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Stringere la mano a Dio : Conversazione sulla scrittura
Cos’è la scrittura? In due occasioni – la prima in una libreria di Union Square a Manhattan, davanti a un pubblico di diverse centinaia di ascoltatori attenti e calorosi, la seconda durante un pranzo fra amici al Café de Paris – Kurt Vonnegut e Lee Stringer cercano di trovare delle risposte.
Così diversi per età, provenienza, educazione, istruzione, entrambi hanno in comune obiettivi e aspirazioni, prima fra tutte quella di scrivere libri che facciano la differenza.
E mentre discutono della loro vocazione condivisa ci regalano metafore indimenticabili del processo della scrittura, che non è certo un modo “per fare soldi, ma per prendersi cura delle proprie nevrosi, migliorare se stessi”; e quando si compie “è come stringere la mano a Dio”.
Così diversi per età, provenienza, educazione, istruzione, entrambi hanno in comune obiettivi e aspirazioni, prima fra tutte quella di scrivere libri che facciano la differenza.
E mentre discutono della loro vocazione condivisa ci regalano metafore indimenticabili del processo della scrittura, che non è certo un modo “per fare soldi, ma per prendersi cura delle proprie nevrosi, migliorare se stessi”; e quando si compie “è come stringere la mano a Dio”.
2 pages, Audiobook
First published October 5, 1999
16 people are currently reading
1895 people want to read
About the author
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
712 books36.6k followersKurt Vonnegut, Junior was an American novelist, satirist, and most recently, graphic artist. He was recognized as New York State Author for 2001-2003.
He was born in Indianapolis, later the setting for many of his novels. He attended Cornell University from 1941 to 1943, where he wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Vonnegut trained as a chemist and worked as a journalist before joining the U.S. Army and serving in World War II.
After the war, he attended University of Chicago as a graduate student in anthropology and also worked as a police reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. He left Chicago to work in Schenectady, New York in public relations for General Electric. He attributed his unadorned writing style to his reporting work.
His experiences as an advance scout in the Battle of the Bulge, and in particular his witnessing of the bombing of Dresden, Germany whilst a prisoner of war, would inform much of his work. This event would also form the core of his most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five, the book which would make him a millionaire. This acerbic 200-page book is what most people mean when they describe a work as "Vonnegutian" in scope.
Vonnegut was a self-proclaimed humanist and socialist (influenced by the style of Indiana's own Eugene V. Debs) and a lifelong supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The novelist is known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973)
He was born in Indianapolis, later the setting for many of his novels. He attended Cornell University from 1941 to 1943, where he wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Vonnegut trained as a chemist and worked as a journalist before joining the U.S. Army and serving in World War II.
After the war, he attended University of Chicago as a graduate student in anthropology and also worked as a police reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. He left Chicago to work in Schenectady, New York in public relations for General Electric. He attributed his unadorned writing style to his reporting work.
His experiences as an advance scout in the Battle of the Bulge, and in particular his witnessing of the bombing of Dresden, Germany whilst a prisoner of war, would inform much of his work. This event would also form the core of his most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five, the book which would make him a millionaire. This acerbic 200-page book is what most people mean when they describe a work as "Vonnegutian" in scope.
Vonnegut was a self-proclaimed humanist and socialist (influenced by the style of Indiana's own Eugene V. Debs) and a lifelong supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The novelist is known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
December 6, 2023
A written down conversation between Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer provided insight into what it might have been like to witness the greatness that is Kurt Vonnegut. Completely nonchalant, in a chill setting and with another writer he admired, Kurt Vonnegut imbues charisma and humor.
Not the first book I would recommend to those who want an introduction into his work, but definitely one for those loyal devotees out there like myself.
the vonnegut collection
1. player piano
2. the sirens of titan
3. mother night
4. 2BR02B
5. cat's cradle
6. canary in the cat house or welcome to the monkey house (i owed the latter and it had majority of the short stories featured in the former)
7. god bless you, mr. rosewater
8. slaughterhouse-five
9. happy birthday, wanda june
10. between time and timbuktu
11. breakfast of champions
12. wampeters, foma and granfalloons
13. slapstick, or lonesome no more!
