I don't remember how many times I read Slaughter House Five or how many times I watched the movie. Both are should be considered great American Works of Art!!! Too bad, he will be missed.

I had never met Kurt but have read many of his books. My favorite "Cats Craddle". I have bought many copies of that book lending them to friends to read. The world will be less without someone like him.

Thank you Mr. Vonnegut - you got me through some tough times in my life. Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, Bluebeard, Hocus-Pocus, Palm Sunday, Breakfast of Champions, Welcome to the Monkey-House, Timequake - all brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!

Again, thank you. I knew this day would come sooner or later - you have left an indelible mark on me and others forever! Long live Kilgore Trout!

The only author I read for fun.

Kurt Vonnegut quite simply changed my life through his writing. I'll never forget reading The Sirens of Titan about 12 years ago at the start of college which quite humorously and profoundly altered my world view in just the last 20 pages!

He was the kind of writer that wrote as if he were telling you a story in the room with you but could convey humanity in ways that are rarely as clear in literature.

I remember discovering Vonnegut's novels in high school and being totally blown away by his commentary, stories and the reflections they caused within me. I got the opportunity a couple of years later to attend a lecture and writing workshop he conducted through the Boston Center for Adult Education and it met all of my expectations - his commentary was witty and on-target, his speech engaging and he took a break halfway through to go outside and smoke some cigarrettes. Cheers to Kurt and may future generations enjoy and intellectually profit from his work!

The world is more, because we had him as long as we did.

I don't know exactly where he lived in Manhattan, but I saw him a lot in my eastside neighborhood, especially on weekends as I ran my errands. I actually saw him last just a few weeks ago, probably in the days preceding his fall at home.

My favorite Vonnegut moment though was his appearance in the Dangerfield movie "Back To School" where he played himself and wrote a paper for Rodney on his own books, and the paper got a failing grade.

Kurt Vonnegut embraced his distaste for idiocy by crafting a mirror of words and holding it to our faces, showing us just how beautiful and pathetic we all are.

Thank you sir, and good night.

Mr. Vonnegut's works turned me to reading as a high school student. Breakfast of Champions was the first good that I can say I enjoyed, his other writings lead me to further search other authors and the views they gave to the world.

I had the pleasure to run into Mr. Vonnegut on a visit he had to Iowa City. My meeting was pleasant, yet distant, "so it goes"! We can only hope that someone will take his lead, keeping that realist view of the world alive!

Vonnegut novels got me through some incredibly difficult times in my life. His sometimes absurd take on the world was enlightening a often hilarious. I have been saving "Fates Worse than Death" for this very day. I will now sit down with a hot coffee and begin reading it, while the rest of the world can take a "flying f*** at a rolling donut".

Thank you Mr. Vonnegut!

Thanks for the words Kurt. Farewell....

A great American icon is gone. RIP, Mr. Vonnegut.

This should get a laugh from those who truly know Vonnegut:

"Kurt is in Heaven now."

You were a genius who changed my life. I will miss reading your views.

So it goes...

My mom handed me her collection of Kurt Vonnegut books when I started highschool. I had never read anything like that, and to this day nothing can compare. I keep "Welcome to the Monkey House" close by so that I can re-read it at my leisure. His wit, creativity and cynicism will be immortalized on the pages of his books. I'm happy to have been introduced to such an incredible storyteller.

I first read Vonnegut while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer on an island off the coast of Africa. To be in such an environment and to be able to read books such as Mother Night, Cat's Cradle, and Slaughterhouse Five was an experience second to none. His books never failed to make me laugh and think. Cheers, Mr. Vonnegut.

God bless you Kurt Vonnegut.

I will always remember reading Breakfast of Champions in high school. Your satire and black humor was pure poetry. You will be missed.

Long live the pinball wizard of cosmic cool.

He enligthened the world in the 1960's and he enligthened it 2007. His comments and writings were just as insightful and humorous now as then. The 19th century had Mark Twain, we had Vonnegut. He's gone but his words and ideas are still here for us.
So it goes.

I never got to meet him-- I wish I had. That would have meant so much to me. I read his books at a critical time in my early adolescence and I've always appreciated the way his worldview influenced my perspective. RIP Kurt, I will miss you dearly.

i was first introduced to vonnegut while serving in the u.s. navy during a 7-month combat deployment to the arabian gulf in support of operation iraqi freedom. i was stationed aboard an aircraft carrier - now decom'd. seems "cat's cradle" had been passed sailor to sailor until it wound up in my hands. i devoured it in a single night following a 16-hour work shift in the ship's recycling center - "pulper watch" they called it. i stunk, but i skipped the shower and stayed with the novel until it cut into my next shift. when i finally flipped the last page, i knew i wanted to be a writer. i've taken up the craft and will keep the rules as outlined in bagombo snuff box close at hand. i've also printed a picture of the man and hung over my computer monitor in honor of his passing. i will keep the officers who like to congregate near my desk from throwing darts at it. thanks vonn.

I was fortunate enough to meet Vonnegut at a lecture in 1992. He was very gracious and signed a copy of Slaughterhouse Five for me. When I told him he was like a hero to me, he made a bit of a sarcastic retort. At the time I was a little surprised, but in hindsight it was classic Vonnegut.

We had to read a classic book in high school and I chose Cat's Cradle since it was one of the few books I hadn't already seen in movie form. It was truly fantastic and I believe helped shape a lot of my views on the world.

He was a true original that will be missed.

I grew up in the 60-70's. He was my Hero. There will never be a writer like him. Ho-Hum So it goes :(

He was always on my list of "People to Have Dinner With" which included Mark Twain and Einstein. All three were grounded and moral men with an eloquence that filled my heart knowing that someone can see the world from beginning to end in time and space and still lfind something to love about it. Or maybe it was the hair.

May we all remebr to thumb our nose at God every once in a while.

I've been trying to quit cigarettes, using "the patch", lately. I read that Mr. Vonnegut died today...

