What a shite.

As weird and wonderful and incisive as one might expect.

I know a lot of people aren't very fond of this play, they wish Vonnegut would've stuck with novels. And who can blame them when his novels are so glorious?

But personally, I thought Wanda June was brilliant! It hilarious, dark, poignant, and supremely hopeful (just like all Vonnegut's work.) I rather enjoyed the fact it was in play format rather than novel or short story. It's an interesting experiment. The characters feel alive in a slightly different way, and the jokes land harder.

While Kurt left plays well alone afterwards I'm left wanting more of his writing in this format.

LOOSELEAF: Wars would be a lot better, I think, if guys would say to themselves sometimes, "Jesus--I'm not going to do that to the enemy. That's too much."

This line is spoken by a character called Colonel Looseleaf Harper, who in Vonnegut's world is the man who dropped the first atom bomb on Nagasaki.

The play takes place in the home of Harold Ryan, a military man who has served in lots and lots of wars of various shapes and sizes and made a major name for himself as hero in the process. His last engagement has been in a South American rainforest, in the company of his pilot (the already-mentioned Colonel Harper); when the play begins they've been missing for eight years and his wife has just about decided that they must be dead. Her name is Penelope (allusion to Homer intended), and she is being courted by Herb Shuttle, a snivelly vacuum cleaner salesman who is awed by Harold's accomplishments, and also by Dr. Norbert Woodly, a pacifist doctor who is appalled by them. She also has a 12-year-old son, Paul, who doesn't remember his father but thinks he would like him to come back home.

What happens when Harold returns unannounced, with Looseleaf Harper in tow, comprises the main action of the play. To give away its many surprises would be unfair; what I can tell you is that the inevitable confrontation between the man of war (Harold) and the man of peace (Norbert) does indeed take place, and that along the way to said confrontation, Vonnegut finds time to take pot shots at many of humanity's and America's scariest foibles and sacredest cows. And, oh yes: there is indeed someone named Wanda June who celebrates a birthday.

The play, written at the height of the Vietnam War era, remains important, and not so much for its broad anti-war satirical content, though that's certainly pertinent. No, it's the passionate disputation against the status quo that inspires me: Vonnegut's rage against the machine, so to speak, is pervasive in this electric play.

The weirdest part for me was the dream I had later where I was in a movie version of the play that took place in my Chicago hotel room.

The play was fine. Very clever - could have been something bigger, but it wasn't. Eh.

“Yeah, Jesus—but wars would be a lot better, I think, if guys would say to themselves sometimes, ‘Jesus—I’m not going to do that to the enemy. That’s too much.’”

“My violin is avenged!”

Kurt Vonnegut would write a play that regularly breaks the fourth wall. In general I enjoyed this, especially his forward that talks about the writing process and reveals that the understudy for the female roles was Diane Wiest?! It has his rambling style but did go a bit off the rails for me. It’s also a product of its time and had a few homophobic references, sexism, and one instance of the n word, all of which I interpreted as literary devices in his use, not opinions he held. But, they still came off a bit jarring. He says he has never written a villain, but Harold certainly wasn't likeable!

Very, very funny. Vonnegut's masterful humor and sarcasm screams through the page. A very memorable play. As relevant today as when it was written, which makes it all the more tragicomic.

Not Vonnegut's best work in my opinion. It had some interesting ideas about heroism/war, but I think those ideas are better done in other books. Also, it has a couple of lines that are so sexist and rascist that my jaw dropped. So I guess the play does have shock value even if it doesn't have an ending.

Vonnegut is one of my top 5 authors I've ever read. That being said, I don't think this is his best work. But it is definitely worth reading. There are some good one-liners in there. However, the "Wanda June" character is rather puzzling. The play is named after her, but she has nothing to do with anything. The characters never even find out who she is. I also came away not really certain if any of the characters grew or changed in the story. It is an interesting vignette of a family's life, but a forgetful one.

A play - for a bit of variety by Master Vonnegut - funny as ever, thought provoking as ever. I am enjoying rereading my Vonnegut collection - a shut-down antidote which should have universal prescription

Allegedly a modern retelling of the Odyssey from Penelope's perspective, it is a fun play and a quick read. While I think it's Vonnegut's only published play, the characters feel just like his books. Word to the wise-- it's very hard to fine a paper copy in my experience. I got lucky at a used bookstore.