Tag Archives: Cat's Cradle

How Vonnegut Faced His Demons

Thursday To honor the 50th anniversary of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, I am reposting an essay about how Vonnegut used science fiction to come to terms with the Battle of the Bulge and the Dresden bombing, both of which he experienced first-hand. I owe the ideas to student Chris Hammond, who devoted his senior project […]

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Vonnegut’s Sci Fi Says the Unsayable

Yesterday I spent all day—from 9 am to 6 pm with occasional breaks—listening to our English majors present their senior projects. That I was energized rather than drained by the experience testifies to the strength of the talks. In today’s post I report on my student Chris Hammond’s essay on Kurt Vonnegut’s use of science […]

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Poetry vs. Death’s Madness

In the face of death, poetry stands as a bulwark against dissolution, chaos, and madness.

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Lit Titles as Cocktails (“The Wasteland”)

NPR’s Studio 360 sponsored a “literary cocktail” contest. We share here some of the highlights.

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Without Literature, We’d Die Like Mad Dogs

Kurt Vonnegut I have heard people sing the praises of Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle for years so I used the occasion of one of our snow days to read it. Vonnegut once had a cult following and perhaps does so still.  I’d love to hear an update from a Vonnegut fan. While I wasn’t blown […]

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