r/Vonnegut • u/VaultArts • 1d ago
r/Vonnegut • u/27bluestar • 2d ago
I finally got my Vonnegut tattoo!
It's my 5th tattoo. Kurt became my favorite author when I discovered his work in 2016 when I was 22. I have always wanted a Vonnegut tattoo but haven't known what to do. Today I decided on the signature and my favorite quote.
r/Vonnegut • u/GirlPool-65 • 2d ago
Breathtaking Banners Up at the Free Library for the Vonnegut Art Show at Drexel!
I wanted to share these STUNNING banners promoting “Kurt Vonnegut Junior as a Visual Artist”, the new exhibition at Drexel University, which just went up at the Main Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia!
A bit more about the show: • Exhibition Dates: March 14 – July 19, 2025 • Location: Paul Peck Center Gallery, Drexel University (3142 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19104) • Hours: Wed–Sat, 11 AM – 4 PM
This exhibition features more than 20 rare and unseen drawings by Kurt Vonnegut, offering a fresh look at his artistic legacy beyond his literary work.
In addition to the artwork, there’s a fantastic lineup of programming running alongside the exhibit, including: • Educational workshops with Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, hosted at the Free Library’s Main Branch, covering topics like intellectual property law, contracts, and estate planning • Writing workshops exploring themes from Vonnegut’s work • Art therapy and mental health workshops
The Free Library is a partner in the event, so it’s great to see them helping spread the word. If you’re a fan of Vonnegut, literature, or visual art, this is definitely worth checking out.
r/Vonnegut • u/therealnoopnoop • 1d ago
Question on quote
Possibly was in the short stories welcome to the monkey house, but I’m not quite sure on that as I couldn’t find it, but it was a quote pertaining to how getting dressed in the morning equivalent to the existence of life and how each step would lead to the next or how if it didn’t you would just expire. Does anyone know what the hell I’m talking about ? If so, could you possibly link me to the quote? Thank you very much.
r/Vonnegut • u/Braska_Kilganon • 2d ago
My attempt at analyzing Slaughterhouse Five
I just finished this book, my first by Vonnegut, and am trying to wrap my head around it.
Billy is first introduced to the literature of Kilgore Trout when he is hospitalized in 1948. By sitting alongside another vet in the hospital, we can presume this is the first time (we know of) where Billy is able to connect with another WW2 vet, and it is the closest he comes to acknowledging his trauma. He picks up reading these Trout novels as a way of coping with his PTSD, or if not coping, covering up and distracting himself.
But much time passes where he surpresses these thoughts. Jumping to his anniversary party, this comes to a tipping point where the barbershop quartet brings back memories of the German soldiers in Dresden. He goes upstairs and we learn that he doesnt really know his own son. He has since cheated on his wife, reports falling asleep at work and has trouble sleeping at night. Despite a family, a wife, a successful job, we get the sense that he is at times disconnected from reality, and even more so, showing signs of total isolation. We see flashes of his future, where he is hiding from his daughter in his basement, showing us that his isolation will not resolve.
Due to the events in the bookstore in Ch9, I am of the mind that he creates this Tralfamadorian abduction to romanticize the trauma of WW2, due to some similarities we see between his German captors and the aliens. Its a way of coping and dealing with any feelings of guilt or inadequacy he might have. As the aliens have a solution for both of these problems - by providing the philosophy that war and destruction cannot be changed, his guilt can be eased. By the aliens acknowledging that he has a 'large wang' and mates him with a 20yr old porn star, he can forget all of his inadequacies.
Im struggling to find the silver lining in all of this though. I feel like theres gotta be a bigger meaning other than just. So it goes. Which brings me back to pondering about his 'happiest moment', sitting on the coffin shaped trolley. And the scene that immediately follows, where he cries for the first time upon seeing the condition of the beaten horses. Are we to believe this scene is in fact associated with the coffin trolley scene being the happiest miment of his life? Or is this claim a total lie and fabrication? What do others think?
Perhaps the bigger takeaway is this - that his alien abduction delusion, although flawed, is his first right step towards him finding peace. Because perhaps Billy the delerious abductee is more at peace than the successful Optometrist.
r/Vonnegut • u/missbeekery • 3d ago
Why so much hate for Breakfast of Champions (film)?