14. jailbird
15. sun, moon, star
16. palm sunday
17. deadeye dick
18. fates worse then death
19. galapagos
20. bluebeard
21. hocus pocus
22. timequake
23. god bless you, dr. kevorkian
24. bogombo snuff box
25. like shaking hands with god
26. kurt vonnegut on mark twain, lincoln, imperialist wars and the weather
27. a man without a country
28. armageddon in retrospect
29. look at the birdie
30. while mortals sleep
31. sucker's portfolio
32. letters
33. we are what we pretend to be
34. if this isn't nice, what is?
35. complete stories
36. love, kurt: the vonnegut love letters, 1941-1975
Not the first book I would recommend to those who want an introduction into his work, but definitely one for those loyal devotees out there like myself.
the vonnegut collection
1. player piano
2. the sirens of titan
3. mother night
4. 2BR02B
5. cat's cradle
6. canary in the cat house or welcome to the monkey house (i owed the latter and it had majority of the short stories featured in the former)
7. god bless you, mr. rosewater
8. slaughterhouse-five
9. happy birthday, wanda june
10. between time and timbuktu
11. breakfast of champions
12. wampeters, foma and granfalloons
13. slapstick, or lonesome no more!
14. jailbird
15. sun, moon, star
16. palm sunday
17. deadeye dick
18. fates worse then death
19. galapagos
20. bluebeard
21. hocus pocus
22. timequake
23. god bless you, dr. kevorkian
24. bogombo snuff box
25. like shaking hands with god
26. kurt vonnegut on mark twain, lincoln, imperialist wars and the weather
27. a man without a country
28. armageddon in retrospect
29. look at the birdie
30. while mortals sleep
31. sucker's portfolio
32. letters
33. we are what we pretend to be
34. if this isn't nice, what is?
35. complete stories
36. love, kurt: the vonnegut love letters, 1941-1975
August 31, 2011
A very short read. The first half reported on a book reading held in 1998, in which Lee Stringer and Kurt Vonnegut discuss their new books. The second half deals with a private follow-up conversation that the authors had.
I especially liked the way they brought Mark Twain and heaven and Hell into it.
My favorite passage, an excerpt from Stringer's book "Grand Central Winter":
"When it comes to justice, the kind that gets you locked up is different than the kind you find inside. Personally I would like to see all judges and district attorneys made to do time. Not for the crimes they commit from the bench. For those they commit out of ignorance. Which is precisely why time in prison should be part of their qualifications. So that they might come to know what they don't know they don't know.
Let them sit faceless and despised in the holding cells, let them be run through the wringer of their process until the wind has been wrung out of their self-righteousness. And let them stumble upon the wisdom every two-bit con knows instinctively, that real justice is always poetic."
I especially liked the way they brought Mark Twain and heaven and Hell into it.
My favorite passage, an excerpt from Stringer's book "Grand Central Winter":
"When it comes to justice, the kind that gets you locked up is different than the kind you find inside. Personally I would like to see all judges and district attorneys made to do time. Not for the crimes they commit from the bench. For those they commit out of ignorance. Which is precisely why time in prison should be part of their qualifications. So that they might come to know what they don't know they don't know.
Let them sit faceless and despised in the holding cells, let them be run through the wringer of their process until the wind has been wrung out of their self-righteousness. And let them stumble upon the wisdom every two-bit con knows instinctively, that real justice is always poetic."
August 9, 2024
Leggerei pure la lista della spesa di Vonnegut
January 23, 2020
Due conversazioni tra Kurt Vonnegut e Lee Stringer sulla scrittura.
LEE: “Mi sono divertito un mondo a imbattermi... per me è sempre una questione di gioia della scoperta. In un certo senso, mi piacerebbe non sapere cosa sto facendo. A cercare di scoprire come fare a riempire queste pagine mi sono divertito un sacco. Poi, quando ormai ero convinto che non ci sarei mai riuscito: bingo! È successo qualcosa. È stato come stringere la mano a Dio. La ricompensa perfetta per le ore passate a chiedermi se sarei mai stato capace di fare quello che stavo cercando di fare, davvero.”
Scrivere è come stringere la mano di Dio. Come se qualcuno da dentro dettasse le parole.
KURT: “Cosa ci accomuna? Be’, lo hai già detto. Scriviamo prendendo spunto dalle nostre vite, e per noi diventare degli scrittori è stato piuttosto semplice, perché avevamo qualcosa di cui scrivere.”
Ma avere qualcosa da dire non basta. Bisogna essere appassionati. Bisogna avere il fuoco vivo dentro.
