Kurt Vonnegut Dies at 84

April 11, 2007 8:10 PM

Kurt Vonnegut, Writer of Classics of the American Counterculture, Dies at 84 "His death was reported by Morgan Entrekin, a longtime family friend, who said Mr. Vonnegut suffered brain injuries as a result of a fall several weeks ago. Mr. Vonnegut wrote plays, essays and short fiction. But it was his novels that became classics of the American counterculture, making him a literary idol, particularly to students in the 1960s and ’70s. Dog-eared paperback copies of his books could be found in the back pockets of blue jeans and in dorm rooms on campuses throughout the United States." .
posted by landedjentry (616 comments total)

..........
posted by fizzix at 8:12 PM on April 11, 2007

Telling it straight to the very end...

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posted by ashbury at 8:12 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by mek at 8:13 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by seawallrunner at 8:13 PM on April 11, 2007

Great writer. Damn.
posted by tellurian at 8:13 PM on April 11, 2007

So it goes.

My favorite author, ever. Rest in peace.
posted by christonabike at 8:13 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

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posted by boo_radley at 8:13 PM on April 11, 2007

I was just reading Sirens of Titan.

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posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 8:14 PM on April 11, 2007

Great writer. Damn.
posted by tellurian at 8:13 PM on April 11 [+]
[!]

Heh.
posted by docgonzo at 8:14 PM on April 11, 2007

recent piece in Rolling Stone.
posted by mek at 8:14 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by sudasana at 8:14 PM on April 11, 2007

oh my god
posted by timory at 8:15 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by interrobang at 8:15 PM on April 11, 2007

&nbsp .
. . .
&nbsp .
&nbsp .
posted by tehloki at 8:15 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by lumensimus at 8:16 PM on April 11, 2007

Great. One of my favorite writers just died and now metafilter knows I can't html my way out of a wet paper bag.
posted by tehloki at 8:16 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

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posted by F Mackenzie at 8:16 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by beaucoupkevin at 8:17 PM on April 11, 2007

How very sad. He'll be sorely missed.
posted by Zonker at 8:17 PM on April 11, 2007

This planet is a more interesting place for having had Kurt Vonnegut in it.
posted by interrobang at 8:17 PM on April 11, 2007 [4 favorites]

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posted by re.becca at 8:17 PM on April 11, 2007

Man, what a bummer. He was one of the greats.
posted by mathowie at 8:18 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by huskerdont at 8:18 PM on April 11, 2007

RIP, great one.
posted by jonmc at 8:18 PM on April 11, 2007

*





i love my dog-eared paperback copies of his books in large part because i could fit them in my back pocket.

also. they're pretty good.
posted by pokermonk at 8:18 PM on April 11, 2007 [4 favorites]

*
posted by ColdChef at 8:19 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

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posted by Bookhouse at 8:19 PM on April 11, 2007

We had a memorial service for Isaac [Asimov] a few years back, and I spoke and said at one point, 'Isaac is up in heaven now.' It was the funniest thing I could have said to an audience of humanists. I rolled them in the aisles. It was several minutes before order could be restored. And if I should ever die, God forbid, I hope you will say, 'Kurt is up in heaven now.' That's my favorite joke.

Kurt is up in heaven now. Oh man.
posted by eunoia at 8:19 PM on April 11, 2007 [28 favorites]

Thanks for everything Kurt! See you on Tralfamadore.
posted by wfrgms at 8:19 PM on April 11, 2007

Hi Ho

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Kurt is one of my favorite authors. Thanks for all the words.
posted by Eekacat at 8:19 PM on April 11, 2007

Thanks for opening hidden doors in high school.

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posted by Burhanistan at 8:19 PM on April 11, 2007 [5 favorites]

٭
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:20 PM on April 11, 2007

Wow.

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posted by Verdandi at 8:20 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by saraswati at 8:20 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by evilcolonel at 8:21 PM on April 11, 2007

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I really hope there's no turkey farm.
posted by gnomeloaf at 8:21 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:21 PM on April 11, 2007

So it goes.

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posted by teferi at 8:21 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

So it goes.
posted by lekvar at 8:22 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

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He's bumming out angels, now.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:23 PM on April 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

I like to think he's touching feet with Bokonon and all those who knew Heaven was a lie.
posted by landedjentry at 8:24 PM on April 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

Kurt Vonnegut has come unstuck in time.

A great writer, and a great man.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 8:24 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by ericb at 8:24 PM on April 11, 2007

arg no! the world is a darker place without him.

gads, i think i'm going to have to keep pretending he's still alive, like i do with george harrison. otherwise my heart will just break.
posted by eatdonuts at 8:24 PM on April 11, 2007 [3 favorites]

A truly unique person. He will be sorely missed.
So it goes.

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posted by cows of industry at 8:25 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by spacewrench at 8:25 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by LobsterMitten at 8:26 PM on April 11, 2007

Welcome to the Monkey House.

. . . . .

God Bless you, Kurt. I adored your books.
posted by WaterSprite at 8:26 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by imposster at 8:27 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by contraption at 8:28 PM on April 11, 2007

There aren't enough . in the world.