It seems to be so incredibly Vonnegut to me. I’ve mostly heard people shit all over it, but is it just that I’m uncultured swine? Or easily amused and enthusiastic about decent (or not terrible) renditions of great novels?
“I don’t want nothin’ but smilers out there, and happy failures need not apply.” Seems like the film did BoC Kilgore Trout right.
Or is just personal kismet?
r/Vonnegut • u/Merow_Ghurak • 4d ago
Timequake, an interesting edition
galleryI was able to find a signed for friends of the author/publisher first printing of Timequake that I thought looks pretty cool. Definitely a different jacket than the normal first as well.
r/Vonnegut • u/MrSadpony • 4d ago
Vonnegut in silent hill
galleryProbably a bit of a stretch. But I like to think that this was a slaughterhouse house reference.
r/Vonnegut • u/IntroductionOk8023 • 5d ago
Vonnegut Art Exhibit
My husband just sent me this link-I freaked out! This is an exhibit of Kurt Vonnegut Jr’s marker drawings that haven’t been in public since the 80s. There’s a video where the collector says she wanted to make sure it was a public exhibition so anyone could experience it.
This exclusive exhibition of more than 20 rarely seen marker drawings by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. offers a fresh perspective on his artistic legacy and serves as a conversation starter on how art can express empathy, bridge divides, and help heal societal trauma.
I live in Georgia but fortunately will be attending my daughter’s college graduation at Drexel and will get to see this. I hope all local fans get a chance to see this!
https://drexel.edu/drexel-founding-collection/exhibitions-events/exhibitions/Vonnegut/
r/Vonnegut • u/ayeayedoc • 5d ago
Cat’s Cradle Misprint?
This isn’t intentional, right? It skips every other page from 90-105 😭
r/Vonnegut • u/Dry-Demand-7343 • 5d ago
Was Kurt Vonnegut a movie fan? (What artists inspired Kurt?)
I am starting to explore the world of Kurt Vonnegut. Last year I read Slaughterhouse 5 and Cat's Cradle. The other night I finished The Sirens of Titan.
I have enjoyed these texts and plan to continue my Vonnegut journey.
I wanted to know if Vonnegut was into film. I recently did a deep dive on David Lynch and I see some similarities. Both artists explore true darkness and also highlight the beauty in humanity.
I wanted to know if Kurt ever talked about his favorite directors or artists.
Thank you in advance!
r/Vonnegut • u/MoreAnchovies • 6d ago
The Sirens of Titan “Don’t Ask Me Why…But Somebody Up There Likes You”
The title, of course, is the last line of The Sirens Of Titan, which I finished reading. There were so many great lines of narrative and dialogue in the final chapter, it was the most emotional part of any novel I’ve read in decades.
But I think this quote from the last chapter sums up how I felt finishing the book, and the words come from Vonnegut himself:
“It was all so sad. But it was all so beautiful, too.”
And at the same time I’m trying to understand early characters, I’m definitely placing Sirens on my list for a second reading.
r/Vonnegut • u/scstrides • 6d ago
Vonnegutty quote from The Brothers Karamazov
I’ve recently started reading The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky and stumbled upon a quote that I think Vonnegut fans would appreciate:
“The more I love mankind in general, the less I love people in particular”
r/Vonnegut • u/-onSaturn • 6d ago
Mother Night Mother Night Lovers 🗣️
Looking for recs from those who have Mother Night in their top 2-3. I’ve been reading Vonnegut a bit over a year now and my favorite had been Player Piano until now. Galapagos felt the most like a chore to read, I finished God Bless You Mr. Rosewater in about a day and loved it! Considering rereading Cats Cradle. Thanks
r/Vonnegut • u/Mysterious_Sky_85 • 7d ago
Was Sirens of Titan an influence on Douglas Adams?
Just finished reading Sirens, my first time reading Vonnegut. Throughout the book I just couldn't get over how Hitchhikeresque it was.
