For K.V.

I don't remember exactly why I first read Slaughterhouse Five, but it happened when I was 18. I read a lot back then, it could have been a mention in another book...or a magazine article.
It doesn't matter.
I had never read anything like it before, and I've read it several times since, as well as gradually reading many of his other books.
When I was 19, he came to talk at Washington University in St. Louis. There was no debate as to whether I'd go to class or see him. I'll never forget the things he said, or the way he said them.
I have a friend who used to refer to himself as a "misanthropic humanist." I think that's why I love Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s work so much--it captures that seeming paradox, and so much more. I was enrolled in a controversial literature class when the war in Iraq started. We were reading SH5 at the time. It was perfect.
I was saddened greatly to learn last night of his death. He'll be missed.




Another story is one from my school paper days: on my adviser's previous paper, one of the students managed to land an interview with Mr. Vonnegut. Lucky bastard. At the end of the interview, the student asked, as reporters often do, "do you have anything else to add?" Vonnegut's response? "Go fuck yourself."

Lucky bastard! I always said if I ever got the chance I'd ask him the same. I guess I won't. And so it goes.