God bless, Kurt. Thanks for everything.

Goddammit.
posted by jokeefe at 8:29 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Ting-a-ling!
posted by po at 8:29 PM on April 11, 2007 [4 favorites]

84 is not a bad age to die.

I only read Slaughterhouse 5 in highschool. Very popular to have on your reading list because it's so thin.
I'm not sure wether he was the first who reversed time in a story. That was a great invention. The effect on the morality of the story was intrigueing.

If I read 1 other work by him, what should it be?
posted by jouke at 8:30 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

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posted by ssmith at 8:30 PM on April 11, 2007

I always thought that Geraldo Rivera married Kurt Vonnegut's daughter to make himself look good. That man has no shame.
posted by Penny Wise at 8:30 PM on April 11, 2007

Yes, and so it goes.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 8:30 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by Soliloquy at 8:31 PM on April 11, 2007

'Please--a little less love, and a little more common decency.'

Ho Hum.
posted by Grimgrin at 8:31 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by piratebowling at 8:32 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

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posted by MrBadExample at 8:33 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by CitrusFreak12 at 8:33 PM on April 11, 2007

“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.’ ”
posted by ELF Radio at 8:33 PM on April 11, 2007 [9 favorites]

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posted by debgpi at 8:33 PM on April 11, 2007

And so he's gone.

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posted by wendell at 8:34 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by isopraxis at 8:35 PM on April 11, 2007

If I read 1 other work by him, what should it be?

"Cat's Cradle"
posted by Burhanistan at 8:35 PM on April 11, 2007

*
posted by sciatica at 8:35 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'll have to mention is cameo in "Back to School". Its what makes guys like him even cooler. Can you imagine someone like Franzen ever doing that? At any rate, .
posted by narebuc at 8:35 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by Samuel Farrow at 8:35 PM on April 11, 2007

If I read 1 other work by him, what should it be?

I really liked Player Piano - but (I think) it's very early and fairly different from his usual stuff. It's all pretty fun though. I'm trying to see his life as rich and fulfilled but it's hard to not be a little bummed.
posted by freebird at 8:36 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by gergtreble at 8:36 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by inoculatedcities at 8:36 PM on April 11, 2007

If I read 1 other work by him, what should it be?

Cat's Cradle or Slapstick.
posted by docpops at 8:36 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by bashos_frog at 8:37 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by pombe at 8:37 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by telstar at 8:37 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by gaspode at 8:38 PM on April 11, 2007

EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL
AND NOTHING HURT

So it goes.

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posted by buriednexttoyou at 8:39 PM on April 11, 2007 [5 favorites]

So it goes.

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posted by trip and a half at 8:39 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 8:39 PM on April 11, 2007

Busy, busy, busy



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posted by exlotuseater at 8:40 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by Tullius at 8:40 PM on April 11, 2007

Thank god he's in heavy now, the magnificent bastard!
posted by es_de_bah at 8:41 PM on April 11, 2007

If I read 1 other work by him, what should it be?

Hocus Pocus. Or Mother Night. Or....

...really, it's all good.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:41 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by !Jim at 8:43 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by notsnot at 8:43 PM on April 11, 2007

I've only read Slaughterhouse-5 and a handful of his essays, but for some reason this news makes me want to weep. A genuinely awesome human being gone.
posted by papakwanz at 8:44 PM on April 11, 2007

As I read the Book of Genesis, God didn't give Adam and Eve a whole planet.

He gave them a manageable piece of property, for the sake of discussion let's say 200 acres.

I suggest to you Adams and Eves that you set as your goals the putting of some small part of the planet into something like safe and sane and decent order.

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posted by unSane at 8:45 PM on April 11, 2007

"Make me young! Make me young!"

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posted by borborygmi at 8:45 PM on April 11, 2007

Reading only one Vonnegut novel would be like only listening to one Beatles album. They were pretty much all masterpieces.
posted by GavinR at 8:45 PM on April 11, 2007

I'm a little too young to really know much about him, but I did enjoy the shows he did on New York's WBAI about a year or so ago. So . . .

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posted by CommonSense at 8:47 PM on April 11, 2007

I gave my . earlier, but it is nowhere near enough, and as jokeefe says, there's not enough . in the world for him. I'm not one to lament the passing of someone who has entertained, educated, inspired, or amused us, but Kurt is different. His writing seemed so personal to me. The horrible things that would happen to his characters, and still I had to laugh. I guess I hope there's a barn someplace like in Bluebeard with a last work as a gift to the world.

Shine on you crazy diamond.
posted by Eekacat at 8:47 PM on April 11, 2007

bloody hell, I've been kind of waiting for this to happen for a few years now. Some stuff he's written suggested he was damn tired.
Still and all it's a major blow. I'd say out of all the "celebrity deaths" in the past decade this is the one that hurts the most. Wish I didn't have to work tomorrow, but definitely will have to have a wake this weekend, I think I'ma going to have to do the schlocky thing and turn my blog black for a day or two.