I smoked a Pall Mall for Kurt.

So it goes.

"everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt,"
what a loss for the world

So it goes.

Soft pipes, play on.

And farewell to the skeptic who was the single greatest influence on my Christian faith.

The first book I read in my freshman year of highschool, that wasn't required, was Breakfast of Champions, given to me by my brother Shawn. I fell hard for Mr. Vonnegut after reading that book. Such a great funny book. So good in fact, that I gave my son my copy when he was in 8th grade. He also became a fan. My heartfelt condolences to his wife and children.

With Kurt's death, the world has lost a great champion of compassion, wit, and free-thought. His powerful novels held a magnifying glass to our faults, enlarging them for all to see, but they did so with grace, humor, and deceptive simplicity. Although I never had the good fortune to meet him, or here him speak, I feel a real sense of loss now. And I have no doubt that he would find that perfectly ridiculous.

I figured out I was an agnostic when I was 14 years old. It was pretty unsettling after an intensely Catholic childhood.

It was the same year I discovered Vonnegut. His books convinced me I was going to be okay. There might not be a heaven, but I could still have a moral framework. It could be enough to care about other human beings. That could be a life worth living.

I keep a framed picture of Mr. Vonnegut in my classroom these days so I remember, and my students know, if you let them, books can change your life.

Listen: Billy Pilgrim has now come unstuck in time for eternity...so it goes...

He help me learn to think, to question, to wonder, to doubt, to laugh at the absurd, to cry at the absurd. Today I'll cry, tommorrow I'll reread one of his books and laugh and cry all over again.

*
I moved to NYC a year ago. I planned on somehow tracking him down, just to say hello, to thank him. no autograph, nothing but a simple thank you. I guess I must have thought he'd live forever because I never got around to it. His work has forver changed my life for the better. There will never be another like him.
*

I stumbled upon Kurt in high school - reading a literature book for a class I was not in. Harrison Bergeron was the first story I read and from that point was hooked. If it weren't for books like Sirens of Titan, I would have stopped my writing years ago. Thank you Mr. Vonnegut, you will be missed.

The first book of his that I read was Sirens of Titan. I was promptly enthralled in his writings, not always sure of what he was telling me, but always knowing that I was reading something incredible.
In my moderate Kurt Vonnegut obsession, I used to idly day-dream about being wife no. 3.
What an amazing, absurdly wonderful man.
The world will miss him, but so it goes...

Mr. Vonnegut, I will abstain from using the semi-colon for a full year in gratitude of your wonderful works.

Vonnegut is this generation's mark Twain. He will be sorely missed.

I think that Vonnegut's book of short stories, "Welcome to the Monkey House," displays his humanitarian side most profoundly. Also the stories are incredibly funny!

Mr. Vonnegut wrote an "afterword" to Marlo Thomas' book, "Free to Be," saying that, if he could, he would give every child the gift of cultural relativity. This was one of the most profound and insightful little paragraphs I have ever read. He did his part. In a xenophobic nation where only 11% of the population holds a passport, I wish we were doing more.

I have always LOVED Kurt Vonnegut since I was in junior high(1992-1993). The first book I read of his was Breakfast of Champions, and I was hooked. We have lost an amazing author who contributed to the literature of this past century like no other author.
Kurt will be deeply missed by not only me, but fans worldwide.
I had a chance to see him speak a few months ago at Butler University in Indianapolis, but it was sold out.
Kurt, I will miss you.

I didn't want to shed tears because it'd go against all "Slaughter House..." stands for but I couln't help it. He's in a bad state now.

Please leave this (world) as tidy as you found it.

I am now and shall always be a Bokononist.

Kurt got me through High School with his amazing and profound verse uncanny sense of humanity. One of a kind. The world has lost a great human being.

"hello, goodbye"

Thanks Kurt

So it goes.

I can't say that I grieve his death. He lived long and further was one of a school of people who understand and accept the path of life. And I imagine he wouldn't want our grief. But I cannot imagine my life without him. In the crazy era I was born into (the 1980s), his voice was observant and thoughtful. He was a rare individual who understood what humanity could be and what it is. Though he could be thought of as a mocking satirist, this hid one of the most essentially hopeful and visionary writers of this time. The hope from me is that the living do not feel we lost something today. Instead, I hope that we heed his messages and build a world less deserving of cynicism.

I am a sad panda. He was my favorite author because of the way he wrote and mainly the stories about marching band that he had published in Bagambo Snuff Box. It was my first and favorite of his books and I am sad to know that there will be no more works by him. I just finished Slaughterhouse-Five in my Literature class and loved it. So with that said I say unto Kurt Vonnegut... So it goes.

Through high school, in the 70's, I was introduced to Kurt Vonnegut books and got hooked. During the past 61/2 years, I wanted to catch up with him to tell him that at 43years old, I surprisingly had my first child, a boy. I named him Kurt, in Kurt Vonnegut's honor. RIP Mr. Vonnegut. We'll see you later.

I discovered Kurt Vonnegut's books during library prep time for spring exam finals, during my sophomore year in college...1972.

I read Cat's Cradle and couldn't believe I had "discovered" such a fantastic writer. My daily marathon of hours in the library study carrel were consumed by reading the stack of Vonnegut novels I kept piled high and just kept plowing through.

While my terribly earnest class and college mates were burning out brain cells devouring textbooks and study notes, I abandoned every excellent study habit I'd exercised for the previous 14 years of my education -- to completely immerse in the world according to Vonnegut.

I laughed out loud and cried...all in the same silent and grim college library in exams week. I was amazed and sobered and heartened..and changed. Kurt Vonnegut was a hero of mine..and he always will be. May future generations come to read him always.

I read my first Vonnegut book at 13. I haven't found an author that really altered my world view in such a way ever since. Makes me sad.

