Fourteen early stories from Vonnegut, never before published; take this as the gift it is. Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
This is the third collection of Vonnegut's early work, following Bagombo Snuff Box (1999) and Armageddon in Retrospect (2008). Most of the stories are typical examples of late 1950s black humor. "Confido" is an audio device that whispers a bitchy commentary on the shortcomings of the owner's real friends, like an inner Joan Rivers. In "Fubar," a marginalized office worker's life is upended by a new secretary from the Girl Pool. In "Hall of Mirrors," two detectives match wits with a hypnotist suspected of murder. All of the stories feel dated, and reading them is similar to watching reruns of old black-and-white TV shows. Vonnegut's America is almost unrecognizable: low tech, mostly blue collar, but with an underlying weirdness, as in Philip K. Dick's work from the same period. But the voice is clearly Vonnegut's (as are the illustrations), and that should be enough to win over fans. VERDICT These early stories lack the polish of Vonnegut's classic novels but track the development of his hugely influential mix of sf and black humor. Important for fans, but first-time readers should start with the better-known titles. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/09.]—Edward B. St. John, Loyola Law Sch. Lib., Los Angeles
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This collection of unpublished fiction sheds light on Vonnegut's early writing, but fails to measure up to the rest of his formidable oeuvre. The stories are brief, vividly imagined and sometimes carry a science-fictional twist with a moral (of sorts), not unlike "Harrison Bergeron." In "Confido," for instance, an inventor manufactures a device that whispers to its users everything they want to hear, with special emphasis on their worst desires and suspicions, while the title story describes an interaction at a bar between a disgruntled man and a self-styled "murder counselor" who has come up with an ingenious method for killing people. Sidney Offit, Vonnegut's longtime friend, notes in an introduction that it's possible these stories went unpublished because they didn't satisfy the author. To be sure, they lack the polish and humor of the author's best-known work. Nevertheless, for devotees, they provide an instructive view of Vonnegut's talent in the making. (Nov.)
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