See that cat, see the cradle?


.....
posted by edgeways at 8:47 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by YoBananaBoy at 8:48 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by bigschmoove at 8:49 PM on April 11, 2007

I think it was from reading Cat's Cradle, when I was 13 or 14, that I first really understood that there was such a thing as a prose style.
posted by escabeche at 8:49 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

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posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:49 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by solid-one-love at 8:49 PM on April 11, 2007

God bless you, Mr. Vonnegut.
posted by roll truck roll at 8:51 PM on April 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

* is clearly the correct punctuation in this thread, not the lowly period.

It looks like a bit like an anus, you see...

I don't know what else to say. ":(" isn't enough.
posted by sparkletone at 8:51 PM on April 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

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posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 8:51 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by Tacodog at 8:51 PM on April 11, 2007

.

So it goes. But somehow, I always wish it wouldn't.
posted by Paragon at 8:51 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by hifiparasol at 8:51 PM on April 11, 2007

Man. The Sirens of Titan always makes me cry. I didn't even have to read it this time.
posted by maxwelton at 8:54 PM on April 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

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posted by Burton at 8:55 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by hellbient at 8:56 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by killy willy at 8:56 PM on April 11, 2007

I don't have the book here, but isn't there a part in Timequake where he says that he hopes that, at his funeral, some smartass will stand up and say, "Kurt's up in heaven now"?
posted by roll truck roll at 8:56 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by Falconetti at 8:58 PM on April 11, 2007

I don't have the book here, but isn't there a part in Timequake where he says that he hopes that, at his funeral, some smartass will stand up and say, "Kurt's up in heaven now"?

Uh...
posted by sparkletone at 8:58 PM on April 11, 2007

I remember reading a bunch of his books as paperbacks stored in some cupboard at home on my dad's recommendation when I was like 10 or 11. Never read anything sense, but they had a big impact on me then. Sad.
posted by R343L at 8:59 PM on April 11, 2007

Joe Heller  



True story, Word of Honor: 

Joseph Heller, an important and funny writer 

now dead, 

and I were at a party given by a billionaire 

on Shelter Island.



I said, "Joe, how does it make you feel 

to know that our host only yesterday 

may have made more money 

than your novel 'Catch-22' 

has earned in its entire history?" 

And Joe said, "I've got something he can never have." 

And I said, "What on earth could that be, Joe?" 

And Joe said, "The knowledge that I've got enough." 

Not bad! Rest in peace!"



--Kurt Vonnegut



The New Yorker, May 16th, 2005

posted by gwint at 9:00 PM on April 11, 2007 [6 favorites]

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posted by idb at 9:00 PM on April 11, 2007

we'll miss you kurt. thanks for all the fun times.

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posted by Menomena at 9:01 PM on April 11, 2007

Breakfast of Champions was one of the first "adult" books I read, slipping it off my parents' bookshelf when they weren't paying attention.

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posted by found dog one eye at 9:01 PM on April 11, 2007

*

(inscribed on a tablet, delivered by flying saucer)
posted by Artw at 9:02 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by Colloquial Collision at 9:02 PM on April 11, 2007

*
So it goes.
posted by nasreddin at 9:04 PM on April 11, 2007

shit.
posted by thethirdman at 9:04 PM on April 11, 2007

*


I loved him.
posted by Failure31 at 9:05 PM on April 11, 2007

One of the greatest men who ever lived. My first thought was what a blessing that he put pen to paper so we will always have his words to remind us that we are frustrated imperfect machines. I always felt that as long as Kurt was around that there was goodness somewhere in the world. The people I think that about are dropping too quickly and there doesn't seem to be anyone out there replacing them.

My favorite line of his:

"Free enterprise is much too hard on the old and the sick and the shy and the poor and the stupid, and on the people nobody likes." -Address to a graduating class at Bennington College in 1970.
posted by any major dude at 9:05 PM on April 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

Read his books, even saw him speak once. He was great.
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posted by tiger yang at 9:05 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by FunkyHelix at 9:05 PM on April 11, 2007

God bless you, Mr. Vonnegut.

Truly all that needs to be said. He’s up in heaven now, indeed, but his words and his spirit will remain down here with the rest of us for a long, long time.
posted by lelilo at 9:06 PM on April 11, 2007

I only knew him through the books he wrote, and I can still read them, and remember him. Who needs heaven when you have readers who remember you?

I think I'll commemorate his death by giving one of his books to someone who's never read any.

Kurt Vonnegut did some good.
posted by breezeway at 9:07 PM on April 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

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posted by JT at 9:07 PM on April 11, 2007

Life is no way to treat an animal.
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:07 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by k8t at 9:08 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by Staggering Jack at 9:08 PM on April 11, 2007

Sorry.
posted by roll truck roll at 9:08 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by Hadroed at 9:09 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by cerebus19 at 9:09 PM on April 11, 2007

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this is so very sad. bye monkey, bye.
posted by carmina at 9:09 PM on April 11, 2007

I already heard about this several years from now.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 9:10 PM on April 11, 2007 [13 favorites]

</
posted by humannaire at 9:11 PM on April 11, 2007

Rest well, Mr Trout.