Thank You Mr Vonnegut for all of your creative writings. Your books took reality, and turned it inside out,sometimes outragous to the point of caricaturization. And then as yoiu took me on a ride to the pinnacle of of existance to the depths of dispair you neatly put everything back together again as if to remind me it was only fiction, or was it ? You will be missed.

Mr. Vonnegut was, no, IS, the most influential fiction writer in my life. I remember vividly the first time a friend handed me Slaughterhouse Five. It was literally like someone slipped me a mind altering drug. Before, I had "squat and doodlely." After, I never saw things the same. My concept of what modern lit. could be was forever changed, thankfully. I will continue to celebrate his genius as I am sure all who are in on the joke will. Indeed, "So it goes."

I first got into vonnegut when I was a rebelious young teen feeling as though i was out of place in society, that with everyone in my high school acting the same and dressing the same I did not belong. My legaly blind english teacher who I credit with giving me direction, recomended "Slaughterhouse Five" and only after reading it did I realize that not only did I have a place in the world but that an act of rebelion (such as writing and anti-war book about WWII during veitnam) could in itself be an act of humanity. years later when I was looking at a used bookshop in madison I found a worn autographed copy of "cat's cradle" and another of "mother night". I wanted to be a writer because of this man and mourn all the stories he had yet to tell that are now silent.

When I was a kid I would go into our garage and look through my Dad's books. There were thousands of books out there. We didn't have much storage in the house and there were tons of shelves in the garage. Where other fathers would have had tools, mine had crusty paperbacks, national geographics, old atlases, etc. I kept returning to my father's copy of 'Breakfast of Champions' because it confused me. I thought it was a dirty book. I'd leaf through it, both freaked out and intrigued by Vonnegut's perverse little drawings. I didn't really understand.

Years later I was an angsty teen. Books like Fahrenheit 451 and Vonnegut's short-story Harrison Bergeron shaped my political views, my notions of right and wrong and the rights of man. There was something compelling in his satires. The tragedy and hopelessness exist just below the surface of the "ironic detachment'". Reading them again in college, I understood what attracted me years ago in the garage. He was a visionary humanist; someone able and willing to expose humanity's flaws so that we could better understand ourselves and, hopefully, avoid making the same mistakes ad nauseum.

Well, I won't wax intellectual any longer, I'll just miss the guy.

I remember "Slaughterhouse Five being banned at our school, but my mother had a copy and she encouraged me to read it. I have had a love of reading ever since. Thank You Mr. Vonnegut.

As a historian, Kurt Vonnegut was the only fiction writer I've ever read. His books are so creative, yet so realistic. Vonnegut is a great author who should have had so much more commercial success, but those of us who have read and enjoyed his works will forever be happy to have discovered him.

I never got to meet or hear Vonnegut speak in person, but Mother Night is my favorite of his works and the movie luckily has an extra with a interview with him and Nick Nolte. That interview showed what an interesting person he must have been.

Thanks for the writings Kurt...we are better off for having them.

"Kurt is in heaven now," he would say.

And this also: "Enough! Enough!"

Over the course of my 38 years, I have read everything this man wrote -- much of it multiple times -- and I've preached about him to all of my more literate friends and neighbours. Today, one of those friends informed me of this sad news. Tomorrow, I shall double my efforts, and spread the words of this amazing writer even more...

I know you weren't much of a religious man, KV, but Godspeed, all the same.

My father met the Man at a hot dog stand in Manorville, Long Island. He approached (a move very unlike my father) and said, "I'm sorry to bother you, I just wanted to say hello and thank you. I've read every word you've ever written." Kurt replied... "I'm so sorry."

I will aways have a perception of the 2nd World War mixed with Science Fiction and my formal need to question authority backed by the amazing writer Kurt Vonnegut. He is another one of my teleological friends who insured I knew that anything was possible, even me.

I just discovered Mr. Vonnegut and his writing. I am hooked. I read two of his books while on a flight and am currently reading Hocus Pocus. It is sad he is gone. He will be missed.

I met Kurt and his wife once at a film opening/dinner party - they just sat down at our table and we had a great time talking. His wife was convinced I was Ethan Hawke, even though I don't look anything like him. Despite my protests, she insisted I was Ethan and was just being modest. Kurt had written a great piece for Harpers a few years prior, and I told him how good it was, and how it was still posted on my fridge. He turned to me and said, "You know, you're the first person to ever talk to me about that piece. I really enjoyed writing it." We were fast friends after that, and his wife invited me to their house for dinner, but I never went, because I'm really not Ethan Hawke.

Vonnegut has, does, and will forever make me value every moment of my life. His satire and black humor has influenced me more than I can ever describe.

"If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."

God Bless You Mr. Vonnegut.

So it goes.

A great human and a great humanist.

We already miss you Kurt.

PS - Whoever bought the film rights from Robert B. Weide, please make The Sirens of Titan film. The world needs more Vonnegut.

Kurt, Thanks for "Breakfast of Champions" - What that did for me in High School and ever after is so hard to diminish. Im better for having read it. And as I shall never forget one of my ever favorite short stories of all time (Harrison Bergeron), I shall not forget you...

Kurt Vonnegut is dead...so it goes.

There are three authors that aspiring young writers, free-thinkers, moral mavericks and wishful cynics should immediately arm themselves with. Hunter Thompson is one, H.L. Mencken another, and lastly, but not least, is Kurt Vonnegut Jr. He was a beautiful genius with a beautiful head of hair and his words were always arranged in a vast spectrum of color, contemplation and wicked humor. What else can be said?

Like many of you (as it seems I'm a member of a club I never knew I was a part of) my life seemed forever changed after my first encounter with Vonnegut's works, Harrison Bergeron, in my Junior High days. It makes me laugh to read these memories of him all peppered with his own words. I wonder how many of us at 13 and 14 wrote him imaginary letters asking him to be "President of the Universe".
There will never be a man like him again, I am so saddened that I cannot think of one person worthy to be his "successor" of sorts...another voice of reason. And I am truly sad because I feel like with his passing we are missing a very important and needed voice int his world.

