Kurt Vonnegut Collection

Slaughterhouse Five

Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut's personal favorite among his novels and the one he considered his masterpiece, is perhaps best known for its unusual storyline. The main character, Billy Pilgrim, goes back in time to witness the bombing of Dresden during World War II. He also finds himself traveling forward through time as well from 1945 to 1969—all as a way to escape from his own identity. Slaughterhouse-Five follows Billy on these journeys as he moves through different periods and places in history.

There are many themes explored in this book including death (or lack thereof), free will versus fate, and war's effect on those who fight it—all told with Kurt Vonnegut's characteristic wit and insight into human nature.

The Sirens of Titan

The Sirens of Titan is a satirical science fiction novel by Kurt Vonnegut and published in 1959. It tells the story of an ordinary man named Malachi Constant, who becomes an interplanetary millionaire. He is offered the opportunity to travel around the galaxy with his friend Winston Niles Rumfoord and a young woman named Salo.

The book has been described as Vonnegut's most accessible novel, though its themes are still complex and require careful reading to fully appreciate them. It contains elements that can be found throughout his work: time travel, parallel universes, free will versus determinism, greediness vs generosity (or "charity"), and human nature.

The novel was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1960. It was also ranked number 2 on Modern Library's list of best novels written between 1900-2000.

Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of gray with a verdict that will haunt us all.

"A great artist."--Cincinnati Enquirer

"A shaking up in the kaleidoscope of laughter . . . Reading Vonnegut is addictive "--Commonweal

Kurt Vonnegut's first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul's rebellion is vintage Vonnegut--wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.
In Player Piano, Paul Proteus is a bright young engineer who has worked hard to rise through the ranks of the Brotherhood of Man—a group that makes sure that everyone has the same opportunities in life. But now he finds himself caught in an increasingly automated world where machines do all of the work and even think for themselves. And while he feels like he's being left behind in this new society, his wife is beginning to fall under its spell.
With his trademark wit and keen eye for social satire, Kurt Vonnegut paints a powerful picture of what it means to be human in this extraordinary debut novel.

Sucker's Portfolio

“When I consider the ghastly orders obeyed by underlings of Columbus, or of Aztec priests supervising human sacrifices, or of senile Chinese bureaucrats wishing to silence unarmed, peaceful protesters in Tiananmen Square only three years ago as I write, I have to wonder if obedience isn’t the basic flaw in most of humankind.” 

We Are What We Pretend to Be

Written to be sold under the pseudonym of “Mark Harvey,” Basic Training was never published in Vonnegut’s lifetime. It appears to have been written in the late 1940s and is therefore Vonnegut’s first ever novella. It is a bitter, profoundly disenchanted story that satirizes the military, authoritarianism, gender relationships, parenthood and most of the assumed mid-century myths of the family. Haley Brandon, the adolescent protagonist, comes to the farm of his relative, the old crazy who insists upon being called The General, to learn to be a straight-shooting American. Haley’s only means of survival will lead him to unflagging defiance of the General’s deranged (but oh so American, oh so military) values. This story and its thirtyish author were no friends of the milieu to which the slick magazines’ advertisers were pitching their products.

When Vonnegut passed away in 2007, he left his last novel unfinished. Entitled If God Were Alive Today, this last work is a brutal satire on societal ignorance and carefree denial of the world’s major problems. Protagonist Gil Berman is a middle-aged college lecturer and self-declared stand-up comedian who enjoys cracking jokes in front of a college audience while societal dependence on fossil fuels has led to the apocalypse. Described by Vonnegut as, “the stand-up comedian on Doomsday,” Gil is a character formed from Vonnegut’s own rich experiences living in a reality Vonnegut himself considered inevitable.
Along with the two works of fiction, Vonnegut’s daughter, Nanette shares reminiscences about her father and commentary on these two works—both exclusive to this edition. 

Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage

"[Kurt Vonnegut] is either the funniest serious writer around or the most serious funny writer."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

In this self-portrait by an American genius, Kurt Vonnegut writes with beguiling wit and poignant wisdom about his favorite comedians, country music, a dead friend, a dead marriage, and various cockamamie aspects of his all-too-human journey through life. This is a work that resonates with Vonnegut's singular voice: the magic sound of a born storyteller mesmerizing us with truth.

"Vonnegut is at the top of his form, and it is wonderful."--Newsday

JailBird

" Vonnegut] is our strongest writer . . . the most stubbornly imaginative."--John Irving

"A gem . . . a mature, imaginative novel--possibly the best he has written . . . Jailbird is a guided tour de force of America. Take it "--Playboy

"A profoundly humane comedy . . . Jailbird definitely mounts up on angelic wings--in its speed, in its sparkle, and in its high-flying intent."--Chicago Tribune Book World

"Joyously inventive . . . gleams with the loony magic Vonnegut alone can achieve."--Cosmopolitan

"Vonnegut is our great apocalyptic writer, the closest thing we've had to a prophet since . . . Lenny Bruce."--Chicago Sun-Times

"Vonnegut at his impressive best. . . . His imaginative leaps alone . . . are worth the price of admission. . . . His far-reaching metaphysical and cultural concerns . . . are ultimately serious and worth our contemplation."--The Washington Post

The ultimate Vonnegut: all 14 novels plus a selection of the best of his stories in a definitive collector's boxed set.

The novels of Kurt Vonnegut defined a generation a remain among the most enduringly popular and influential works of the last century. Now, for the first time, they are available in a single collector's edition, featuring authoritative annotated texts. This boxed set includes four Library of America volumes:

Novels & Stories 1950-1962

Player Piano / The Sirens of Titan / Mother Night

Novels & Stories 1963-1973
Cat's Cradle / God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater / Slaughterhouse-Five / Breakfast of Champions

Novels 1976-1985
Slapstick / Jailbird / Deadeye Dick / Galapagos

Novels 1987-1997

Bluebeard / Hocus Pocus / Timequake

LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation's literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America's best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.