The Critical Response to Kurt Vonnegut

Book excerpt: From the time he left his job as a publicist for General Electric in 1950 to pursue a career as a writer, Kurt Vonnegut has made an indelible mark on American literature. During the first decade of his career, his work appeared chiefly in paperback. With the hardcover publication of Cat's Cradle in 1963, his writings received increasing attention, with criticism of Vonnegut's work flourishing during the decades that followed. This volume traces the critical response to his work. Included in this book are reviews and critical essays on Vonnegut's writings from the roots of his career to the present day. The critical pieces are arranged chronologically from a review of Player Piano to an article on Hocus Pocus. The book systematically covers the critical response to every one of Vonnegut's novels. The first part of the book covers Vonnegut's rise to critical success with the publication of Slaughterhouse-Five in 1969, while the second part focuses on his later work, from Breakfast of Champions (1970) through Hocus Pocus (1990). A selected bibliography concludes the work.