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posted by knave at 9:11 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by bread-eater at 9:12 PM on April 11, 2007

This is the first time I have ever entered my password and seen a row of tiny little assholes.

My plans to sleep well tonight, undone. Even sadder now.

. and *
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 9:12 PM on April 11, 2007

I am of course notoriously hooked on cigarettes. I keep hoping the things will kill me. A fire at one end and a fool at the other.

*
posted by Kwantsar at 9:13 PM on April 11, 2007

*

So it goes.
posted by gurple at 9:13 PM on April 11, 2007

Son of a bitch.

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posted by milquetoast at 9:14 PM on April 11, 2007

ouch
posted by muckster at 9:17 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by honest knave at 9:17 PM on April 11, 2007

Whenever I am asked who my favorite author is, I have had a stock reply for years.

It is, "You mean, besides Vonnegut?"

Kurt Vonnegut, I loved you. You broke my heart. First with Blackbeard, then today, by dying.

Honestly, this could not have happened to a better person.
posted by humannaire at 9:18 PM on April 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

I am actually tearing up here. His voice was just so vital, so hugely important in helping me see the world back when I was 12 and 13 and devouring his books. The comfort of them in their declaration of the senselessness of ideology, the absurdity of life and the abuses of power; their profound humanism and compassion for us, we weak and silly beings.

In Sirens of Titan, Unk finds the letter that he wrote to himself before his memory was wiped. The letter, Vonnegut wrote, functioned as literature in the best sense because it made him "secretly free". That's what his books did for me, too.

Rest in peace, Mr. Vonnegut. I loved you, I honestly did.

No goddamn cat, and no goddamn cradle.
posted by jokeefe at 9:18 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

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posted by humannaire at 9:18 PM on April 11, 2007

No! No no no no no no!
posted by serazin at 9:19 PM on April 11, 2007

Metafilter: A fire at one end and a fool at the other.
posted by CynicalKnight at 9:19 PM on April 11, 2007

Where is home? I've wondered where home is, and I realized, it's not Mars or someplace like that, it's Indianapolis when I was nine years old. I had a brother and a sister, a cat and a dog, and a mother and a father and uncles and aunts. And there's no way I can get there again.


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posted by fair_game at 9:19 PM on April 11, 2007 [6 favorites]

*
posted by avoision at 9:20 PM on April 11, 2007

MetaFilter: A row of tiny little assholes.
posted by knave at 9:20 PM on April 11, 2007 [3 favorites]

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incredibly sad.
posted by gcbv at 9:21 PM on April 11, 2007

Everytime I've seen his name mentioned in an FPP over the years, my heart has skipped a beat.

I hope his clear eyed and deadly funny humanism lives on. We need it more than ever.

This one hurts...



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posted by Skygazer at 9:21 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by pompomtom at 9:21 PM on April 11, 2007

"A fire at one end and a fool at the other."

Reading his books made me feel this way.
posted by Wonderwoman at 9:23 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

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posted by Ostara at 9:24 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by The God Complex at 9:26 PM on April 11, 2007

I'm crying.
posted by rbs at 9:26 PM on April 11, 2007

He's up in heaven now.
posted by The White Hat at 9:27 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by Pastabagel at 9:27 PM on April 11, 2007

To quote Jon Stewart, "As an adolescent, he made my life bearable."
posted by Afroblanco at 9:29 PM on April 11, 2007 [3 favorites]

Here are the last rites from the Book of Bokonon:

The Last Rites of the Bokononism [ 99 ]
(Each line is said once by the person giving the rites and then repeated by the dying person.)

God made mud.
God got lonesome.
So God said to some of the mud, "Sit up!"
"See all I've made," said God, "the hills, the sea, the sky, the stars."
And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around.
Lucky me, lucky mud.
I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done.
Nice going, God.
Nobody but you could have done it, God! I certainly couldn't have.
I feel very unimportant compared to You.
The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud that didn't even get to sit up and look around.
I got so much, and most mud got so little.
Thank you for the honor!
Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep.
What memories for mud to have!
What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met!
I loved everything I saw!
Good night.
I will go to heaven now.
I can hardly wait...
To find out for certain what my wampeter was...
And who was in my karass...
And all the good things our karass did for you.
Amen.
posted by vacapinta at 9:29 PM on April 11, 2007 [23 favorites]

Apologies for previous (not the sentiment, but being unable to control posting the reply). Feeling a little emotional here.
posted by jokeefe at 9:29 PM on April 11, 2007

Damn.

*********!!
posted by Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson at 9:31 PM on April 11, 2007

Damn it, vacapinta, now I'm not just tearing up, I'm actually crying. I'm going to go and walk away from the computer.

Lucky me, lucky mud!
posted by jokeefe at 9:31 PM on April 11, 2007

Player Piano was brought up recently in the question Essays for Engineers. It changed my life, and ruined my career.