KURT: “Quando insegno – ho insegnato all’Iowa Writers’ Workshop per un paio d’anni, al City College, a Harvard... – non mi rivolgo a coloro che vogliono diventare scrittori. Cerco persone che siano appassionate, che coltivino ossessioni per qualche argomento. C’è gente che ha una quantità spaventosa di idee, Lee ne è l’esempio emblematico, e se hai una quantità spaventosa di idee in testa, la voce per esprimerle verrà da sola, le parole giuste verranno da sole, i paragrafi usciranno bene. Prendi Joseph Conrad, per esempio, per il quale l’inglese era la terza lingua, ma che era illuminato da una grande passione. Le parole sono venute e hanno dato vita a dei capolavori.”
Non ci avevo fatto caso al rovescio della medaglia del saper scrivere, che è il saper leggere: “La letteratura è l’unica forma d’arte che esiga un pubblico composto a sua volta di artisti, naturalmente. Per fruirne bisogna saper leggere. E maledettamente bene, anche. Bisogna saper leggere talmente bene da cogliere l’ironia.”
“Poi ci sono faccende come la “morte del romanzo”: non è mai stato del tutto in vita – ripeto, il suo pubblico di lettori deve essere composto essenzialmente da artisti e un pubblico del genere è necessariamente molto ristretto.”
Scrivere per se stessi e per gli altri, scrivere per restare umani: “Per me, in tutto questo, la sfida è quella di restare umani, di provare a compiere gesti umani, di cercare di ricordarci la condizione nella quale siamo nati. Secondo me è già una grande sfida essere umani. La sfida non è tanto cercare d’essere qualcos’altro, ma è proprio il sentirsi... umani.”
LEE: “Mi sono divertito un mondo a imbattermi... per me è sempre una questione di gioia della scoperta. In un certo senso, mi piacerebbe non sapere cosa sto facendo. A cercare di scoprire come fare a riempire queste pagine mi sono divertito un sacco. Poi, quando ormai ero convinto che non ci sarei mai riuscito: bingo! È successo qualcosa. È stato come stringere la mano a Dio. La ricompensa perfetta per le ore passate a chiedermi se sarei mai stato capace di fare quello che stavo cercando di fare, davvero.”
Scrivere è come stringere la mano di Dio. Come se qualcuno da dentro dettasse le parole.
KURT: “Cosa ci accomuna? Be’, lo hai già detto. Scriviamo prendendo spunto dalle nostre vite, e per noi diventare degli scrittori è stato piuttosto semplice, perché avevamo qualcosa di cui scrivere.”
Ma avere qualcosa da dire non basta. Bisogna essere appassionati. Bisogna avere il fuoco vivo dentro.
KURT: “Quando insegno – ho insegnato all’Iowa Writers’ Workshop per un paio d’anni, al City College, a Harvard... – non mi rivolgo a coloro che vogliono diventare scrittori. Cerco persone che siano appassionate, che coltivino ossessioni per qualche argomento. C’è gente che ha una quantità spaventosa di idee, Lee ne è l’esempio emblematico, e se hai una quantità spaventosa di idee in testa, la voce per esprimerle verrà da sola, le parole giuste verranno da sole, i paragrafi usciranno bene. Prendi Joseph Conrad, per esempio, per il quale l’inglese era la terza lingua, ma che era illuminato da una grande passione. Le parole sono venute e hanno dato vita a dei capolavori.”
Non ci avevo fatto caso al rovescio della medaglia del saper scrivere, che è il saper leggere: “La letteratura è l’unica forma d’arte che esiga un pubblico composto a sua volta di artisti, naturalmente. Per fruirne bisogna saper leggere. E maledettamente bene, anche. Bisogna saper leggere talmente bene da cogliere l’ironia.”
“Poi ci sono faccende come la “morte del romanzo”: non è mai stato del tutto in vita – ripeto, il suo pubblico di lettori deve essere composto essenzialmente da artisti e un pubblico del genere è necessariamente molto ristretto.”
Scrivere per se stessi e per gli altri, scrivere per restare umani: “Per me, in tutto questo, la sfida è quella di restare umani, di provare a compiere gesti umani, di cercare di ricordarci la condizione nella quale siamo nati. Secondo me è già una grande sfida essere umani. La sfida non è tanto cercare d’essere qualcos’altro, ma è proprio il sentirsi... umani.”
