Thursday, April 12, 2007

Goodbye, Cruel World

Sad news at the death of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. yesterday. I mention it mostly to mark the loss, to place a small × on the calendar. Curses! More thoughtful tributes than this one will, no doubt, turn up in the days ahead. I haven't read anything by Vonnegut in a few years, but discovering his writing signaled a moment for me, a steel/flint encounter as shocking as spark-producing when I (accidentally?) picked Breakfast of Champions from the shelf of Park U.'s underground library during my sophomore year of college. Vonnegut's was the first stuff I stumbled upon where I knew I had to read everything else he'd written, and then did, every kicky, smutty, banned word of it I could find--a treasure trove of zaniness, humor, and wit.

Poo-tee-weet.

Posted by Derek Mueller at April 12, 2007 9:30 AM to Unspecified