He was a cultural icon in the best kind of way. He was unpretentious, made his contributions, and always quietly bowed out. He was the last of a long line of great, American writers. There won't be anymore like him ever again. It's a sad day for Art. It's an irreplaceable loss in the struggle to navigate our ever-slipping humanity. -- The whole world has lost one of its smartest, kindest friends. - Kurt Vonnegut should be remembered and celebrated until the last of us dies out.

God Bless You, Jill.
The world is at your doorstep.

Kurt is up in heaven now. (See Timequake, chapter 21)

He shall be missed.

I was obsessed...his books changed my life. As someone who suffers from depression, he showed me that I can accomplish anything. My favorite writer died yesterday, and I don't think there will ever be anyone else like him.

I am happy to see others refer to Kurt Vonnegut in the same light as Mark Twain, those Great American Writers that have gotten under our skin and into our souls. I saw him speak at the University of Iowa years ago and knew then that he would have a huge impact on my life and those of my peers. I will never forget Billy Pilgrim and his becoming unstuck in time, the devastation of Dresden, and that wild movie made from this book. I have read many of his other works but visions of this one remain in my head, and pop in from time to time to remind me about time and its elasticity. So it goes. May he Rest In Peace.

"You think the Ancient Romans were so smart? Look at how stupid thier numbers were.
One theory of why they were declined and fell is that their plumbing was lead.
The root of our woord plumbing is plumbum, the Latin word for lead. Lead poisoning
makes people stupid and lazy. Whats your excuse" KV TimeQuake

You gotta love someone who creates a word, "chronosynclastic infundibulum", where "...all the different kinds of truths fit together" (Sirens of Titan). One of the best for sure.

i read welcome to the monkey house in high school, a dark dark time. it comforted me, and i read some of his other work, slaughterhouse 5 and cat's cradle, galapagos... he put such good things in the world, such a gentleness in the face of cruelty and insanity, but such fight, too... i'm so grateful he lived...

I discovered a dusty copy of Slaughter House Five three years ago in a used book store for two dollars. I Read it in one night, in a flurry of self realization, that led me towards another pathway in life that has steered my thinking and led to some great sarcastically appreciative feelings for the world. He is and will always be a true poet to me, he who can see the simplicity to it all, to break things down into all its malfunctioning components and serve it to those willing to swallow. He is a good man, I like him.

The proudest moment in my life was when my editor said that my writing was a combination of Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut.

Now they are both gone...

Oh, Kurt Vonnegut. Where do I start? You made me laugh, cry, think, dream, "and so on." I looked at everything from a different perpective after reading each and every one of your works.

Truly, one of the most influential artists of our time has left, but he has left us with a huge part of his soul that will never die.

I've written a song in honor of his memory you can hear @ http://www.russellsilva.com/Russell Silva - Another World.mp3 . Please download and share if you like. God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut...

Kurt was a man we should all try to emulate. The world would be a better place if even a few of us tried to be like him.

The only books I ever read for English class in high school were by Vonnegut.

Unstuck in time at last. We will never forget you, Mr. Vonnegut. You are a hero to an entire generation.

thanks for everything Kurt. You were a good citizen and human being.

Having gotten hooked on Vonnegut back in high school in the early 70's , it is with great pleasure that I discuss his incredible body of work with my own high school aged children today. To re-experience the thrill of discovering his insghtful view of the world along side of them has been a wonderful experience. I was lucky enough to meet him on several occasions in the early 80's, sitting on the wall outside of CitiCorp Center here in NY discussing his characters and his take on an aray of subjects, and he was always kind and humble and funny, and always seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say (not that I had anything to say). Too bad my own kids won't get to have that experience now. Oh, well. Time to re-read Slaughter-House Five. Peace Kurt.

I've read every book twice. I wish he could've squeezed out one more. Sadly:

So it goes...

I met Mr. Vonnegut in the late '70's when he visited the University of N. Iowa and I had the pleasure of interviewing him for the school newspaper. Two years later, when looking for a job in Manhattan, I bumped into him on the street and re-introduced myself to him. He gave me his home phone number, gave me his address (in the Turtle Bay section of Manhattan--"no turtles, no bay" as he once said) and said if I needed anything i should call him. I needed plenty, but left him alone. I saw him on The Daily Show not too long ago and he looked tired but sharp. I was a Vonnegut junkie in college and I will miss him.

Goddamn, a hell of a human being. He deserves more than any platitudes I can say now.

So it goes.

In a world of cheap imitations, he was a true original. His works could make you smile, hurt, and most of all, think. He was, like his works, beyond
classification, and completely unforgetable.

Gosh, Kurt is gone...

I remember when I was a kid reading breakfast of champions and laughing at his pictures and the weirdness of the book -- I thought it could be more than fiction, that somewhere in the world someone was living out that sort of existence. Obviously being a kid at the time and with little world knowledge and life experience, I did not have enough holes filled in to realize just -- maybe not. But the impact of and impression upon me by that book was gainormous.

Life is nothing but a cycle of experience, history and humanity. I'm glad it was Kurt who got those wheels turning, otherwise I would have remained a tree-climbing vegetable.

The life of a man is messured by his heart and his experiences, both of which were more than most in Mr. Vonnegut's case. I treasured reading Vonnegut's insight on this beautiful tragedy of a country. He will be missed by many. Me being one of them. I shed my tears to him....

So it goes

Kurt Vonnegut is dead.

They need to make an emoticon for grieving -- for the day when your hero dies. Even though you suspect he was happy about going it doesn't make it any less hard to live in a world without him.

They just put up a banner on MSN and it drops on you, like a storm, like the end. A great man has died.

If you could open up my brain and map it, you would find "Slaughterhouse-five" and "Grace" by Jeff Buckley. I read Slaughterhouse when I was 11. Not the kind of age where you should read that type of thing. It left me permanently scarred -- thank god.

