Or The Children's Crusade, A Duty-Dance With Death
With a new introduction by the author.
by Kurt Vonnegut
Delacorte Press, 1994
Comments: Beyond Vonnegut's popular success as a writer, he was was a uniquely American writer, telling stories in a quirky style that seemed to suite a new generation of sensibilities that evolved in the wake of another world war. As a baby boomer myself, he had a deep formative impact on my own intellectual development as a young man. I've read all his books, some multiple times, and although Slaughterhouse-Five is not my favorite, it's certainly among the top few. As his best known work, and the one that launched his critical success, Slaughthouse-Five is arguably the most important of his books.
The story of how it was inspired by his own experiences in the war is well known. But another part of the story is in his skillful use of succinct language, and how he matter-of-factly weaves together the mundane and profane into moral conflict, then leaves it for the reader to ponder. And so it goes.
For many people Slaughthouse-Five is their first Vonnegut novel, probably due to its popular appeal, but I didn't get around to reading it until I'd already read most of his other books. I knew it would be special and wanted to save the experience. Around the time Vonnegut passed away in 2007 I found this 25th anniversary edition hardback and knew the time was right. My expectations were certainly validated.
Copy Notes: Hardback, later printing
