"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be."Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night
Kurt Vonnegut died on April 11, 2007, in Manhattan, New York, after suffering irreversible brain injuries as a result of a fall at his home. I know that this happened days ago, but I wasn't sure how to post the death of my favorite writer of all time. I could be cheesy and tell you the "Top 10 Reasons You Should Read Vonnegut" or a list of "My Favorite Vonnegut Books", but I think that would be a waste of time. Instead, here are a few ways that Mr. Vonnegut has made his way into my life.
1. I was first exposed to his writing in college. We read Slaughterhouse-Five and watched the movie. It was a new style of writing for me and I thought that if this is his best work to date, I needed to read the rest of his arsenal.
2. For years I collected his books, mainly with the original book jackets and used. I still do not own "Happy Birthday Wanda June" and I am told it is out of print, so I may never own it.
3. My father and I share a love for his books turned to movies. This is odd because my dad reads mostly non-fiction, just like me.
4. I have taught at least 4 of his short stories in the past 8 years to my middle school English students. I love their reactions when they read him, they almost always say that he's crazy and cannot believe that he is such a famous writer. Although, they say that about Ray Bradbury and George Orwell, so I do not take the criticism personally. They never believe he is my favorite author.
5. My nephew shares a passion for him and every time we meet we find a way to drop his name and shake our heads at his style.
6. He is an author that I have told tons of fellow readers to read and most are afraid to tackle him and the ones that do either love him or hate him.
7. He replaced Mark Twain as my favorite author, which I thought would never happen and I find myself rereading his work all the time, sorry Mr. Twain.
8. Out of all the famous authors (Elie Wiesel, John Irving, Umberto Eco etc.)
I have heard do a reading, I haven't seen Vonnegut live and unfortunately never will.
Farewell Mr. Vonnegut, Farewell!
