Kurt Vonnegot-"Armageddon in Retrospect"
Putman
April 1, 2008

Its hard to believe that this is the swan song of beloved author Kurt Vonnegut. His writing has been an absolute inspiration to many people, myself included, and I was very crestfallen upon hearing about his death. He always seemed like someone who had figured out how to beat time and the natural order of life. So it goes.

Listen. These short stories, personal essays and a speech were compiled, sort of like a B-sides album, to give readers one last hurrah to this master writer. Included are his very last speech. He also speaks of his own personal time as a POW during WWII, present at Dresden during its bombing by America. There are short fiction stories, with fiction making up most of the prose written on these pages, and they mostly involve the war that Vonnegut served and fought so dedicatedly.

The great thing about these stories are that they are basically colorblind, with Vonnegut having German characters that are sympathetic as well as American soldiers that make the reader embarrassed to be part of this country. Vonnegut plays both sides of the coin very well, making this a complete and enjoyable work, not just some throwaways found and slapped together to make a quick buck.

Written by: RF
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