Publisher Description

Here for the first time is the complete short fiction of one of the 20th century's greatest writers. More than half of Vonnegut's output was short fiction, and never before has the world had occasion to wrestle with it all together. Organized thematically-War, Women, Science, Romance, Work Ethic v. Fame and Fortune, Behavior, The Band Director (those stories featuring Lincoln High's band director and nice guy, George Hemholtz), and Futuristic-these 97 stories were written over a lifetime, from 1941 to 2007, and include those published during Vonnegut's lifetime in magazines and collected in Welcome to the Monkey House, Bagombo Snuff Box, and other books; those published posthumously; and, here for the first time, five previously unpublished stories as well as a handful of others that were published online only and read by few. Vonnegut published only about half of the stories he wrote, his agent telling him in 1958 upon the rejection of a particularly strong story, oSave it for the collection of your works which will be published someday when you become famous. Which may take a little and introduced by longtime Vonnegut friend, Dan Wakefield, and Vonnegut scholar Jerome Klinkowitz, the Complete Stories puts Vonnegut's great wit, humor, and humanity on full display. This is an extraordinary new work for readers, Vonnegut fans, and scholars alike.

Review

"For completists, this will be like a boxed set of a musician's early work -- Vonnegut's Sun Studio sessions ... It's fascinating to watch him work themes that would later animate his 14 novels and five books of nonfiction: the cruel stupidity of war, the dehumanizing dangers of technology, the distillation of American values into mere greed and selfishness.... An extraordinary heart exists behind these stories." --Jess Walter, New York Times Book Review "There are wonderful lines, sentences, and whole paragraphs throughout the collection; it is full of constructions that are funny, clever, and unexpected.... Generosity and decency seem to be the two qualities Vonnegut values most, even as he recognizes their fragility and rarity."--Geoff Nicholson, Los Angeles Review of Books "Vonnegut's writing explodes with disquieting warnings and lessons that continue to ring true for contemporary readers." --Huffington Post "Kurt Vonnegut: Complete Stories is a deep dive into one of the great minds in American literature: morally serious, formally adventurous, and topically diverse. A reader could happily spend years wandering around in this book." --Matthew Sharpe, bestselling author of The Sleeping Father and Jamestown "This book is big in size and significance ... Meant to get readers thinking, these stories both preserve a lost world and showcase Vonnegut's phenomenal prescience. In his foreword, Dave Eggers pinpoints another key trait: Vonnegut wrote "moral stories" meant to "tell us what's right and what's wrong, and . . . how to live." In our time of dangerous ambiguity, Vonnegut's clarity is restorative, his artistry and imagination affirming." --Booklist "A sterling collection of the late Vonnegut's corpus of short fiction, with several unpublished pieces to balance better-known published and anthologized work.... Essential for Vonnegut completists, of course--and budding writers can always learn a thing or two from the sardonic master." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Vonnegut's writing explodes with disquieting warnings and lessons that continue to ring true for contemporary readers." --Huffington Post "Kurt Vonnegut: Complete Stories is a deep dive into one of the great minds in American literature: morally serious, formally adventurous, and topically diverse. A reader could happily spend years wandering around in this book." --Matthew Sharpe, bestselling author of The Sleeping Father and Jamestown "This book is big in size and significance ... Meant to get readers thinking, these stories both preserve a lost world and showcase Vonnegut's phenomenal prescience. In his foreword, Dave Eggers pinpoints another key trait: Vonnegut wrote "moral stories" meant to "tell us what's right and what's wrong, and . . . how to live." In our time of dangerous ambiguity, Vonnegut's clarity is restorative, his artistry and imagination affirming." --Booklist "Kurt Vonnegut: Complete Stories is a deep dive into one of the great minds in American literature: morally serious, formally adventurous, and topically diverse. A reader could happily spend years wandering around in this book." --Matt Sharpe, bestselling author of The Sleeping Father and Jamestown "This book is big in size and significance ... Meant to get readers thinking, these stories both preserve a lost world and showcase Vonnegut's phenomenal prescience. In his foreword, Dave Eggers pinpoints another key trait: Vonnegut wrote "moral stories" meant to "tell us what's right and what's wrong, and . . . how to live." In our time of dangerous ambiguity, Vonnegut's clarity is restorative, his artistry and imagination affirming." --Booklist "This book is big in size and significance ... Meant to get readers thinking, these stories both preserve a lost world and showcase Vonnegut's phenomenal prescience. In his foreword, Dave Eggers pinpoints another key trait: Vonnegut wrote "moral stories" meant to "tell us what's right and what's wrong, and . . . how to live." In our time of dangerous ambiguity, Vonnegut's clarity is restorative, his artistry and imagination affirming." --Booklist

Review Quote

"Vonnegut's writing explodes with disquieting warnings and lessons that continue to ring true for contemporary readers." -- Huffington Post "Kurt Vonnegut: Complete Stories is a deep dive into one of the great minds in American literature: morally serious, formally adventurous, and topically diverse. A reader could happily spend years wandering around in this book." --Matthew Sharpe, bestselling author of The Sleeping Father and Jamestown "This book is big in size and significance ... Meant to get readers thinking, these stories both preserve a lost world and showcase Vonnegut's phenomenal prescience. In his foreword, Dave Eggers pinpoints another key trait: Vonnegut wrote "moral stories" meant to "tell us what's right and what's wrong, and . . . how to live." In our time of dangerous ambiguity, Vonnegut's clarity is restorative, his artistry and imagination affirming." -- Booklist

Description for Sales People

With five newly discovered and never-before-published stories. Collects all 97 of Vonnegut's short stories together for the first time in a stunning hardback edition. An extraordinary new work for readers, Vonnegut fans, and scholars alike. Editors are highly respected Vonnegutians - a writer and friend and a scholar, both with great knowledge of his work. Stories organised thematically with headnotes to each section by the editors.

Details