Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922- )

Special thanks to the Microsoft Corporation for their contribution to our site. The following information came from Microsoft Encarta. Here is a hyperlink to the Microsoft Encarta home page. http://www.encarta.msn.com

Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. (1922- ), American novelist, whose breezy style and innovative subject matter have gained him a wide following. Vonnegut served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. His experience as a prisoner of war during the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, is vividly recounted in his novel Slaughterhouse-Five (1969). Vonnegut's other novels include Player Piano (1952), a satire on modern automation; Cat's Cradle (1963), a fantasy about the end of the world; God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965), a satire about an idealistic philanthropic foundation and its encounter with greed; and Slapstick (1976), a farce about a future American president. Vonnegut has also written a collection of short stories, Welcome to the Monkey House (1968); a play, Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1970); Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage (1981); Galápagos (1985); Bluebeard (1987); and Hocus Pocus (1990).