Armageddon in Retrospect

[J.D. Hildebrand]

My wife, Naomi, got me a copy of Kurt Vonnegut's first posthumous book for my birthday a couple weeks ago. Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of essays, drawings, and stories, all previously unpublished, all about war. The pieces in the book range chronologically from a letter Vonnegut wrote to his parents while a prisoner of war in Dresden during World War II to a speech Vonnegut wrote for delivery in April 2007, the month of his death.

Apparently Vonnegut thought war was a bad thing.

Sadly, the slim volume offers few other revelations, save perhaps the insight that sometimes the works that remain unpublished during an author's life were protected from readers and critics for good reason. The essays seem slight, the stories mechanical, and the inspired whimsy that made me fall in love with Vonnegut after stumbling over Cat's Cradle years ago is almost entirely absent.

I'm happy to lend the book to anyone who's interested. But honestly, I wouldn't bother with it unless you're already a Vonnegut fan and you want to be sure you've read all his work. Otherwise, stick to Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions, and perhaps Galapagos or God Bless You, Doctor Kervorkian. That's my two cents.

[Francesca Sphynx-Ball]

Can I Borrow the Book?!

[Francesca Sphynx-Ball]

Have You Never Read Slaughterhouse 5????!?!??!?
or Palm Sunnndayyyy????!??!?!?!?!?!?!?
GHAAHhahhhh- I Love Kurt Vonnegut Like My Own Grandfather. <3

[Francesca Sphynx-Ball]

No Duh Kurt Vonnegut Didn't Like War!