I’m not usually into short story collections, but Kurt Vonnegut could write anything and I would read it. This shows off his range as a writer, he can go from weird sci-fi dystopias on one page to his life in Cape Cod on the next and it feels totally natural. Such a brilliant writer, one of the best of all time.

Some classic stories here. But it's very uneven. Worth pursuing on the several excellent stories within, although some are not nearly as strong as others.

i really enjoyed this. going in, i didn't realize it was a collection of short stories. there are some standouts, but the majority are good. my favs are harrison bergeron, new dictionary, barnhouse effect, and unready to wear.

There are some great stories here. The one that names the book, of course, but also a few more about dystopian futures. And of course, the "chess" game with real people was really impressive.

Some of the stories are clearly inferior to those ones, hence I removed one star from a perfect score. Still, a great collection of short stories, I would strongly recommend it.

3.38+/5

i receive such a joy reading kurt vonnegut

where i live -1
descriptions of setting, nothing science fiction about it

harrison bergeron -5
this was the first thing I have ever read of kurt vonnegut's in 2012

who am i this time? -4
this one was really sad and cute

welcome to the monkey house -3
not really what i was expecting and i'm not sure whether to hate it or applaud it's uniqueness

long walk to forever - 3.5
in the prequel kurt said this is how he spent an afternoon with his wife - and there is only so much my heart can take

the foster portfolio -4
incredibly realistic. i can see myself living like this despite my (hypothetical) wealth

miss temptation -3
#girlboss

all the king's horses -4

One I make my move then you're free to check the king
NO, RON, NO
What is it?
He's going to sacrifice himself

+ Squidgame = this short story

tom edison's shaggy dog -4
this one made me lol

new dictionary -1
just a little too much about dictionaries

next door - 3
little kid sticking his nose where it doesn't belong

more stately mansions -3
i too would like to live like grace in her delusional dream

the hyannis port story -1
not a fan of political stories

d.p. -1
so kurt hits me with a military one

report on the barn house effect -5
yes yes YES. thought proving science fiction read

the euphio question -5
absolutely stellar

go back to your precious wife and son -2
i don't want to read this much about bathtub enclosure doors

deer in the works -4
accurate description of how i felt on the first day of my full time job

the lie -3
this is straight up reality

unready to wear -4
i too wish i was an amphibian

the kid nobody could handle -2
a bit wholesome but kind of just meh

the manned missiles -5
i'm not crying, you are

epicac -5
i have a faint memory of reading this one before. i'm certain that i loved it then as i do now.

adam -4
a little too heartbreaking for me kurt

tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow -5
i'm not sure i would like to live to 150 and fear my great-great-grandkids trying to murder me

the vonnegut collection
1. player piano
2. the sirens of titan
3. mother night
4. 2BR02B
5. cat's cradle
6. canary in the cat house or welcome to the monkey house (i owed the latter and it had majority of the short stories featured in the former)
7. god bless you, mr. rosewater
8. slaughterhouse-five
9. happy birthday, wanda june
10. between time and timbuktu
11. breakfast of champions
12. wampeters, foma and granfalloons
13. slapstick, or lonesome no more!
14. jailbird
15. sun, moon, star
16. palm sunday
17. deadeye dick
18. fates worse then death
19. galapagos
20. bluebeard
21. hocus pocus
22. timequake
23. god bless you, dr. kevorkian
24. bogombo snuff box
25. like shaking hands with god
26. kurt Vonnegut ton mark twain, lincoln, imperialist wars and the weather
27. a man without a country
28. armageddon in retrospect
29. look at the birdie
30. while mortals sleep
31. sucker's portfolio
32. letters
33. we are what we pretend to be
34. if this isn't nice, what is?
35. complete stories
36. love, kurt: the vonnegut love letters, 1941-1975

From this collection, I have listened to two stories (DP & The Foster Portfolio) through the LeVar Burton Reads podcast. I then later read more from this collection, and it is a fascinating look into the 1950s and 60s, with its mid-century sensibilities.

D.P.: Set in Germany a decade or so after WWII, a bi-racial orphan wonders about his parentage, especially because the local villagers have nicknamed him Joe Lewis, after a famous boxer from America. When a group of American soldiers is camped nearby, the boy steals away to meet them, hoping his father is one of the soldiers. A Black soldier takes pity on him, recognizing the boy feels like a displaced person (hence the title of the story) and treats him kindly before returning him to the orphanage.