March 24, 2015
Lissom pamphlet containing two short conversations between Lee Stringer (who?) and Kurt The Vonnegut. No need for this to exist except as further KV completist fodder.
January 30, 2018
After reading the forward I realized I had already seen the first conversation on youtube. :/
Still a nice piece in my collection of everything Kurt Vonnegut.
Still a nice piece in my collection of everything Kurt Vonnegut.
October 29, 2019
Pleasant enough to pass the time, but inessential.
July 4, 2011
I almost always approach books like this one with a high-lighter and red pen ready to pull out the gems and become part of the conversation. However, this book really didn't offer me much in the way of any formal note taking or even profound reflections. Upon first reading I only highlighted five expressions (an all-time low for an OCD reader like myself) throughout the entire text. This was probably due in large part to the extreme brevity of the text. I just didn't want these conversations to stop. I finished thinking to myself .. That's it?! ... You gotta be shitting me; two great writers and this is it? ... Oh well. After some reflection I did realize that this book was compelling enough to read it in one, though brief, sitting. And then I realized that I missed the point and that this book had nothing to do with the profound. The outcome of the writer often gives the reader the false impression that the process of writing is as bold as the end product but sometimes this process is anything but profound: it can be tedious, frustrating, and down-rite dull. Like most handshakes, those moments of exhilaration are fleeting and few and far between with those we most admire. So when I shake hands with God I now know not to expect too much. This book gave me the most positive sense of disappointment I can remember in a very long time. To paraphrase a comment Kurt Vonnegut made to Lee Stringer, this book was a wonderful gift in the process of soul building.
April 4, 2019
You'll only get as much out of this as you're looking for, but even that has its limits. If you're looking for some secret, surefire trick to writing something good, you're out of luck. But you may just find some tidbits you're probably able to take with you on your trip to forever. If you enjoy works like Stringer's and Vonnegut's, this is a great inside to topics like: why write? to what audience? what's the greatest accomplishment? It also has some other interesting, rambly questions like: if you could go back to Earth or sleep eternally, which would you choose?
I think I took a lot from this. I went into this only having read Vonnegut's work, but I'm glad I got to meet Stringer and I'm intrigued by Grand Central Winter. I'll pick it up in the future, especially because Vonnegut praised it. I'll read anything and everything he ever praised.
I think I took a lot from this. I went into this only having read Vonnegut's work, but I'm glad I got to meet Stringer and I'm intrigued by Grand Central Winter. I'll pick it up in the future, especially because Vonnegut praised it. I'll read anything and everything he ever praised.
November 21, 2014
This is a tiny little volume, really no longer than a magazine interview, but as the subtitle accurately states is a conversation by two writers about writing. My favorite line: The door to hell is locked from the inside.
June 23, 2021
“KURT: Well, could you tell the story, Lee? Where were you when you discovered that you could really write?
LEE: I was just sitting there with a pencil ... And I started writing.”
LEE: I was just sitting there with a pencil ... And I started writing.”
December 8, 2018
This book collects two conversations between authors, Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer, that provide wonderful insight on the writing process in their own words. The authors discuss the similarities and differences in their writing experiences and processes, especially how self-awareness of being a writer affects you, and what it feels like to write during moments of inspiration. I wish the book had more material about/from Stinger and Vonnegut -- it's a very short little volume, even with excerpts of each author's work and some things that they reference. Perhaps the best part of this volume is that it introduced me to the work of Lee Stringer; I'm looking forward to reading "Grand Central Winter" in the near future.
October 22, 2024
I think it’s wonderful to be able to have record of a conversation between two really influential voices. While I have been a longtime fan of Kurt, haven’t explored much of Lee’s writing— but I am on the lookout. independent bookstores, fear me. the next copy of GCW is mine.
August 10, 2022
This book could be distilled into 2 or 3 good quips on writing. Didn't chew on this one very long. Very base interview(s) slopped onto the page. It is nice to have a little more of Kurt's candid personality on the page, but this is by no means a "great" conversation with myriad parables of how to write.
December 29, 2009
Amazing! Everyone should read these interviews. It will make you feel better. It will make you feel human. Beautiful!
March 3, 2011
I liked this book so much I wrote a blog post about it:
http://let-sleeping-dragons-lie.blogs...
http://let-sleeping-dragons-lie.blogs...
