Kurt Vonnegut's America

by Jerome Klinkowitz

Looks at the career of the novelist, drawing connections between Vonnegut's writings and social and historical developments along with an assessment of his impact on American culture and society.

Genres: Nonfiction

142 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Adam Floridia · Rating 5 out of 5]

With this work, Klinkowitz, the premier Vonnegut scholar, seamlessly interweaves Vonnegut biography with Vonnegut literary criticism. Examining Vonnegut’s works and his life a decade at a time, Klinkowitz delivers a full picture of the man, his canon, and his beliefs. Further, he proves that while Vonnegut very much was “of an age,” he was able to adapt to become “for all time” too.

I highly recommend this for anyone interested in Vonnegut. His life is such a part of his fiction that it is hard to separate the two, anyway. In addition, Klinkowitz masterfully touches on some heavy critical theories (postmodernism, deconstruction) in a way that makes them wholly accessible to the average reader.

Perhaps the reason I enjoyed this so much is that Klinkowitz’ writing mirrors Vonnegut’s own in both of these senses.

[Kathleen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

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