Thank you, Mr. Vonnegut.
posted by Chuckles at 9:33 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by shoepal at 9:33 PM on April 11, 2007

I envy those that are sleeping now, they have a few more hours of unawareness.
posted by edgeways at 9:33 PM on April 11, 2007

Ah geeeeez, I never got Vonnegut then. But I sure get the loss in his honor felt by the mefites now.

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posted by Penny Wise at 9:34 PM on April 11, 2007

_
|
/
*
Reading God Bless You Mr. Rosewater I became self aware. I read it by candlelight, in a loft, in a cabin, on a lake, in Maine, fighting off bats. The bats ate the mosquitos.

So it goes.
posted by dchase at 9:34 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by jodrell banksmeadow at 9:35 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by Joey Michaels at 9:35 PM on April 11, 2007

yeah........

late to the thread here I guess

what afroblanco said

the guy made insanity sane for me......and changed forvever the way I looked at the world.

I was able to make sense of the world by deciphering the nonsense he made of it.

and while I look back at what I just typed and think it is is weird...the word that keeps echoing in my head iis this

tralfamadore
posted by timsteil at 9:36 PM on April 11, 2007

*
posted by Foaf at 9:36 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by Bromius at 9:39 PM on April 11, 2007

I see the Last Rites have been posted, so, the Fourteenth Calypso for you, Mister Vonnegut:

"When I was young
I was so gay and mean
And I drank and chased the girls
Just like young St. Augustine.
Saint Augustine.
He got to be a saint.
So, if I get to be one, also,
Please, Mama, don't you faint."

here's hoping, huh?

.
posted by theoddball at 9:39 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Poo-tee-weet?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:39 PM on April 11, 2007

I am so sad although I'm sure we all knew it would be soon having seen him in the last few years. The last interview I saw with him, he seemed very sick but was still able to take the piss out of everyone. I will miss him very much.

I know the way here is to post a little dot, but for me a little dot is not enough to say goodbye to a great man. I don't know a lot of people would mourn for him in the town that I am in right now so I am happy to be a part of Metafilter, a place to say these things. I feel like a dork to be so sad about a person I don't know, but I really am.

So, goodbye great man, you meant so much to me and so much to so many others. Thank you for helping me to be a better thinker.
posted by Belle O'Cosity at 9:39 PM on April 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne.


*

goodbye, blue monday.
posted by ronv at 9:39 PM on April 11, 2007 [3 favorites]

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posted by mds35 at 9:39 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by scody at 9:39 PM on April 11, 2007

I loved his books - they were insightful, funny, honest, and original. What a loss for us, but I hope he's finally at peace. From reading one of his recent interviews (can't find the link now), it sounded like life had become burdensome for him. Rest in peace, Kurt.

*
posted by mosk at 9:39 PM on April 11, 2007

davidmsc - I think you may just have been added to that list of people who will not be missed.
posted by Artw at 9:40 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by ruby.aftermath at 9:40 PM on April 11, 2007

Hey my buddy Cliff the Key West Weaver just said the coolest thing!

He said, "They'll be another!"
posted by humannaire at 9:41 PM on April 11, 2007

davidmsc, I'm not sure your sentiment is entirely appreciated, I think you are wrong on many counts and it is pretty turdtastic of you to use such harsh words in the middle of this tread, no class man, and obviously trying to pick a fight. So please take it to MeTa if you have further protestations
posted by edgeways at 9:41 PM on April 11, 2007

If you want to see what this fuss is about, read "Mother Night". It's good start.

Thanks for the memories KV.
posted by MotorNeuron at 9:41 PM on April 11, 2007

Godspeed, Kurt. The light of English literature is perceptibly dimer today.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 9:42 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by davelog at 9:45 PM on April 11, 2007

what a voice he had.
what a mind.
*
posted by dan g. at 9:47 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by lester at 9:48 PM on April 11, 2007

What can be said?

.
posted by BackwardsCity at 9:48 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by tomharpel at 9:49 PM on April 11, 2007

It's not very cool to confess that you actually enjoy using this site, or that it has some meaning or value, or even that you like it. Instead there is an odd valuing of criticism and snark and complaints over positive expression - but I'll just come out and say that this post made me realize that I love it here on metafilter and this is why:

After I read this post, and felt so sad, and remembered what sofa I was draped over reading Galapagos and picturing my literally held-together-with-tape-and-a-rubber-band copy of Cats Cradle and remembering finishing Welcome to the Monkey House and thinking "Huh, that was kinda weak" etc etc etc, I called my mom. I don't usually call my mom when I'm emotional, but I guess being transported to my adolescence inspired it. And I told her that Kurt Vonnegut had just died and she basically said, "Huh, that's kind of … interesting." And I hung up right away feeling really much sadder. And then I realized that I didn't know who to call who would feel just like I did. And then I realized that although I often feel like I don't fit in here, or like I'm not the same as folks here, I can see evidence right here in this post that a whole hellofalot of yawl shared at least this with me. I know Kurt Vonnegut is, well, pretty mainstream, and I don't have to look farther than, well, the New York Times to find glowing and gushing testimonials to his work and his life, and while I also know that probably a lot of folks might be annoyed by my feminist critiques of Mr. Vonnegut and probably, a bunch of you hated Bluebeard which was actually my favorite, given all of that, I feel a certain comrade with yawl right now, and I feel, well, grateful to have you guys here, all of us shocked and sad to see Kurt Vonnegut go.