I had this stupid hope he was immortal. He was too massively humane to die, too much of the best and worst of what we are. Isn't that silly? Every year went by and he was still alive, still full of mustard gas, roses and the most amazing words. I thought, "I should get used to the idea of him leaving but not yet. Not. Yet."

Part of my reason for wanting to be a writer was the hope one day I would be invited to some silly, swanky literary party and he would be there. I could tell people I'd been in the same room as Kurt Vonnegut. Not that I would speak to him, of course.

I will miss him -- that suicidal, crazy, brilliant, unbelievably ballsy bastard.

May everything be beautiful and nothing hurt, old man.

"Slaughter-House Five" was the first book I truly loved...I'm an English major, and ironically, I don't think any book has fit me quite like that one since I read it in high school...and the birds say "poo-tee-weet!"

so it goes.

I don't believe I would have made it through high school without him. Had the good fortune of seeing him and Howard Zinn speak last year.

God bless you Mr. Vonnegut...

Probably the Funniest Stuff I've Ever Read. Thanks, Kurt

I have never laugh or cry when reading other authors as I do when reading Vonnegut. He's one of the few people, in my book at least, that really had something to say.

I believe Kurt was right when he said "We were put on this Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different." Wherever he is , I hope he can still fart around.

A sad day... Thanks for the words, Kurt, and RIP.

The excrement has hit the air conditioner, and I have to laugh like hell.

Thanks for your honesty and effort Kurt. You've made life easier for a lot of people, and we're all sad you're no long here to share it with us, whatever it is.

Wow, how bittersweet. One of a few authors how whole catalog I devoured. Made me laugh and cry at the same time. I hope that our vision of the future of humanity is brighter than his, and that we read and reread all Vonnegut to learn lesson about what we are capable of.

I believe one of my biggest regrets in this life was that I never was able to meet one of the very last noteworthy authors left of the twentieth century. Kurt Vonnegut changed my life and paved ways to wide, open doors of thinking.

Kurt Vonnegut was and is my favorite author. There is no other author who has been so influential on my own work, and while I'm saddened by this loss to the world, I am overjoyed that so many of his thoughts remain in the little books on my shelf. He was prolific, and we are fortunate for that. We are also fortunate that while he may not have always been happy, he was kind, and he expected that same kindness from others. A cynic is only a disappointed idealist, and that was Kurt Vonnegut. Thanks for everything, Mr. Vonnegut. I'll miss you.

I never read until i was told I could not read Slaughterhouse 5 in high school. Now, I am a literature teacher. I'm sure that Kurt would appreciate the irony of the fact that someone who has been bashed for so many years as "just a science-fiction writer" would inspire someone to pass on a love of reading to those who would follow.

Poo-ta-weet

It took me 25 years to enjoy reading a book. If it wasn't for Mr. Vonnegut I probably would have never known that reading could be enjoyable. Thanks to this man for introducing me to pure literary pleasure. I am 32 now and continue to read, I never knew books could be so wonderful. Thank You Kurt!!
My heart goes out to his family.

I remember reading Cat's Cradle for two days straight, at the time I was a smoker so it kept me up those nights. His work had a special impact on my life, it was the way he wrote that inspired me.

There is no other writer than Kurt Vonnegut that could ever have such an impact on my life.

God Bless you, sir.

You will be missed, but never forgotten

KURT VONNEGUT IS IN HEAVEN NOW By David James Randolph

Kurt Vonnegut is in heaven now. I was the minister who presided at the wedding of Kurt and Jill but it was the groom who preached the gospel. His message spoken and unspoken was that you can go on with your life with dignity in spite of divorce, illness and despair and to me going through divorce, illness and despair that was good news. His message that we can survive catastrophe and find grace amid the ruins has special relevance after 9/11/2001.He lives on in words and memory and blessed are those who read and remember. God bless you Mr. Vonnegut, and your family and all who mourn.

Dr. Randolph was a minister to Kurt Vonnegut in New York City and Long Island N.Y.
United Methodist Churches and now lives and teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I was sitting in my chemistry class at age 15 reading Cat's Cradle and my life was changed. Ever since then I wished that I could meet Kurt Vonnegut. I have always wanted to be a writer and he was my greatest influence. I hoped that one day I would actually hear him espouse his wisdom and insights through his amazing wit and humor. He was my hero

He was the voice of reason in America. Without him we are at a great disadvantage. The world will never be the same.

not sure what makes me sadder, vonnegut dying or the fact more americans seem to care(dare i say even know) that he died then which loser was sent home to thier trailer on last night's american idol.
maybe americas illiteracy was the last straw.

A tribute to an amazing author and human being. With a Pall Mall lit and a tear in my eye, I say cheers to you Mr. Vonnegut. "We're all just farting around!"

I will always remember seeing that old Rodney Dangerfield movie "Back to School" where he has to write that paper on Kurt Vonnegut and he personally hired him to help write it...that was when I first wanted to know more about his works! He will be missed...

The world is a beautiful and despicable place, and Kurt's words shone a brilliant light on the staggering acts of kindness, the small moments of beauty and the horrifying acts of brutality. We have lost a true treasure, and I am awed to have shard this world with him. It is shameful how little coverage his passing has received, I weep for humanity's future. So it goes...

So it goes...

This is the saddest day in American satire since Samuel Langhorne Clemens' death in 1910.

Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before... He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way.
Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"

RIP Mr Vonnegut. Long Live Kilgore Trout.

I've read most on vonnegut's work, and I was deeply upset to hear of his passing. My favorite is Breakfast of Champions, a book I quote often. His voice taught me to question authority and never conform. He will be missed terribly and I hope future generations never allow his memory to fade.

So it goes.

The man will be my hero till the day I die...too bad it won't be Pall Mall's, I quit.

