinary people, but the story left a telling message. Sometimes I didn't know what the message was. Anyway, well written descriptions and dialogue. Not for everyone.

A few of the stories in this collection are brilliant, such as "The Powder Blue Dragon," about a reckless youth with a fast car, or "Thanasphere," a sci-fi horror about a cloud in which ghosts communicate with the living. Most of the other stories at least had interesting parts, such as "A Present for Big Saint Nick" or "Souvenir." The short story is a very specific and difficult art to do well; still, more often than not, Vonnegut succeeds in creating something unique and entertaining. His dry-witty style resonates clearly with the 10-15 page style. I was disappointed with the author's note at the end of the collection, in which Vonnegut jokes about wishing Indiana could trade Gary for Akron, Ohio. I'm sort of bummed that he hated on the region. That being said, I would probably hate on the region too.

A collection of Vonnegut's earliest work for '50s/60s periodicals.

As the Master himself points out in the marvellous introduction, these are embryonic stories, stylistically clumsy and written purely for financial gain.

This doesn't make the work any less playful and Vonnegutian, though the bulk of these stories have a more moralistic feel to them, and only shades of the postmodern hilarity he would become known for is evident throughout.

Thanasphere and 2BRO2B are the only sci-fi entries. The rest deal with the aspirations of poor blue-collar characters and have an incomplete, drab feel (redeemed in part by Vonnegut's humourous dialogue).

Runaways is a standout -- a hilarious inversion of the teenage love story.

For Vonnegut die-hards only!

I'm a huge Vonnegut fan. Some of these short stories were 5 stars, while others were 2. However, the end where he talks about himself as a writer, being a midwesterner, etc. might've been my favorite. I'm not going to say this is the must-read Vonnegut book (especially for those new to his work), but if you're already a Vonnegut fan, it's worth the read. What I wouldn't give to spend a day in his head :)