April 9, 2013
I am a Vonnegut fan, and I enjoyed reading these interviews. It is a slim volume, though this book does offer some thoughtful advice and words of wisdom to others trying to make a living with words.
April 2, 2017
Really short, but really good.
October 21, 2024
Oggi voglio raccontarvi del libro che ho appena terminato, si tratta di “Stringere la mano a Dio di Kurt Vonnegut e Lee Stringer” l’ho ascoltato su Storytel nel tragitto per andare al lavoro, è uno dei miei momenti che mi sono ritagliata nelle mie giornate lunghe e impegnative per
Dedicarmi ai miei amici libri, che spesso trascuro per stanchezza o pigrizia.
📖 Kurt Vonnegut era un soldato statunitense che durante la seconda guerra mondiale viene catturato dai nazisti e detenuto a Dresda, quando la Royal Air Force e la United States Army Air Force bombardano la città lui si trova lì, questa esperienza lo porterà a scrivere “Mattatoio n°5”.
📖Lee Stringer dopo essere andato in bancarotta finisce a fare il senzatetto nella stazione di Grand Central a New York e per non farsi mancare niente si fa anche di crack.
Ad un certo punto con la stessa matita che usava per drogarsi decide di scrivere, e da lì nasce “Inverno alla Grand Central”.
📖Entrambi hanno utilizzato le loro esperienze di vita per tirare fuori qualcosa di splendido che è passato alla storia, spero di poterli leggere presto, sopratutto Vonnegut che ho incontrato parecchie volte nell’instagram ultimamente.
Prima non l’avevo mai sentito nominare lo ammetto.
📖“La scrittura, che non è certo un modo per fare soldi, ma per prendersi cura delle proprie nevrosi, migliorare se stessi; e quando si compie è come stringere la mano a Dio”.
📖 In una libreria di Union Square a Manhattan e durante un pranzo fra amici al Café de Paris, Kurt Vonnegut e Lee Stringer si interrogano e vengono interrogati sulla natura e sulla potenza della scrittura.
Che cosa è per loro la scrittura? Che cosa provano quando scrivono? Che cosa gli ha insegnato e che cosa ha lasciato loro?
• 📖 Cercano di rispondere a tutte queste domande nel loro stile umoristico e leggermente scanzonato che proprio perchè trattato in questa chiave rende l’argomento accessibile a tutti ed estremamente interessante.
Quello che emerge dalla loro conversazione è sicuramente che la scrittura ha un suo perchè aiuta le persone ad uscire da situazioni difficili, analizza paure, depressioni, idiosincrasie, si può dire che è un processo catartico vero e proprio, quasi come stringere la mano a Dio.
Dedicarmi ai miei amici libri, che spesso trascuro per stanchezza o pigrizia.
📖 Kurt Vonnegut era un soldato statunitense che durante la seconda guerra mondiale viene catturato dai nazisti e detenuto a Dresda, quando la Royal Air Force e la United States Army Air Force bombardano la città lui si trova lì, questa esperienza lo porterà a scrivere “Mattatoio n°5”.
📖Lee Stringer dopo essere andato in bancarotta finisce a fare il senzatetto nella stazione di Grand Central a New York e per non farsi mancare niente si fa anche di crack.
Ad un certo punto con la stessa matita che usava per drogarsi decide di scrivere, e da lì nasce “Inverno alla Grand Central”.
📖Entrambi hanno utilizzato le loro esperienze di vita per tirare fuori qualcosa di splendido che è passato alla storia, spero di poterli leggere presto, sopratutto Vonnegut che ho incontrato parecchie volte nell’instagram ultimamente.
Prima non l’avevo mai sentito nominare lo ammetto.
📖“La scrittura, che non è certo un modo per fare soldi, ma per prendersi cura delle proprie nevrosi, migliorare se stessi; e quando si compie è come stringere la mano a Dio”.
📖 In una libreria di Union Square a Manhattan e durante un pranzo fra amici al Café de Paris, Kurt Vonnegut e Lee Stringer si interrogano e vengono interrogati sulla natura e sulla potenza della scrittura.
Che cosa è per loro la scrittura? Che cosa provano quando scrivono? Che cosa gli ha insegnato e che cosa ha lasciato loro?
• 📖 Cercano di rispondere a tutte queste domande nel loro stile umoristico e leggermente scanzonato che proprio perchè trattato in questa chiave rende l’argomento accessibile a tutti ed estremamente interessante.