An influence unlike any other in my life. I used to wait eagerly for each new book and read them non-stop until they were finished, always wishing the stories would go on and on. He validated so much of what we were thinking and feeling "back in the day" and helped us THINK critically. What a legacy he has left. So it goes......

One of the few examples of what a writer and a human being should truly be.
I can only assume that you are off traveling with the Trafalmadorians.
Thank you for every word you wrote.

Vonnegut was the best. In every line of every book he'd written you could hear a little chuckle, in every main character there was a randy old man who smoked too much and liked to ramble about how happy he was that everyone around him was alive. I love buying his books in hardcover, because the pictures on the flap are worth the entire price (especially the picture on Hocus Pocus). Those watery eyes, the goofy grin, I can't think of anything to say about him others haven't said. He's a wisp of undifferentiated nothingness now. Good for him.

In "Slaughter-House Five," Vonnegut produced serious literature. But what I loved the best of all his books are "Sirens of Titan" and "Cat's Cradle," two almost cartoonish science fiction novels that don't preach much, but celebrate the ultimate absurdity that Vonnegut saw at the core of all existence. To me, "Sirens of Titan" especially made meaninglessness seem not just funny, but also lyrical, beautiful -- almost holy.
Along with the famous message in "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" -- that "Goddamnit, you gotta be kind" --"Sirens" gave me as a teenager the sense of how to live with humor and compassion in an often bitter world, and without necessarily buying into someone else's political or religious credo. I'm glad to read that for all his famous psychological depression, Vonnegut brought his gift for humor and compassion to his family life. He certainly helped mine.

Kurt Vonnegut has been my favorite author since I was very young. His books, although bizarre, have always appealed to me because I feel like he writes the way I think. I guess that makes me bizarre. My husband and I named our border collie Vonnegut after the brilliant author, I guess that also makes me bizarre. He will be missed!

The greatest voice of the greatest generation is gone. He was my absolute favorite author and a personal hero of mine. He taught so many of us to always laugh at the bitter absurdity of life, and his books will live forever. God Bless you, Mr. Vonnegut!

Kurt Vonnegut was a heck of a writer, one of the best. He wasn't an idealist, he just wanted people to behave decently. What a novel idea! I don't think I've enjoyed any author more than him. If there's a God, I think Kurt's with him, if not, then he lives on through his works. *****

I have one thing to say - and I'm sure KV would approve - "So it goes!"

What can you say?

For someone I've never met, he had a profound impact on my life.

Goodbye Blue Monday.

Thank you Mr. Vonnegut.

We are richer for having read you.
We are richer for having known you.

Thank you for showing us how absurd it all is and daring us to change it all and change ourselves while laughing.

You are out of the cage.

God Bless You Mr. Vonnegut.

ting-a-ling, you son of a bitch.

ting-a-ling.

I first got interested in Vonnegut, after visiting Dresden Germany last year. I wanted to learn more of the cities history during the war and started reading Slaughter-house-five... The city is absolutely beautiful, and they have been constantly rebuilding it ever since the bombing. It was bitter sweet walking through the city and imagining the carnage that had taken place - "like roses and mustard gas... So it goes..." Thanks for the memories Mr. Vonnegut.... We will never forget...

It's a sad situation when you have celebrity drivel pretending to be news. Why isn't the lead story on CNN the life of Kurt Vonnegut? In 5 years will anyone know who Imus is? Will they care? Bonaduce gets a divorce? Whatever.

The news, brought to you by Schlachthof CNN
Sad.

Reading Vonnegut in college in the early 1970's helped reinforce my resistance to the insanity of the Viet-Nam War. His irreverent, "question authority" attuitude is with me still; sorry to say the insane wars go on too. We need him more than ever!

One of the greatest living writers is gone but he left his mark upon many of us. I saw Vonnegut once at Ohio State University and it was one of the most memorable events of my life. Aside from my family and friends Vonnegut was one of the most influential people of my life. His was the voice of the insanely aware minority his death leaves a huge artistic void...he will be missed.

I don't think I would have made it through high school without his books.

And I think he would have been particularly amused by the lack of grammar and proper spelling in these posts.

I almost got to meet Kurt Vonnegut in Manchester, England many years ago. He was over in the UK for a book signing tour (can't remember the book now). Unfortunately he was too ill to make it to Manchester in the end.

I've been reading his books since my late teens. I suspect he's had a major influence on my outlook on life, both philosophically and politically. Either that, or I was naturally inclined that way, either that or they had an effect on the chemicals in my head. Who knows? What I do know is that I found his writing funny and wise and profound, whilst also being unadorned (except by gloriously bad drawings) and highly readable. I can think of few other writers who seemed to suffer so little in the way of pretention.

Though I never knew you, it sure feels like I did, and I'll miss you greatly.

So it goes.

What a sad time for thoughtful readers, but his words will remain and his message of togetherness in the face of absurd gloom will see us through. I can't begin to catalog what his books have taught me.

I promise to spread a little less love, and a little more common decency.

Ho hum.

From ice nine to wampeters his social comemntary was as unique as his style of writing and will always be an influence upon my outlook on life. A great loss for humanity, he will be missed dearly. Thank you Mr. Vonnegut.

What a fine human being. Such a shame that for every 'Kurt Vonnegut' there are 20 Dumbyas.

April 12, 2007


Dear Mr. Vonnegut,


I saw you in the news today. Your picture topped the Entertainment Section of the BBC World News online. You would have enjoyed the read. Your right shoulder sat just above a tidbit about the Beatles royalty bout. Your left shoulder would have been where they stuck the very controversial story about DJ Don Imus and his remarks about the Rutgers Women's basketball team. I'm sure you must have heard about this on your deathbed. He called them "nappy-headed hos". Pretty mean, huh?

Ok, back to your picture which they cut off at your shoulders. To your left, if you were to glance over for a read, you would have seen some minor headlines that were highlighted in blue. Snoop Dog avoided a jail sentence. Flash Gordon returns to TV drama. A warrant is issued for another rapper. I could go on but I'm sure you you're not interested. I bet you're having a drink and a smoke with God, aren't you? Much more interesting than the mundane escapades of celebrities and Hollywood!