So although I know it's frowned upon here, let me just say, I really feel grateful for metafilter right now.

And of course, for Kurt Vonnegut too.
posted by serazin at 9:50 PM on April 11, 2007 [12 favorites]

*
posted by sacre_bleu at 9:51 PM on April 11, 2007

On second thought, Belle O'Cosity said it already, and, in Vonnegut's style, with more brevity.

(Also, Breakfast of Champions might be tied for my favorite).
posted by serazin at 9:53 PM on April 11, 2007

So it goes.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:54 PM on April 11, 2007

I just walked in the house, and my husband told me the news. I was just floored, but then I decided I shouldn't be too sad, because it was pretty obvious in the last few years that KV was tired of living. In any case, if I could be any literary character ever, I would want to be Bokonon. Busy, busy, busy...

I'm sitting underneath one of his screenprints right now. He put an asterisk after his signature.

So it goes.

*
posted by Ruki at 9:54 PM on April 11, 2007

davidmsc: you should try reading Vonnegut again. You might "get it" if you continue trying.
posted by exlotuseater at 9:56 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by afx114 at 9:57 PM on April 11, 2007

*
posted by rockabilly_pete at 9:57 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by Wizzle at 9:57 PM on April 11, 2007

rockabilly_pete: Aha!
posted by Wizzle at 9:58 PM on April 11, 2007

*
posted by billder at 9:58 PM on April 11, 2007

Another true hero has left the planet. Fly, Kurt, as high as you took us all these years.

We love you.

*
posted by dbiedny at 9:59 PM on April 11, 2007

Nearly every time I brush my teeth I think about my sister (and I don't even have a sister) and how we'd decided that brushing our teeth with hot water was better than using cold.

Shit. Goddamn.

And I think about swallowing Drano, and how godawful that must be a way to die.

And semicolons, and how I try to eliminate them because Kurt said they're useless, and I think he's right.
posted by bigbigdog at 10:00 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 10:00 PM on April 11, 2007

I learned about the last shuttle explosion on metafilter, and now this. I am sad and will miss his writing, although I hope to never be as pessimistic as he was.
posted by craniac at 10:00 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by jdfalk at 10:00 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by Benjamin Nushmutt at 10:01 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by brujita at 10:02 PM on April 11, 2007

Actually, I think davidmsc is right in a lot of ways.

Kurt Vonnegut *was* an idiot.

You'd have to be to tell the truth. Sometimes there exists a person who is unafraid to look life if in the eye and accept it for what it is. Has this world ever rewarded these people with anything but sadness and a sense of isolation?

It's the sweet little lies about this world and our lives in it that make living bearable for so many of us, you'd have to be an idiot to give up that comfort, even if you never spoke about it to another soul. You'd have to be an even bigger idiot to open your mouth and speak the truth, or in his case sing it out for all to hear, when everything history has ever taught us is that people will only despise you for it.

He wasn't a particularly happy man, his vision didn't seem to bring him comfort, he struggled with suicide his whole life, and perhaps he could have dulled that pain with some comforting illusions. But he was an idiot, and chose the harder path, and made the world an indelibly better place because he lived here, and chose to live in his manner.

Which is far more then could be said for the gentlemen you used in your examples.
posted by Jezztek at 10:03 PM on April 11, 2007 [34 favorites]

Time to go do some (re)reading.

Thanks, Kurt.

.
posted by rtha at 10:04 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by arialblack at 10:05 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by mrbill at 10:06 PM on April 11, 2007

Goodbye to one of the few writers who made me blink and say "You can't write like that!", and be happy for it.

Perhaps to take the edge off the mourning, or to increase it (whatever burns it off (or burns it in)), here's some advice on style, from the man.
posted by eurasian at 10:07 PM on April 11, 2007

Metafilter: So many different people in the same device
posted by grobstein at 10:07 PM on April 11, 2007

So it goes.

Rest in peace, Kurt, you wonderful, crazy, beautiful human being.




Poo-tee-weet?
posted by darkstar at 10:08 PM on April 11, 2007

My favourites were Deadeye Dick and Mother Night.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:09 PM on April 11, 2007

I remember when I was first getting into the Grateful Dead, and like any music dork, reading lyrics and the details of album liner notes. At the time I was wondering what was up with Ice Nine Publishing; their publishing company.

I didn't know what the fuck Ice Nine meant, I assumed it was some weird cryptic hippie joke from back before all the commercials took over. I guess that assumption was correct in some regards.

A couple years later I found out what Ice Nine was and it blew my mind.

Fucking A...

Thank you Mr. Vonnegut.
posted by bluevelvetelvis at 10:10 PM on April 11, 2007

do you have any ideas for a really scary reality TV show?:

“C students from Yale.” It would stand your hair on end.

