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NOW's David Brancaccio interviews literary icon Kurt Vonnegut about his life and the current state of American democracy. With his classic wit, the legendary author of CAT'S CRADLE and SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE comments on how American democracy works and delivers some choice words for our parties, our system, and our president. Vonnegut's latest book, a collection of nonfiction entitled A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY, is a bestseller.
Read an excerpt from A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY
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BIOGRAPHY
Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis in 1922, the son of a successful architect. After attending Cornell University, where he majored in chemistry and biology, he enlisted in the United States Army, serving in the Second World War and eventually being taken prisoner by the German Army. As a prisoner, Vonnegut survived the notorious bombing of Dresden which killed some 135,000 citizens. Vonnegut and fellow Allied POWs took shelter in an underground meat locker. This experience was to provide the basis for one of his most famous works, SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE.
Following the war, Vonnegut studied anthropology at the University of Chicago. Among Vonnegut's post-war occupations were crime reporter on a Chicago newspaper, publicist for the General Electric Corporation and SAAB car salesman. His first short story was published in 1950; his first novel, PLAYER PIANO, in 1952. Vonnegut's complete bibliography (see below) includes essays, plays, works for television and journalism. Vonnegut has also turned his hand to the graphic arts. His latest work, A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY is filled with illustrations by the author.
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Images courtesy of Seven Stories Press
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