Kurt Vonnegut Remembered
Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007), who began his writing career working for popular magazines, held both literary aspirations and an attraction to genre fiction. His conspicuous refusal to respect literary boundaries was part of what made him a countercultural icon in the 1960s and 1970s. Vonnegut’s personal life was marked in large part by public success and private turmoil. Two turbulent marriages, his sudden adoption of his late sister’s four children (and the equally sudden removal of one of those children), and a mid-eighties suicide attempt all signaled the extent of Vonnegut’s inner troubles. Yet, he was a generous friend to many, maintaining close correspondences throughout his life.
Kurt Vonnegut Remembered gathers reminiscences—by those who knew him intimately, and from those met him only once—that span Vonnegut’s entire life. Among the anecdotes in this collection are remembrances from his immediate family, reflections from his comrades in World War II, and tributes from writers he worked with in Iowa City and from those who knew him when he was young. Editor Jim O’Loughlin offers biographical notes on Vonnegut’s relationship with each of these figures.
Since Vonnegut’s death, much has been written on his life and work, but this new volume offers a more generous view of his life, particularly his last years. In O’Loughlin’s introduction to the volume, he argues that we can locate and understand Vonnegut’s best self through his public persona, and that in his performance as the kind and humane figure that many of the speakers here knew him as, Vonnegut became a better person than he ever felt himself to be.
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Introduction
Part 1. Growing Up: 1922–1943
1. Irma Vonnegut Lindener
2. Ben Hitz
3. Majie Alford Failey
Part 2. From War to the Homefront: 1944–1964
4. Bernard V. O’Hare Jr.
5. Gifford Doxsee, Dick Erbes, Duane Fox, Floyd Harding, Tom Jones, Clifford Stumpf, Thomas C. Ballowe, Gordon Zicker
6. Jane Vonnegut Yarmolinsky
7. Mark Vonnegut
8. Nanette Vonnegut
Part 3. The Iowa Years: 1965–1967
9. Loree Rackstraw
10. Gail Godwin
11. Suzanne McConnell
12. Maria Pilar Donoso
13. Andre Dubus
14. John Irving
Part 4. Literary Celebrity: 1968–1979
15. Peter Fonda
16. Jill Krementz
17. Vance Bourjaily
18. Geraldo Rivera
19. Jerome Klinkowitz
20. Dan Wakefield
21. Joe David Bellamy
22. Peter J. Reed
23. Andrew Leonard
24. David R. Slavitt
25. Loree Rackstraw
26. Morris Lurie
27. Kaylie Jones
28. Peter Gzowski
Part 5. Reluctant Guru: 1980–1997
29. Raymond Mungo
30. Martin Amis
31. Greg Herriges
32. Joseph Timmons
33. Norman Mailer
34. George Plimpton
35. John Irving
36. Carole Mallory
37. Jerome Klinkowitz
38. Dan Rattiner
39. Robert B. Weide
Part 6. “I Never Expected to Live This Long”: 1998–2007
40. John Krull
41. Ezra Prior
42. John Casey
43. Alan Bisbort
44. Todd Davis
45. Michael Moore
46. Charles J. Shields
47. Donald Farber
48. Jerome Klinkowitz
49. John Updike
List of Reminiscences
Additional Reminiscences
Fictional Accounts of Vonnegut
Notes
Works Cited
Index