From a 2003 interview.
posted by craniac at 10:10 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

One of my favorites.

*
posted by Quartermass at 10:10 PM on April 11, 2007

Oh crap. He was a beautifully misanthropic humanist. 20th century feels a whole lot more distant.

Twain went out with a comet. I wonder what's taking Kurt home.

.
posted by aliendolphin at 10:13 PM on April 11, 2007

So it goes.

.
posted by Curry at 10:13 PM on April 11, 2007

It's all good - great, in fact - but I'd suggest the uninitiated start what should be a delightful and enlightening dance through the whole catalogue with Mother Night.

It goes, to begin with, like this:

This is the only story of mine whose moral I know. I don't think it's a marvelous moral; I simply happen to know what it is: We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

It's a book about Nazis. And war. And Truth. And so it goes.

*
posted by gompa at 10:15 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by RakDaddy at 10:16 PM on April 11, 2007

It makes me sad that he'd so smartly figured out some of the big problems some time ago, and that he had to spend his last years watching us let those problems get worse, instead of making them better. As cynical as he could be with regard to human nature, I can't help feeling that we all still managed to disappoint him.

I hope he holds off heading into the blue tunnel for a few years, and has a chance to watch us move things in the right direction again. Assuming we can.
posted by washburn at 10:17 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by ebee at 10:18 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:18 PM on April 11, 2007

And from a 2005 interview on PBS:

KURT VONNEGUT: You know, Christianity is very big now in particular-- and our president, of course, is a Christian. These are words I never hear.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. For theirs is kingdom of heaven. This isn't original.

Blessed are they that mourn. For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers. For they shall be called the children of God.

Not exactly a Republican platform.
posted by craniac at 10:19 PM on April 11, 2007

.

My roommate & I were just talking about "Make me young again!" How weird.
posted by lilac girl at 10:22 PM on April 11, 2007

well, this is just terrible.

it's been a year or two since i've read one of his books.

but i don't think anything anyone else has written has ever touched me the way his stories did.

i know it's an artificial closeness that we feel for artists whose work resonates with us. i remember when my mother came home crying because john lennon had been shot and i was too young to understand why. but i guess i now understand.
posted by luriete at 10:23 PM on April 11, 2007

oh god, no. i don't think i can handle this. fucking god no.
posted by shmegegge at 10:24 PM on April 11, 2007

he was a great guy. will sorely be missed.

.
posted by jba at 10:24 PM on April 11, 2007

Rented a tent a tent a tent.

I think I'll commemorate his death by giving one of his books to someone who's never read any.

Indeed.

.

.

.
posted by alms at 10:25 PM on April 11, 2007

Damn. Now we'll never get to be best friends.

*
posted by granted at 10:26 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by hap_hazard at 10:28 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by sputgop at 10:30 PM on April 11, 2007

I read Welcome to the Monkey House when I was about 17, and it was my all time favorite book of short stories at the time. I haven't re-read it in 20 years, as I don't want to spoil that magic.

.
posted by bowline at 10:31 PM on April 11, 2007

I guess landedjentry just truthed me.

A callipso:

Mr. Vonnegut died, in the spring time.
The MeFites all are very sad.
His time had come, he had to go,
But The Author lives on, in printed form.

.
posted by Goofyy at 10:32 PM on April 11, 2007

.

The world is a bit darker today. Or maybe a bit lighter. Whichever.. it's different. In a bad way.
posted by Deepspace at 10:32 PM on April 11, 2007

Oh god, no.

I'm late to the thread(I headed straight here when I heard the news. This is a good place, and a kind place.), so I just read through all 200+ comments, and I am so not ready to face this day.

Goddammit, so it goes.. :'(
posted by stumbling at 10:33 PM on April 11, 2007

Dammit, dammit, dammit.

I know he hadn't been the same in recent years, and I'm sure he was ready for the end. It's a damn shame to see the battered shell of a man in the light of what he once was and never could be again.

But to me he was a hero. Even though he wasn't what he was at his prime, what's left of him was still smarter, wittier, and yes, more of a patriot than most men ever dare to dream of being. Ever since the day I first finished reading one of his novels, I wanted to meet him. Who knows what I ever would have said to him, or him to me. I suppose I was hoping for something like a papal blessing, as a member of the Church of the Written Word.

God Bless you, Mr. Vonnegut. Our greatest living author is no longer, though the world is far better for having him. There is no higher praise to give a man. May his words keep him immortal. So it goes.

.
posted by kyleg at 10:33 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Dang. Why do things like this have to happen to people when we need them the most?

.
posted by cpualani at 10:36 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by runningdogofcapitalism at 10:36 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by mikw at 10:37 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by derivative algorithm at 10:40 PM on April 11, 2007

*
.
posted by merelyglib at 10:41 PM on April 11, 2007

*

Such an interesting peephole, it is sad to see it shut.