Quello che emerge dalla loro conversazione è sicuramente che la scrittura ha un suo perchè aiuta le persone ad uscire da situazioni difficili, analizza paure, depressioni, idiosincrasie, si può dire che è un processo catartico vero e proprio, quasi come stringere la mano a Dio.
June 12, 2020
This is an interesting discussion, although I'm not convinced that it makes for a book. It's great to be introduced to Lee Stringer, and I'm interested in reading his book Grand Central Winter. I liked the insights that both men had about how and why they write. Learning about how other people approach the creative process is helpful for writers, and I appreciate their thoughts, even if I don't necessarily think that all of their opinions are applicable to me. I think every writer will find some wisdom in here, although it will be different for everyone.
On the other hand, as has been mentioned in other reviews, more than half of this is a transcript of a video available on YouTube. It also serves as a bit of a promotional tour for the authors' latest books. This led to a bit of duplication of humor, which hurt the impact (e.g. Vonnegut has some clever lines at the beginning, but then the moderator read a couple of excerpts from Timequake, which contained the same lines). While I bought the book because I love Vonnegut, I think Stringer came out as the star for me. Vonnegut had answers to all of the questions, but Stringer seemed to be reflecting and learning as the discussion progressed, so it was interesting to see his thought process.
This is not an essential Vonnegut book (unless, like me, you're a completionist), but it was a short and fun read while I was in between other books.
On the other hand, as has been mentioned in other reviews, more than half of this is a transcript of a video available on YouTube. It also serves as a bit of a promotional tour for the authors' latest books. This led to a bit of duplication of humor, which hurt the impact (e.g. Vonnegut has some clever lines at the beginning, but then the moderator read a couple of excerpts from Timequake, which contained the same lines). While I bought the book because I love Vonnegut, I think Stringer came out as the star for me. Vonnegut had answers to all of the questions, but Stringer seemed to be reflecting and learning as the discussion progressed, so it was interesting to see his thought process.
This is not an essential Vonnegut book (unless, like me, you're a completionist), but it was a short and fun read while I was in between other books.
July 15, 2023
like shaking hands with god: a conversation about writing is a conversation between kurt vonnegut and lee stringer.
in it there's amention of a previously unknown to me mark twain story - an extract from 'captain stormfield’s visit to heaven'. the captain is a great writer (who worked his whole life as a tailor). he is never read (but in heaven he receives his honour).
before he became a writer lee was homeless and crack addicted and using a pencil to clean out the mesh in his crack pipe when he ran out of crack. to kill time (when he'd run out of crack) he began writing with the pencil... five hours later he stopped (but he was hooked). this may be because, as kurt says paraphrasing psychoanalyst edmund bergler, writing allows us to treat our own neuroses, by writing.
vonnegut is attentive to the losses that computers bring - in going out and wandering around and meeting people - this is a loss in experience, this is why he still uses a typewriter (and then annotates it in pencil).
in it there's amention of a previously unknown to me mark twain story - an extract from 'captain stormfield’s visit to heaven'. the captain is a great writer (who worked his whole life as a tailor). he is never read (but in heaven he receives his honour).
before he became a writer lee was homeless and crack addicted and using a pencil to clean out the mesh in his crack pipe when he ran out of crack. to kill time (when he'd run out of crack) he began writing with the pencil... five hours later he stopped (but he was hooked). this may be because, as kurt says paraphrasing psychoanalyst edmund bergler, writing allows us to treat our own neuroses, by writing.
vonnegut is attentive to the losses that computers bring - in going out and wandering around and meeting people - this is a loss in experience, this is why he still uses a typewriter (and then annotates it in pencil).
September 13, 2025
Conversations/interviews with Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer, a writer who wrote a book Grand Central Winter about living homeless and addicted in New York in the 80s. Stringer is now forgotten, but he comes away far more thoughtful and modest, although the excerpt he reads (they both read excerpts) is not great. Vonnegut comes off as brash, self-indulgent, and annoying. "I'm a chair of the American Humanist Association but to me music is the proof of God" --> what do I do with this statement? Also he is very lightly dismissive of Stringer's difficulties writing a followup to GCW, saying he only needed to write the one book and that in the middle ages he'd be dead. Maybe just goofing around, but it comes off as cruel, especially given Stringer did not succeed as a writer afterwards. Only good thing Vonnegut says is to put a million-dollar fatwa on Bill Gates' head.