How's Billy Pilgrim doing up there, anyway?

Moving right along.

Your picture was posted twice on the same page. The folks at the BBC gave you another mention: How Kurt Vonnegut's Writing Influenced A Generation. You made an impact, there's no denying that. Maybe you have Internet up there in Heaven so this is old news to you. What kind of upload and download speeds are you getting? Be patient with me please.

In Pictures, the BBC celebrates 80 years of organizing the Proms. This was to your second picture's left. I had to open that link to see if they were talking about proms as in high school proms. It actually has nothing to do with insecure couples dancing together, drinking spiked punch, and renting a hotel afterwards for some experimentation with each other's bodies. It turns out it's an exhibition of photographs and recordings and such hosted this year by the British Library.

Oh! And another Kurt died on this day way back in 1994. His name was Kurt Cobain. I'm sure you've heard of him. He played in a Seattle rock band called Nirvana. I was sitting in a German nightclub when somebody told me of his death. In case you can see this page on your laptop up there in Heaven, his picture is located down where your left foot would have been. He ended up killing himself with a shotgun ala Hemingway style. He became another member of the 27 Club. So tell me, are all founding members, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison � how are they treating poor Kurt Cobain? You tried the suicide thing back in 1984, didn't you? But you tried it with pills and booze. According to this article, you said you had "botched this job." I'm glad you did. You had another 23 years coming, almost an entire lifetime of one of them 27 Club members.

I can safely bet you wouldn't have missed the last two years of President George W. Bush. He was the reason you came out of retirement to write another wonderful book. This is undoubtedly the only good thing resulting from his presidency. Maybe your book, and the land he set aside as a national park -- way, way, way out there in Hawaii (even if it was a cheap PR tactic in an attempt to "warm" his ice cold ratings). I wrote a Christmas poem about W. last year. It was based on the classic Clement Clark Moore poem, Twas the Night Before Christmas. I think you would have enjoyed it. Some of my more right-minded family members didn't appreciate it all that much. But I don't sweat the stupidity anymore. The lesson I'm trying to learn is to leave the politics and religion at the door. The sex is still okay, isn't it? Certainly not anything about nappy-headed hos. You're not going to miss this story that has infested the minds of Americans of late. It's the latest witch hunt. It's liberalism's dark side. Here we have a country of The Concerned that worries over a few words spoken by a shock jock whose sole purpose for existence is to piss people off. Comics do it all the time as you know. Hell, they get paid for it! People still haven't learned to change the channel, Mr. Vonnegut. And how odd, at least in my view, how odd that we have a country that can get so offended by words and yet we let the idiot in the White House run this country into the mother-fucking ground. Where is the outcry? Where is the consistency? Where is the sanity?

So it goes.

You are lucky, Mr. Vonnegut. You truly are a man without a country.

So let me state for the record that Kurt Vonnegut is now up in heaven. Are you smiling yet?

You will be greatly missed by all.

God bless you, Mr. Vonnegut.




Your Fan For Life,




Craig Boehman

God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut

When I think about my own death, I don't console myself with the idea that my descendents and my books and all that will live on. Anybody with any sense knows that the whole solar system will go up like a celluloid collar by-and-by. I honestly believe, though, that we are wrong to think that moments go away, never to be seen again. This moment and every moment lasts forever.
-Kurt Vonnegut

I heard about the death of my hero, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., 84, around 7 a.m. It felt like a sharp jab to the stomach. I continued with my morning routine, showered, got ready and left for work.

In New York City today it was pouring, not your average drizzle that dusts right off your clothes with a flick of a wrist, but a towering downpour, equipped with gusts of ripping wind that actually bended my umbrella in half.

I proceeded onto the dreary den of my Brooklyn subway stop, and found myself bombarded by a mass of downtrodden subway riders, a very familiar New York City scene. I looked around and examined the faces of the commuters, the stoic, empty glares, each crammed into the maze and often hysteria of New York City life. I felt like a tiny spoke in a much broader, meaner economic and social wheel, a wheel perpetually in a vicious motion, stopping for no one along the way.

I got as far as the Whitehall stop in Manhattan and turned around. Not today, not on the day my hero died.

With the passing of Kurt Vonnegut, I'm left feeling like an aspiring auto mechanic without an instruction manual. The author penned 23 total works, including 15 novels, which is of course, more than anyone could possibly ask for from their favorite author. But what about tomorrow? I worry about my kids, and their children's kids, who will supply them with a voice of decency and reason, of peace and justice?

To read Vonnegut is to be catapulted into a stratosphere of the impossible, where fact and fiction overlap into a hybrid of black humor and serious social criticism, solidifying his status as a rhetorical prankster. After finishing a Vonnegut book, you feel like you've just been given a giant, warm handshake equipped with a sting from an electric hand buzzer.

Vonnegut's best work, Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, Hocus Pocus, A Man Without A Country, and what many consider to be his finest novel, the anti-war classic, Slaughterhouse-Five, run the reader through a gamut of emotions. No other author has made me see the beauty, sorrow, joy, and pain of the world like Kurt Vonnegut. I don't own Vonnegut novels I collect them, like a child acquires memory and experience.

Underneath the roar of Vonnegut's prose is an innocuous plea for decency, for humanity to live up to its highest ideals. Vonnegut loved to quote Mark Twain, Jesus, and former American Socialist Party leader, Eugene V. Debs. But it was an existential quote from his son Mark Vonnegut, that Kurt seemed most found of, "We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."

Above all, Vonnegut railed against the ruthlessness of American political and social culture, what he saw as a society in which bullies are not only rewarded but celebrated. His targets included humans as the ultimate butchers of the environment, menacing corporations, social Darwinism and the Bush administration. Vonnegut wrote in a column for the progressive publication, In These Times:

"But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America's becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas."

