Kurt Vonnegut, Jr
| Kurt Vonnegut | |
|---|---|
Vonnegut in 1972
|
|
| Born |
November 11, 1922 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | April 11, 2007 (aged 84) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | |
| Genre | |
| Literary movement | Postmodernism |
| Spouse | Jane Marie Cox (1945–1971; divorced) Jill Krementz (1979–2007; his death) |
| Children | 3 biological, including Mark and Edith; 4 adopted |
|
|
|
| Signature |  |
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (/kɜːrt ˈvɒnəɡət ˈdʒuːniər/; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer. In a career spanning over 50 years, Vonnegut published 14 novels, three short story collections, five plays, and five works of non-fiction. He is most famous for his darkly satirical, best-selling novel Slaughterhouse-Five (1969).
Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Vonnegut attended Cornell University, but dropped out in January 1943 and enlisted in the United States Army. As part of his training, he studied mechanical engineering at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) and the University of Tennessee. He was then deployed to Europe to fight in World War II, and was captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. He was interned in Dresden and survived the Allied bombing of the city by taking refuge in a meat locker of the slaughterhouse where he was imprisoned. After the war, Vonnegut married Jane Marie Cox, with whom he had three children. He later adopted his sister's three sons, after she died of cancer and her husband died in a train accident.
Vonnegut published his first novel, Player Piano, in 1952. The novel was reviewed positively, but was not commercially successful. In the nearly 20 years that followed, Vonnegut published several novels that were only marginally successful, such as Cat's Cradle (1963) and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1964). Vonnegut's magnum opus, however, was his immediately successful sixth novel, Slaughterhouse-Five. The book's antiwar sentiment resonated with its readers amidst the ongoing Vietnam War, and its reviews were generally positive. After its release, Slaughterhouse-Five went to the top of The New York Times Best Seller list, thrusting Vonnegut into fame. He was invited to give speeches, lectures, and commencement addresses around the country and received many awards and honors.
...
Wikipedia