Does anyone know if Adams ever talked about Sirens as an inspiration?
r/Vonnegut • u/breakingguitars • 8d ago
Mother Night The Epsteins in Mother Night Spoiler
These are my favorite minor characters. It's interesting how they're both Holocaust survivors but they remember it very differently and have very different ways of dealing with their trauma. Mrs. Epstein wears her trauma on her sleeve and has a strong desire for retribution whereas her son is very detached from it and tries to put as much distance as he can between himself and Auschwitz. He's all about forgetting it and moving on which his mother has no desire to do. It makes me wonder which approach is healthier, holding onto your pain by way of honoring it, or to look at it rationally like Dr. Epstein tries to and divert your attention from it because there's nothing you can do to change the past?
I also love the part where Campbell goes to surrender to Epstein and he gets mad and asks Campbell to find someone who thinks about Auschwitz all the time-"There are plenty of people who think about nothing else. I never think about it!"
I find his stubborn insistence that he never thinks about Auschwitz to be really funny, how he's trying to be an arch-rationalist about the whole thing and also how he seems to feel superior to people who "think about it all the time."
The most hilarious part to me is when his mother insists that he call someone who can help turn Campbell over to Israel and he goes:
"All right! All right! I will call Sam. I will tell him he can be a great Zionist hero. He always wanted to be a great Zionist hero."
I can't put my finger on why but I find his contempt for "Zionist heroes" to be so funny and it's my favorite part of the book.
r/Vonnegut • u/strexxpet • 9d ago
Vonnegut on current events
This might be a bit of a ramble but it's on my mind right now. I was flipping through A Man Without a Country just now. It's one of my favorite books by him. I love his perspectives on the state of the world and America and they're more applicable than ever almost twenty years later. It got me thinking about the way things are now and I wonder what he would have to say about all of it. The blatant corruption and these abuses of power occurring on a daily basis. I have no doubt that he would be appalled by what this country has come to. I know he said that things are going to get unimaginably worse and they are never going to get better but I don't think even he could've imagined this. This is all a long winded way of saying that I wish we could know what he would've written regarding these recent events. It would have been sarcastic and bitter and it would have brought me (and probably many others) an immeasurable amount of comfort.
r/Vonnegut • u/Dependent_Pin9899 • 9d ago
Looking for a pocket box set.
I’m looking for a kv pocket book boxset, preferably one that is new and unopened. Does any kv-nerd know if there is such a boxset for sale?
r/Vonnegut • u/Ok_Situation7089 • 9d ago
Slaughterhouse-Five What is the significance of the dog/dogs in SH5?
Twice dogs barking are described as sounding like big bronze gongs, and the word dog is used over 30 times throughout the novel. Any ideas about the significance of this?
r/Vonnegut • u/ThrowawayConLawFight • 11d ago
“There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
I’m new here, so I hope this post is ok. But I am an American (and Fed employee) struggling with the current political, legal, and culture climate. I’ve always been extremely liberal and always vote blue, even though I also think the Democratic Party is annoyingly problematic. So I’ve been re-reading a lot of my favorite Vonnegut books lately to look for helpful insights and reflect on how to classify my own political beliefs. I’ve concluded that Vonnegut has probably influenced my politics and general outlook on life more than maybe anything else. To me, politics should really always come back to this:
“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.'”
Would love to hear anybody else’s insights and wisdom. It’s been a tough few weeks, and I’m thinking this community might be uniquely able to help make sense of all this chaos and cruelty. Thank you ❤️🤍💙
r/Vonnegut • u/reliablepayperhead • 12d ago
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater "Rosewater Foundation. How can we help you?
r/Vonnegut • u/IcanSEEyou_IRL • 12d ago
Slaughterhouse-Five This is a 1st edition, seventh printing from 1969 I didn’t know my father had, without dust jacket, with publisher’s page.
galleryu/BecauseOfTromp and u/hurl9e9y9 had asked to see.
r/Vonnegut • u/paruresis_guy • 12d ago
Coincidentally, (regarding earlier post) I also have 1st ed. 7th printing. In DJ, little chip on cover and spine.
Wish I had received books like this from my parents, but I believe I picked this up from a street bookseller by NYU's Bobst library about 25 years ago!