A Brief Bio
(Click on each picture)
The Early Years
Kurt Vonnegut was born on November 11, 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana to 3rd generation German-American parents.
His great-grandfather, Clemens Vonnegut founded the Vonnegut Hardware Company in downtown Indianapolis.
In 1940, Vonnegut entered Cornell University as a Chemistry major but dropped out in 1943 and enlisted in the United States Army as a private in World War II.
He was sent to Europe, captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge and imprisoned in an underground meat locker called Schlachthof-Funf (Slaughterhouse Five).
On the night of February 13, 1945, Vonnegut witnessed the allied firebombing of Dresden, a cultural city of little military significance.
The resulting firestorm was thought to have killed over 100,000 inhabitants. The German guard put him and the other POW’s to work gathering the dead bodies for mass burning.
He was liberated by Russian Army soldiers in May 1945.
His Books
Vonnegut’s first novel “Player Piano” was published in 1952.
“Cat’s Cradle”, his 4th novel published in 1963, introduced Ice-Nine, a fictitious polymorph of water that in any quantity has the power to destroy all life on earth.
His 1965 novel, “God Bless You Mr. Rosewater” introduced Kilgore Trout a character that later appears in his novels “Breakfast of Champions”, “Slaughter-house Five”, “Jailbird” and “Timequake”. Trout’s tombstone is inscribed,: “Life is no way to treat an animal”.
Vonnegut’s 1969 anti-war science-fiction masterpiece “Slaughter-house Five”, was largely based on his WWII experiences. It features the young POW Billy Pilgrim, the extraterrestrials from the planet Tranfalmadore and the now iconic phrase, “and so it goes”.
“Slaughter-house Five”, has been banned from many schools and libraries, however, the Vonnegut Memorial Library counters by offering free copies of the novel to effected students.
The 1973 novel “Breakfast of Champions”, features dozens of Vonnegut’s iconic drawings including and asterisk that is his rendering of an asshole. He later incorporated this asterisk mark as a part of his own signature.
Vonnegut’s fourteenth and final novel “Timequake” was published in 1997.
The Later Years
He was a heavy smoker, a habit he called “a classy way to commit suicide”. Per Vonnegut’s wishes, his image with a cigarette is not allowed in the licensing program.
Kurt Vonnegut died April 11, 2007, at the age of 84.