The Foster Portfolio: Set in 1951, this short story was a fascinating peek into human nature. A young investment counselor meets the modest Foster family to help them with their finances and discovers the husband is sitting on a huge inheritance that he is keeping from his wife. The repressed husband is intent on providing for his family with his own labors and doesn't wish to touch the money, despite having to work two jobs and pinch pennies to afford things for his wife and son. He wants to honor his mother who sacrificed for his family when his father left his family to play the piano and get drunk in bars. This all seems decent until you find out he is hiding a double life from his wife- but it's not what you would think. The ending made me think of secrets in a marriage, and the judgments we place on our children and spouses, and how some obligations can become warped if not addressed. You must watch this delightful 2017 short movie (19 min) adaptation of the story: https://vimeo.com/399253153

A few others that stood out to me were Next Door (a boy gets more than he expected when he calls in to make a radio request), Miss Temptation (a Korean war veteran is a misogynist to a young woman- but then strikes up an improbable romance with her), More Stately Mansions (an annoying neighbor goes on and on and on about decorating and then her husband gets an inheritance), Welcome to the Monkey House (a horrible sci-fi tale in which a woman is raped and told it is for her own good), Go Back to Your Precious Wife and Son (a man who divorced his first wife for a rich woman, tucks tail and heads home after the second marriage fails), Long Walk to Forever (a man comes back to woo his childhood friend when he hears she is about to marry), and New Dictionary (a writer ponders words when dictionaries were essential). Obviously, I did not like all the stories, but Vonnegut's writings proved to be very interesting.

simply masterful

Romanlarıyla tanınan Vonnegut'un bütün öykülerini içeren bu kitap, son yıllarda okuduğum en iyi kitaplardan biri. Vonnegut külliyatında benim için Mezbaha No. 5 ve Şampiyonların Kahvaltısı'ndan sonra üçüncü sırada yer alacak.

I haven't read any Vonnegut for a long time. So when this was the kindle deal of the day, I thought, why not? Glad I reread it. I knew I liked his writing style, but this just refreshed the thought. He is good. This is a collection of short stories, from various publications. Some are dated and quaint. You can't help but giggle out loud at his sense of humor, perhaps even more appealing today in the face of so much "serious" fiction.
An example from "Where I live"--
"So he went down the narrow yacht club road, nearly broke his neck as he hit a series of terrific bumps put in the road to discourage speeders, to kill them, if possible." I remember this quote and giggle every time I drive out of my neighborhood, over what used to be annoying speed bumps designed for "safety" but clearly mal-intentioned to keep "others" out. Vonnegut is all about the "others", the ones who don't seem to belong.

Or "The Euphio Question"--a story written in 1951 about an electrical device which renders its users into a state of paralytic nirvana, oblivious to the environment and lacking motivation. "I found peace of mind sitting in easy chairs and turning on a gadget the size of a table-model television set. No herbs, no golden rule, no muscle control, no sticking our noses in other people's troubles to forget our own; no hobbies, Taoism, push-ups or contemplation of a lotus. The gadget is, I think, what a lot of people vaguely foresaw as the crowning achievement of civilization: an electronic something-or-other, cheap, easily mass-produced, that can, at the flick of a switch, provide tranquility." Hmmm, sound familiar?

But my favorite had to be "The Kid Nobody Could Handle" about the juvenile delinquent and the band director, and the power of music to change lives (and having someone believe in you.) "'Our aim is to make the world more beautiful than it was when we came into it. It can be done. You can do it.' ...'How?' said Jim. 'Love yourself,' said Hellmholtz, 'and make your instrument sing about it."

I am very very glad I reread these stories. Now on to Slaughterhouse Five!

You'd THINK that, what with Vonnegut having written one of my all-time favorite classic sci-fi novels "Sirens of Titan", not to mention "Slaughterhouse Five", you'd think I'd have remembered that he wrote "Harrison Bergeron," one of the great classic sci-fi short stories (it was even in a school textbook of mine) and the second story in this collection. Somehow I never put that together in my head, that it was a Vonnegut story, though I should've; a dystopian more-than-a-little-tongue-in-cheek story not-so-subtly pointing fingers at the status quo and the moral majority? Of COURSE it's a Vonnegut story.

Which is why I'm even MORE embarrassed that I didn't realize the LAST story in this book was a Vonnegut story. ANOTHER of the all-time great science fiction classics, ANOTHER story that was in one of my high-school textbooks, and ANOTHER of my favorites, "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow." I LOVE this story, and it wasn't until I found it in this collection that I realized it was a Vonnegut. It's wonderfully snide, with an ending that isn't EXACTLY happy but certainly not unhappy and DEFINITELY satisfying...Vonneget, classic Vonnegut. You think I'd have figured that out before now.

I didn't like every story in the collection ("The Kid Nobody Could Handle" was pleasant, but felt like he didn't figure out where the story was going until it was almost done, which is the same problem I had with "Go Back To Your Precious Wife and Son", "Deer in the Works" and "The Lie") but most of them were wonderful. "Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog" was hilarious, and "D.P." was very sweet, and I was so surprised at how much I loved "The Foster Portfolio." Once again, he can't quite bring himself to make it a COMPLETELY happy ending, but you finish it thinking that it had the perfect ending, and that's what Vonnegut does best.

Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut is a collection of short stories from the 50s and 60s and demonstrates Vonnegut’s tremendous range as a writer.

I have read one critic who did not like Vonnegut, saying that all of his novels are essentially the same, with his voice and tone narrating each new set of facts. I agreed somewhat, but still liked the way he writes and have enjoyed every one of his works I have read.