Edit: was thinking of how weird it is that Vonnegut? best known for an iconic pacifist novel, announces in this that, were he younger, his high school civics instruction would have compelled him to enlist to fight in Vietnam. Contradictory sf hypothesis (I mean this is Vonnegut) aside, what a moral diasspointment.
Edit: was thinking of how weird it is that Vonnegut? best known for an iconic pacifist novel, announces in this that, were he younger, his high school civics instruction would have compelled him to enlist to fight in Vietnam. Contradictory sf hypothesis (I mean this is Vonnegut) aside, what a moral diasspointment.
October 13, 2021
I imagine that witnessing the live conversation was charming, but this transcript was honestly not worth the brief read. Everything interesting Vonnegut said was a paraphrase of something more polished in other writings. Stringer, who I had never encountered before this book, had more to offer, but most of it felt flat. Maybe he was a bit cowed by being in KV’s presence, maybe the transcript doesn’t do his oratory justice. Whatever it was, his best line was spoiled by the title of the book. (No surprise, it’s a great line.)
Two quotes worth extracting:
KV: “Well, you gave us a wonderful gift in the process of building your soul.” (Re: Lee’s book “Grand Central Winter”)
LS: “The condition of the world, as far as I’m concerned, is always about the personal stuff. We put it up on a big scale, but it’s *really* about the personal stuff.”
There, now you can go read something else!
Two quotes worth extracting:
KV: “Well, you gave us a wonderful gift in the process of building your soul.” (Re: Lee’s book “Grand Central Winter”)
LS: “The condition of the world, as far as I’m concerned, is always about the personal stuff. We put it up on a big scale, but it’s *really* about the personal stuff.”
There, now you can go read something else!
April 8, 2021
Optimal for procrastination. If you are writing or editing or have to do work that you don't want to do, this is a good book to push off that work for just a little bit longer. Pleasant, short, pithy.
Not really any Bombshells in here, there are things to be said for writing as good thing, and a rare acknowledgement that not writing can be just as good because it is painful and hard and difficult and won't make you any money and you will die in obscurity if not lucky. Gut Punch reality check.
Not really any Bombshells in here, there are things to be said for writing as good thing, and a rare acknowledgement that not writing can be just as good because it is painful and hard and difficult and won't make you any money and you will die in obscurity if not lucky. Gut Punch reality check.
December 29, 2020
In two different sessions, authors Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer sit down with a moderator and chat. The excerpts collected in this book fall anywhere from casual chatting between admiring colleagues and similarly casual nuggets of pure artistic wisdom. It's as inspiring as it is brief.
There isn't a ton more to say about this book which is, exactly as it says, a conversation about writing. That's all. That's the whole dang thing. If that's what you expect it to be, you'll have as grand a time as I did.
There isn't a ton more to say about this book which is, exactly as it says, a conversation about writing. That's all. That's the whole dang thing. If that's what you expect it to be, you'll have as grand a time as I did.
September 15, 2021
My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.
May 28, 2025
It's a breezy read, as its just a transcript of a public interview and a short conversation, but worth every line. Though I know it will sound pretentious to say, it honestly made me feel like a writer even though I've never written anything of length - let alone a whole book. But it also made me feel like a truly dedicated reader again, in a way I've sort of lost in the past 15 years or so. I'm grateful for that, and for this book's place in the Vonnegut bibliography.
January 24, 2021
A great series of conversations targeted at aspiring and current writers, Kurt and Lee don't give direction but rather inspiration. Funny, cunning, and insightful, these two authors present a candid approach to their writing. A rather quick read, you must pick this up if you write any sort of genre.
January 2, 2024
Fascinating - and not just for aspiring writers. Fascinating for those who have ever felt touched by a book or author, by those enamored with the power of art over the artist and by those amateur anthropologists, who may find it interesting to read both the conversation itself and between the lines.
May 6, 2024
Mi aspettavo forse qualcosa in più. Giusto un paio di altri libri da eventualmente leggere. inverno a Grand Central del cointervistato (che non ho mai letto, ma potrebbe essere interessante un romanzo sulla vita dei barboni), l'altro quello da cui è tratta la citazione sul finale di Twain Viaggio in paradiso in cui il più grande scrittore è un sarto.
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