I simply love, love, love, LOVE Kurt Vonnegut! He's hilarious, intelligent, and entertaining-and this collection of short stories is one of the finest ever written! While some of the stories aren't necessarily "classic Vonnegut" and a couple of them aren't particularly memorable, this collection is still worth reading in its entirety. It was a really fun read for me, especially because Vonnegut is so funny. Not all of the stories are extremely hilarious, a couple of them are actually really emotional (and those stories were also EXCELLENT), which just goes to show that, although he certainly dabbled w/a definite signature style in nearly all his work, Vonnegut was really a writer w/range. Some of the stories are unbelievably creative, while others focus on mundane life, a side of Vonnegut that you don't normally see in his most famous works.
My absolute 10/10 favorite stories in this collection were:
Harrison Bergeron-Vonnegut at his finest and cleverest!
Welcome to the Monkey House- A crazy, hilarious, and weird tale about overpopulation.
Long Walk to Forever-This is not your typical Vonnegut story, there's no black humor and sci-fi twist, it's just a sweet, emotional romance story, and it shows that Vonnegut really has a heart!
The Euphio Question-Fascinating and engaging piece of science fiction writing, one of the most interesting short stories I've ever read.
Deer in the Works-This is a REALLY strange one!
Unready to Wear-Interesting and engaging science fiction tale.
The Manned Missiles-This is likely the saddest, most tragic story in the collection. Very emotional, but very good.
EPICAC-Laugh out loud funny, classic Vonnegut!
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow-Funny, strange, fascinating, creative, clever, and satirical a.k.a Vonnegut at his best and most pleasing!

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

This is a long collection with a lot of short stories. They're all at least pretty solid, and some of them I love. I think my favorite- and I suspect this is a strange choice is "Who Am I This Time?" which I find to be exceptionally odd and romantic in a novel way.

The title story, "Welcome to the Monkey House" is very rapey and doesn't hold up to modern scrutiny at all, so it's really a shame that the entire collection is named this. Not surprisingly it was first published in Playboy. Ugh, boys and men growing up in the late 60s were reading this story basically justifying rape.

I particularly enjoyed the futuristic sci-fi/fantasy stories like "Report on the Barnhouse Effect" and "Unready to Wear." ("Harrison Bergeron" on the other hand seemed a little bit juvenile to me as a rather simplistic dystopian realization of liberal ideals.) The last story, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" could have been a full-length dystopian novel but maybe it would have been too big a bummer and is kind of darkly humorous as a short story.

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!

I have grown quite fond of this evil little man and his stories

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.

—"I still catch myself feeling blue about things that don't matter anymore."—

Awfully darn good. Sometimes a homerun, sometimes a tripple, often a hard-hit single, but never a disappointment.

—"He shook his head. "Life's a funny thing, Helmholtz."
"Not very funny, sometimes," said Helmholtz."—

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.

overall, i enjoyed these stories...save for the last one that seemed like a boorish attempt at fashionable ideology--over-population. who's to decide? hitler?

peter singer? some ethicist building a wave? crapola!

the last story sucks the big one cause the sci-fi element to it is too unbelievable...the ole willing suspension of disbelief takes a hit, big time...and like i said, fashionable ideology...same old bull-tripe you're prone to hear still today..."they said that a hundred years ago!"

there's one, epicac, that sees more action in one of his longer stories. i forge which one at the moment. maybe slapstick. then again, i could be wrong.

a few of the others are thinly veiled blah-blah-blahs...but like i said, overall, these stories are good, written in the 50s and early 60s for the most...they range around the board and they're fun to read, as they enable the reader to see vonnegut's obsessions and how he went about pointing at and prodding those obsessions, using a number of different styles and whatnot.

w/a few of them, i'm reminded of alfred hitchcock presents...remember that ole black and white, the piano music and hitchcock's shadow filling out the curvy lines.

Clever satire, mostly. I have struggled a couple of times with V's longer works, but finally decided to see what shorts he's written besides the frequently anthologized Harrison Bergeron. Turns out, a bunch. Accessible and still plenty provocative. In fact, that Sense of Wonder and What If that I enjoy so much in the best SF is present even in V's non-SF stories.

I think maybe my favorite story here is Unready to Wear. "Trouble with the world is not too many people--it's too man bodies." Makes sense to me, as not only do bodies have to be fed, protected from germs, etc., but the glands and all do all too much governing of the mind. Of course, thinking about that on one's own is one thing, but exploring V's take on it brings it to another level.

Highly recommended to readers who like to be given something to think about.

My favorites were: The manned missiles, unready to wear, the lie, next door and all the king's horses! All of the short stories were good; I didn't read any that I didn't like.

I could write a long review and talk about every short story in this collection, but I'm not going to do that. There are just too many good stories in this collection. My personal favorite was probably "Harrison Bergeron" but I would have to think about that. It's not necessary that I have a "favorite" per se, but my mind just works that way.

If you're a Vonnegut fan, you've probably read this. If you've never read Vonnegut, give it a shot. It's a great way to start your journey into his mind. He can be hilarious and moving in the same story. I've enjoyed reading his works since I was in high school, and I will continue to do so for a long time.

In fact, I will continue reading his work "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow."