Breaking Down Vonnegut

A practical guide to Vonnegut’s works for young adults, secondary, and college students

Kurt Vonnegut was a prolific American writer whose career spanned more than 50 years. Vonnegut’s world is a complex web. His books, short stories, and essays are among the gems of American literature, exploring themes of historical events and human limitations. Written for young adults through adulthood, the goal of Breaking Down Vonnegut is to relate essential facts about Kurt Vonnegut’s life and to address the themes underlying his imaginary worlds.

Breaking Down Vonnegut features an overview of Vonnegut’s life and an investigation of the midwestern values that were challenged by his imprisonment by the Nazis during his wartime military service. Those themes, often cloaked in science fiction, historical parallels, and social science conundrums, address the major questions of life: the values by which we choose to live.

Author Julia Whitehead is the founder and CEO of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in Indianapolis. Her ten years of experience leading the organization and learning about Vonnegut impelled her to share her knowledge and insight with fans and those new to Vonnegut’s life and work.

Breaking Down Vonnegut

• Showcases the multiple genres in Vonnegut’s world
• Provides a brief thematic tour through two of Vonnegut’s books and one short story
• Offers three chapters of biographical information
• Explains why Kurt Vonnegut will remain one of the great American voices heard around the world

This is the first book of its kind for middle and secondary students, and it will also delight educators, parents, and anyone interested in or studying Vonnegut’s life and work.

About the Author xi

About the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction xvii

Part I

Chapter One: There Was Always Someone to Talk with, to Play with, to Learn From 3

Part II

Chapter Two: I Look Sort of Starved 15

Part III

Chapter Three: Player Piano and a Trustworthy Prophet or Sharp-Eyed Satirist 29

Chapter Four: “Harrison Bergeron”: A Twist on David and Goliath for the Civil Rights Era 41

Chapter Five: Slaughterhouse-Five and a New Kind of Patriot 51

Part IV

Chapter Six: The True Measure of a Man 67

Chapter Seven: Why Study Vonnegut? 79

Notes 89

Index 95

JULIA A. WHITEHEAD, an award-winning entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in Indianapolis and owner of the communications consulting firm Random Harvest Group. Whitehead is a recognized expert and lecturer on the life and works of Kurt Vonnegut.

Rediscover the work of Kurt Vonnegut with this practical guide

“Reading Kurt Vonnegut’s books in high school English classes helped spark my love of reading.”

—JOHN GREEN, author of The Fault in Our Stars and The Anthropocene Reviewed

In Breaking Down Vonnegut, the founder and CEO of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library delivers a concise and insightful treatment of the essential themes underlying Vonnegut’s imaginary worlds. Cloaked in science fiction, historical parallels, and social science conundrums, those themes address the major questions of life and the values by which we choose to live.

The book tackles the views of Vonnegut’s critics and explains why the author remains one of the great American voices heard and read around the world.

Perfect for middle and high school students studying Vonnegut’s work, Breaking Down Vonnegut will also earn a place in the libraries of educators, parents, and casual readers with an interest in better understanding the work of one of the United States’ most fascinating writers.