So it goes.
posted by Bokononist at 10:41 PM on April 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

*
posted by ottereroticist at 10:43 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by bkudria at 10:44 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by Foosnark at 10:44 PM on April 11, 2007

My sadness is definitely lessened by coming here and finding all these people who feel the same way as me. Sirens of Titan is my favorite, and I re-read it every few months. One of the few authors who can make me laugh at loud regularly. Dang.

.
posted by ORthey at 10:45 PM on April 11, 2007

His books are the only books I've ever re-read just for the hell of it. All I want to do now is call in sick tomorrow so I can read KV all day.

*
posted by prosthezis at 10:45 PM on April 11, 2007

Laugh out loud, also.
posted by ORthey at 10:45 PM on April 11, 2007

Oh, and another thing:

Goddammit, davidmsc, you've got to be kind.
posted by ORthey at 10:49 PM on April 11, 2007

Life. I'm really starting to hate it.
posted by luckypozzo at 10:49 PM on April 11, 2007

I only just recently started reading his books, and realized I should have been doing so all my life. Fortunately, he left behind a lot of really great books, and I suppose if I'd already read them, I wouldn't have the pleasure of reading them the first time.
posted by Durhey at 10:52 PM on April 11, 2007

Fuck, man. Fuck.

.
posted by the_bone at 10:52 PM on April 11, 2007

Ah, hell.

*
posted by EatTheWeak at 10:53 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by Mil at 10:55 PM on April 11, 2007

.

sad day for words of all sorts
posted by Jeremy at 11:00 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by scheptech at 11:03 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by mr_roboto at 11:04 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by Mister Bijou at 11:07 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by jewzilla at 11:10 PM on April 11, 2007

I think he was ready to go.
Thanks for everything.
good job.

.
posted by pointilist at 11:14 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

I've worried some about why write books when Presidents and Senators and generals do not read them, and the university experience taught me a very good reason: you catch people before they become generals and Senators and Presidents, and you poison their minds with humanity. Encourage them to make a better world.

from Conversations with Kurt Vonnegut, 1988
posted by the_bone at 11:16 PM on April 11, 2007 [6 favorites]

*

There was a particularly interesting interview he gave in Stop Smiling a few months ago. Unfortunately, only an excerpt is available online. Worth reading if you can find it.
posted by timelord at 11:18 PM on April 11, 2007

And I just finished re-reading Slaughterhouse Five this past weekend.
posted by salvia at 11:20 PM on April 11, 2007

*
posted by peacay at 11:20 PM on April 11, 2007

Thank you, kv, for many fine words and fine books.
posted by Lynsey at 11:20 PM on April 11, 2007

NOT EVEN
THE CREATOR
OF THE UNIVERSE
KNEW WHAT
THE MAN
WAS GOING TO SAY NEXT.
~*~
PERHAPS THE MAN
WAS A BETTER UNIVERSE
IN ITS INFANCY

R.I.P.

Kurt Vonnegut
1922-2007
He Tried.
posted by ottereroticist at 11:21 PM on April 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

God damn it, Mr. Vonnegut... how could you leave us, just when we needed you the most?

So much work yet to do, and us with no compass.

.
.
.
posted by herichon at 11:21 PM on April 11, 2007

I've only read a handful of his books (Cats Cradle, Welcome to the Monkey House, and Bagombo Snuff Box), and I'm reacting worse than when Douglas Adams died.

.
posted by SansPoint at 11:22 PM on April 11, 2007

when the vast majority of people here on mefi would openly CHEER blah blah blah

You really showed 'em, tiger.
posted by maxwelton at 11:28 PM on April 11, 2007

When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug...
posted by salvia at 11:29 PM on April 11, 2007

ah, this is sad.
.
posted by MadamM at 11:31 PM on April 11, 2007

*
posted by chillmost at 11:31 PM on April 11, 2007

I'd post the Last Rites, but it's been done.

This really hurts. Goodnght, lucky mud.
posted by Fenriss at 11:34 PM on April 11, 2007

I hope someone has had the good sense to cut his head off and freeze it so it can be revived in a bubbling backlighted vat and launched into space as the soul of an earth-monitoring space station. But then the head is stolen, stolen again, forgotten in a utility closet, found, restolen, chased around space and Earth a little, and eventually crashed-landed on a small island off Tasmania, lost in the bush, and eaten by the last of the Tasmanian devils, now starving thanks to a manmade blight, but who manage to carry on the Tasmanian devil species thanks to eating Vonnegut's head. And there's a plague and all humans die and the Tasmanian devil evolves into the dominant species on Earth, a gentle marsupial folk with wide friendly grins between their long whiskers. And they find the gnawed skull with some evidence indicating its significance and they revere it as The Last Morsel.
posted by pracowity at 11:34 PM on April 11, 2007 [12 favorites]

Goodbye Mr. Vonnegut. Your works kept me thinking and imaging the world.
posted by phyrewerx at 11:36 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by MythMaker at 11:36 PM on April 11, 2007

.
posted by Mijo Bijo at 11:39 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by ScotchLynx at 11:39 PM on April 11, 2007

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posted by JHarris at 11:40 PM on April 11, 2007

*

and so on...
posted by sourwookie at 11:40 PM on April 11, 2007