Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book

Hot Search

Happy Birthday, Wanda June

kurt vonnegut jr. jill krementz

... Show More
The zany, wildy inventive imagination of America's most popular novelist is devastatingly at work in his first play.

199 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1970
Places
the united states of america, 

This edition

Format
199 pages, Paperback
Published
January 1, 1978 by Delta Books
ISBN
9780440534228
ASIN
0440534224
Language
English
Characters More characters

More editions

About the author

Profile Image for kurt vonnegut jr.

kurt vonnegut jr.

... Show More
Kurt Vonnegut, Junior was an American novelist, satirist, and most recently, graphic artist. He was recognized as New York State Author for 2001-2003.

He was born in Indianapolis, later the setting for many of his novels. He attended Cornell University from 1941 to 1943, where he wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Vonnegut trained as a chemist and worked as a journalist before joining the U.S. Army and serving in World War II.

After the war, he attended University of Chicago as a graduate student in anthropology and also worked as a police reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. He left Chicago to work in Schenectady, New York in public relations for General Electric. He attributed his unadorned writing style to his reporting work.

His experiences as an advance scout in the Battle of the Bulge, and in particular his witnessing of the bombing of Dresden, Germany whilst a prisoner of war, would inform much of his work. This event would also form the core of his most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five, the book which would make him a millionaire. This acerbic 200-page book is what most people mean when they describe a work as "Vonnegutian" in scope.

Vonnegut was a self-proclaimed humanist and socialist (influenced by the style of Indiana's own Eugene V. Debs) and a lifelong supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The novelist is known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973)

Readers also enjoyed

Community Reviews

Rating(4.2 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
43(43%)
4 stars
29(29%)
3 stars
28(28%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Rylston
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
pretty heavyhanded but who am I to fault mr Vonnegut for spreading peace and love on earth and beyond? he even admits in the foreword here that the ending isn't that great (he's right) because he just didn't want to write an ending. must admit that I got a little choked up at one point but I'm not brave enough to reveal when exactly that was. amazing title. maybe his best, title-wise. ✌
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
aoi0sora
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
This is the only play Kurt Vonnegut wrote. I hadn't heard of it before, but read it because my son is going to be in the play this fall.

The story is a take-off on Odysseus and the Odyssey. In this case it's the cruel, violent Harold Ryan who returns home after being missing for eight years. His wife, Penelope, has believed him to be dead and has accepted the attentions of two suitors; Dr. Norbert Woodly (my son's role) and Herb Shuttle, a vacuum cleaner salesman. Their son, Paul, never believed his father was dead and has tried to discourage the suitors.

As Penelope says in the opening line, "This is a simple minded play about men who enjoy killing - and those who don't".

Harold says "I have killed perhaps two hundred men in wars of various sorts....I have killed thousands of other animals as well - for sport".

And Woodly, "I am a physician, a healer. I find it disgusting and frightening that a killer should still be a respected member of society. Gentleness must replace violence everywhere, or we are doomed".

Much of the play is funny, but like a lot of Vonnegut's work, has a strong anti-war, anti-violence message. So it goes.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Ghostkumo
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
I was at the Broadway flea market last weekend and happened across this book at one of the stands, completely unaware that Vonnegut had written a play. It was a satire of Odysseus’ return home set in “modern” times, and it was fantastic. I really enjoyed reading this one, it was dark and funny, super entertaining.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Misame
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
Second reading.
Not his best but quirky enough to be thoroughly enjoyable.

God Bless You Mr Vonnegut.

So it goes.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Recprocate
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
This book caught me at the perfect time and was exactly what I was wanting. I'm a big fan of reading plays - love the format.

Anywho, MACHISMO! this is a wonderful tale of a ultra-maculine father returning home after 8 years. He was presumed dead and arrives home to see his wife with suitors. Shenanigans ensue.

I loved the ending, the banter, and the on the nose and over the top moral messaging.

If you enjoy reading plays I would definitely reccomend this simple and direct one!
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
jibbe23
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
The inscription on my frontispiece:

"Good intentions guided by ignorance and blasphemy leads only to frustration and futility.
Not worth the read.
CB"

I can't actually recall Vonnegut discussing these issues before. He's talked about "War is hell" and "So it goes" quite a bit, but he very rarely discusses gender issues and how much society changed during and just after the war.

Despite what the guy who wrote that inscription thought, I still thought it was worth the read.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgYkR...
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Zapso
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
Not only did I read this play, I saw it preformed lived at the University of Maine in Portland -- which was done with a new ending written for the play by Mr. Vonnegut himself.
. . .
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
MainaDeah
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
In the foreward, Vonnegut said that this was his first time time ever writing a villain, and maybe his discomfort with that idea shows a little in this play? Unfortunately, this play ends up being more about the male characters—Harold, Looseleaf, Shuttle, Paul, and Wooley all vibrate with energy, coming off the page—while the female character, Penelope, is mostly letting things happen to her and grossly overshadowed by the men around her. Somehow the overarching conflict in this play is war versus peace and there's no clear winner? Even as the promoters of war (Harold and Looseleaf) are presented as basically grotesque. Anyway, it was fine! (I wasn't bored)
0 0 Reply
Leave a Review
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.