Reviews for Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons

The average rating for Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-12-22 00:00:00 Dale Hoover At least once a year I find myself in need to fire up the bookmobile and drive up to Indiana to visit my Uncle Kurt. I have an eclectic literary family, wild old Uncle Bob Heinlein in Missouri, cousins Ray Bradbury and Poul Anderson, Ursula and Phil out in Berkley. Seems we can never all get together. But driving up the Middle America street to Kurt Vonnegut's urbane but kooky house always makes me smile. Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons is Kurt's 1974 collection of essays, sketches, speeches, interviews and musings. As always, his writing educates, amuses, entertains, and promotes thinking and most otherwise makes for a worthwhile reading experience. But here's the thing: I call him "uncle" because his style of writing and his expressiveness has always seemed, to me at least, more or less avuncular. But being born in 1922 and a veteran of World War II, he is of my grandfather's generation, what many have deemed "the greatest generation". What seems clear to me now, looking back on having read Vonnegut for about 30 years, is to highlight that he was of the greatest AMERICAN generation, and that he is of course a great American. What stands out in these pages and from a perspective of reading much of his work is his affinity for all things American. It is no accident that this Midwestern Hoosier, of immigrant German lineage, was a WWII veteran, an upper middle class professional who came to writing later in life and who is fiercely American in his writings. And of course as any frequent reader of Vonnegut will know, he is not of the flag waiving, parade walking, chest thumping nationalistic / jingoistic variety, Heavens no!, he is rather of the old school democratic, progressive, and critically observant category, the kind of American who sees it as his civic duty to critique when necessary. Another observation that should be made in this humble and insufficient review, is that Vonnegut was NOT the model for Billy Pilgrim from his seminal work Slaughterhouse-Five. Kurt Vonnegut was not a bumbling, accidental soldier wearing poorly sized uniforms, not so - Vonnegut was a forward scout and a prisoner of war who was beaten by his German guards when he told them - in German - what he would do to them when he was liberated by the Russians. What shows through so enormously, so peremptorily (though with a sly wink and a nod, a subtle Midwestern barb) was more than his Americanism but rather the greatness of his humanism. Vonnegut truly liked people and was genuinely offended by war and crime and political / corporate shenanigans and other forms of bad manners, and in his homely but funny way he poked fun at those to whom fun needs poking, to those who need a reminder about civility and decency, and with a wry smile and a long drag on the ubiquitous cigarette, asks us (like Thoreau to Emerson) why we aren't hopping mad too. "Joking," he explains, "is his response to misery I couldn't do anything about." So, here's to you, Uncle Kurt, its always nice to visit. ****2019 re-read Every time I read this book it makes me smile. Vonnegut's 1974 anthology contains essays and speeches (and one short work of fiction) all written in the late 60s and early 70s after Breakfast of Champions and before his novel Slapstick, or Lonesome No More!. What stands out in all of these twenty or so chapters is Vonnegut's easy humanism and his scathing cynicism for all things impure and unkind. A prisoner of war, Vonnegut would become famous for his pacifism. A humorous writer, he was for a time a popular choice for college graduation speeches and several of these are featured. He sets out how, because he mentions and uses technology, he was early on categorized as a science fiction writer. This annoyed him, first of all because it was inaccurate when you compare his works to real SF writers like Asimov and Heinlein, but also because it gave some critics a reason to discount the importance of his work. In his account of Biafra, we see first-hand the devastating political and military defeat of a proud people and a brief modern nation in Africa. Kurt Vonnegut met writer Chinua Achebe in Africa during this tragedy. Finally, the collection ends with his 1973 Playboy interview. This was a great dialogue that sheds important light on who Vonnegut was and why he thought the way he did. Interestingly, he alluded to his "upcoming" book which was Slaptick and now I'm off to read that one. Hi Ho!

Review # 2 was written on 2012-01-12 00:00:00 Stuart Spencer This collection of nonfiction demonstrates amply why so many people fall headlong in love with Vonnegut'all aspects of his cranky humanity, his unimpeachable morality, his hard-won cynicism are on show over these twenty-five pieces. The title isn't particularly catchy: readers of Cat's Cradle will recognise the terms which Vonnegut says represent his dabblings in nonfiction. Not so. Among the brilliance here includes his take on SF as a literary art, his ornery take on the moon landing and a loving portrayal of mystic Madame Blavatsky. The subtitle here is 'opinions,' and fierier pieces include 'In a Manner That Must Shame God Himself' which napalms the Nixon presidency, a provocative piece on Nigeria 'Biafra: A People Betrayed,' and a brief homage to Hunter S. Thompson 'A Political Disease,' where Vonnegut invents Thompson's Disease for those betrayed by their leaders to the point of mental collapse (Thompson cured himself of his disease with a shotgun in 2005. So it goes). The inclusion of several public speeches and throwaway shavings detract from the urgency somewhat, but the Playboy interview ends the collection on a marvellously lucid note. Ah, the days Playboy was a respected literary organ! I hope Nicole Ritchie's favourite book is Slaughterhouse-Five, I really do. A must-read for ALL Vonnegut fans. That's you!