Vonnegut warned of technological and economic progress as a hindrance to the spiritual growth of human communities. In Player Piano, the author wrote of a time where humans are replaced by machines in the name of economic achievement, and as a result society ends in chaos.

Kurt Vonnegut often tinkered with the idea of suicide. His mother committed suicide when he was growing up, but he ultimately decided it was important for him to set a good example for his children. That's not to say he wasn't quite found at the possibility of death as he stated in A Man Without A Country, "The last thing I ever wanted was to be alive when the three most powerful people on the whole planet would be named Bush, Dick and Colon."

I'm reminded now of Vonnegut's continued popularity with young people. His words have historically and to this day, particularly resonated with those of the younger generation. For Vonnegut's message is consistently aligned with the blanket idealism that only the young seem to posses. In one of his many commencement addresses, Vonnegut remarked to the 1970 graduating class of Bennington College:

"So let's divide up the wealth more fairly that we have divided it up so far. Let's make sure that everybody has enough to eat, and a decent place to live and medical help when he needs it. Let's stop spending money on weapons, which don't work anyway, thank God, and spend money on each other."

I had a chance to meet my hero, last October. His wife, noted photographer Jill Krementz, was hosting a book signing at Barnes and Noble in New York City . Not wanting to deter from his wife, Vonnegut gave a few opening remarks but sat out the rest of the event.

He did however offer to sign books, and I choked back reverence and approached the author. When my time came to meet him, Vonnegut, dressed in a trademark tweed suit with frumpy tattered hair scattered in every direction, looked up at me with the droopy faded eyes of a halfway resting sheep dog. The only words I could muster were, "Hey Kurt, I'm Brendan, it's awesome to meet you."

Vonnegut penned his name on the picture of him in his wife's book, along with his signature * in between the Kurt and Vonnegut. I accepted my book back from him, and looked down at his writing. He never said anything to me, he didn't have to. I know that moment will last forever.

I'm a 15-year-old high school freshman, and I first discovered Vonnegut in our school library this year. I've since set out to read everything he's written. So far I've read Slaughter-House Five, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater; Deadeye Dick, Jailbird, and another one I can't remember at the moment. I love his sense of humor. His books get me through the week sometimes, when school gets crazy. Rest in peace, Mr. Vonnegut.

The only author that all my siblings I read. If you knew my family that says something about the connection Kurt Vonnegut could make through this words. I use to be able to recite "Sirens of Titan" first few pages by heart, but I've had too many goofballs since then. I am sad that Kilgore Trout's creator is gone.

I met him in the 11th grade. My literature teacher took us to meet him at a book signing. This was 2000. He was this living character. Like many teens, I feel in love with the sarcasm and wit of his writting. How he questioned authority and poked fun at some issues that other writters wouldn't. He changed one kids view on literature, politics and life. I'm sure there are many who feel like me.

He will be missed in this part of the world too.

So it goes.

"What is the purpose of all this?" man asked politely.

"Everything must have a purpose?" asked God.

"Certainly," said man.

"Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this," said God.

And He went away.


You were my pretend grandfather. God Bless you, Mr Vonnegut. You will be sorely missed.

My 7th grade English teacher challenged us to read 20 books over the school year. "Breakfast of Champions" was on her list and I firmly beleive it formed my entire outlook on live....at the tender age of 13. His absurdist, irreverant take on the world makes reading a transcendant experience. God bless you, Mr. Vonnegut! You will be dearly missed.

All you folks who wrote before me pretty much said it all. I just wanted to say goodbye to my favorite author and thank him for all the great writing. Congratulations, you are now unstuck from time.

Goodbye old friend. You spoke to me in my youth and still now in my middle age your wisdom reverberates. I read everything that came from your hands even the earlier sci fi. What will we do without you? Thank God for the 10th grade teacher who put your books on her table for us to share as the library wouldn't.I would read the tattered paperback in math class, in homeroom and in bed with a flashlight. You were unputdownable. And always will be.

I remember reading a quote from him about teaching creative writing. He said that everyone has a little spool of tape in the back of his or her throat, and that if you tug gently enough on it so that the person does not gag, you can read what is written there. One of my favorite metaphors of all time.

I sorely miss you Mr. Vonnegut...
Have a nice time...
See you later...

Kurt made me believe in the power of stories and the ability to touch the soul of humanity in writing. He is responsible for my own obsessive writing habit and my Tralfamadorian statue I have had since High School. Kilgore will miss you, we all will.

Vonnegut was a great man compared to many other american novelists.Kurt inspired me to do many things in my life with his original style of humor, and seriousness. In my opinion "Player Piano" was one of his best works.Rip Vonnegut you need the break. We will miss you.

Thanks for everything Kurt

He was one of the greatest American writers. His social engagement should be an example for many. The U.S. lost a very decent citizen. I hope his books will be read for a long time.

In my opinion the best writer ever, besides Twain, the only writer I own everything by him. Met the man once in 1993 in St. Louis and when he found out I was also a writer he asked me so many questions about my work I didn't get to ask him anything. Wonderful man with a true interest in people.

I have read Slaughterhouse-Five when I was a freshman. ever since, I have been his fan. He was so great auther,,,Many people liked his works in Korea,,,, RIP, Mr. Vonnegut.

I sit in my cubicle each day with my mind occupied by the beat of rented-a-tent, rented-a-tent, rented-a-tent. But today I, and even the most disinterested God, shed a tear at Kurt's passing. I will keep my dog eared books forever.

God bless you, Mr. Vonnegut.

Goodbye dear Kurt
Your smile made me feel so reassured
Your stories party shaped my personality
Kilgore Trout and Mr Rosewater have become a part of me
I'm sure your heroes prepared a big welcome for you up there
Feel embraced by me, and know I care.

a great man was born once
and then he died
the world was about the same
but a few people gained some insight
so it goes


hi ho.