The stories in this collection, however, written earlier than most of his novels, displays a great variety of themes and models, and though Vonnegut’s signature humor is evident in many, he shows a different, often more emotional side in many stories.

“Harrison Bergeron”, the dystopian classic, is undoubtedly the most recognizable of these shorts, but several others have clearly been influential to other writers and filmmakers. “Welcome to the Monkey House” and “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” both address over population, but from Vonnegut’s unique perspective.

Several stories speak to Vonnegut’s stance on demilitarization and illuminating the idiocy of industrial war making. Stories like “D.P.”, “Adam”, and “Next Door”, though, originally published in Ladies Home Journal and Cosmopolitan, reveal an unguarded sentimentality and humanity that is not as evident in much of Vonnegut’s later works.

A very good read.

**** 2019 re-read

Kurt Vonnegut’s 1968 anthology of previously published short stories is a good introduction to his earlier work. Most of these were written in the 50s and early 60s and represent a more mainstream side of him that many of his fans and those not yet accustomed to his work would not readily recognize.

Actually, I was struck by how much like Ray Bradbury many of these were. Stories like “Who am I this time?” and “The Foster Portfolio” could have been penned by Ray. Makes me wonder how much of an influence RB was on. KV.

Stories that stand out this time around are “The Hyannis Port Story” which I remember liking before and “Deer in the Works” which was likely connected to his work on his novel Player Piano.

Most endearing was “D.P.” which was first published in the August 1953 edition of the Ladies Home Journal is about a little boy in Germany, after the second world war. He has brown skin and blue eyes and the sisters in the orphanage and the local villagers accept that he is likely the offspring of a German girl and an American soldier. When a group of US soldiers visit the area, he takes to one of the men who must surely be his papa.

1982 January 6
2014 October 3

Where I Live - Keenly observed. I wonder what an update would be like 50 years on?

Harrison Bergeron - This one has aged a bit, but it's still good.

Who Am I This Time? - I vividly recall the American Playhouse production with Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken. Magic.

Welcome to the Monkey House - Likewise aged, not that there aren't people who would be delighted to see the sex drive killed for everyone else, but those people tend not to be in favor of birth control or assisted suicide.

Long Walk to Forever - This is the story that made me want to reread the collection particularly.

"A walk?" said Catharine.

"One foot in front of the other,"said Newt,"Through leaves,over bridges--"

Vonnegut repeats that line "through leaves, over bridges" several times, and it is amazing how much emotion he manages to convey in that utterly prosaic phrase. It kills me. As does Vonnegut's preferred title, "Hell to Get Along With", which should probably be the title of every proposal story ever.

The Foster Portfolio - Heh.

Miss Temptation - "I’m not Yellowstone Park!” she said. “I’m not supported by taxes! I don’t belong to everybody! You don’t have any right to say anything about the way I look!”

Vonnegut understands and conveys, in 1956 mind you,a point which still continues to elude many supposed adults even today.

All the King's Horses - A rather dark musing on war, but not too dark.

Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog - Just perfectly amusing.

New Dictionary - Would go well paired with David Foster Wallace's review of dictionaries.

Next Door - Oh, my.

More Stately Mansions - This is another one that has lived long in my memory. It's a very kind and accepting and loving sort of story about a quirky, possibly annoying-as-hell character. And also, the obsession with having the perfect home has only become stronger and more widespread.

The Hyannis Port Story - Another really sweet story that still manages to be cynical and funny.

D.P. - Vonnegut writes children so well, so real. Not at all like Salinger's improbable paragons. A most unusual war story.

Report on the Barnhouse Effect - Interesting to compare this with LeGuin's Lathe of Heaven in focus and tone and characterization.

The Euphio Question - Amusingly presented.

Go Back to Your Precious Wife and Son - Oh, I love this, the contrast between the couples, the shower enclosure. Why doesn't anyone write stories from the point of view of storm window installers these days?

Deer in the Works - I'd say this one has exerted a small but deeply felt influence over my whole world view.

The Lie - Vonnegut can be warmly sympathetic to unlikely characters.

Unready to Wear - No question that I love this story.

The Kid Nobody Could Handle - An appreciation of the importance of finding one's home, in every sense.

The Manned Missiles - Perhaps the world didn't go this way because Vonnegut warned us against it? Interesting note: he thinks Earth will look green from space.

EPICAC - Unlike some of his peers, Vonnegut can easily imagine a brilliant mathematician who happens to be a woman.

Adam - Another sweet story that isn't sentimental at all.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow - Boy was the population explosion a big deal.

It's been more than 30 years since I first read this book, and a while since I've read anything else by Vonnegut. But rereading, I can't help notice how completely I've absorbed the Vonnegut mindset into my own. Most of my favorite authors these days I love for their humanism, their warmth, their sympathy, and their humor. Most of that must have come from Vonnegut, since I can't recall any one else I read in high school who was similar, except Douglas Adams. These are not bad people to have been raised by.

Kindle library copy