Klinkowitz, Jerome.Kurt Vonnegut’s America. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 2009.
Quote of the Book:
“…in his last book published in his lifetime, he declared himself a man without a country. Yet that country, beleaguered as it was in those years, was not yet without Kurt Vonnegut” (122).
Jerome Klinkowitz, a close and personal friend of Kurt Vonnegut, wrote those words in order to not only encompass the biography he wrote about Vonnegut, but to showcase the essence of the man himself and his impact on America. Kurt Vonnegut’s America, is a biography that chronicles the events in Kurt Vonnegut’s life, and relates both his life and work to the social and political structure of America throughout the past sixty years. From the 1950s until his death in 2007, Kurt Vonnegut played an integral part in American culture. Vonnegut didn’t quite receive recognition for his work until the publication of his novel Slaughterhouse Five, however once readers gained a taste of Vonnegut they could not get enough. Kurt Vonnegut became a significant figure in American culture because it seemed that America needed him. As the quote states, America “wast not yet without Kurt Vonnegut”, which signifies America’s need to have Vonnegut and his work in their lives. As Klinkowitz argues throughout the biography, Vonnegut’s novels seems to speak to the American public in new and exciting ways that provide readers a new perspective on life and other issues. Vonnegut wrote novels in order to expose the different pitfalls of humanity, so that the population itself could distinguish humanity’s shortcomings and do something about it. This is evident within his latest work.
One of his last published works was “A Man Without A Country”, a reference to the quote, is a collection of short essays about the issues in modern American society. Here it seems that the title of the essay itself is representative of Kurt Vonnegut’s feelings of how much the country continues to move backwards and in a sense is no longer a country that he could count on. However despite his rants about many of the problems we see in contemporary America, Vonnegut wrote the essays as a way to serve the American public. As Klinkowitz stated, “Kurt Vonnegut had stayed active late in his life because, in all humility, he felt his country needed him. Or at least he could of use, which we know was the cardinal value he believed human beings could possess” (123). Vonnegut had a genuine desire to write in order to help Americans. Regardless of his feelings about how American culture and politics seems to be going backwards, Vonnegut continues to work and write as a way to enlighten the public. As both quotes suggest, the country accepted Vonnegut and as Klinkowitz describes throughout the biography, his works transcends generations of readers because of the themes, which can still be relatable to current times.
Connections:
In the 1950s, Vonnegut’s career in writing short family weeklies, magazines and short stories began to decline with the rise of television. Klinkowitz recounts Vonnegut’s disdain for television in Chapter One of the biography, which is reminiscent of the current problems with television. Back then it seems that Vonnegut could already see the impact that television had on the family structure and human nature. While describing Vonneguts feelings towards the difference between a simple magazine and television, Klinkowitz writes, “Interesting to note [Vonnegut] says the ads could be as stimulating as the fiction, simply because readers had to engage themselves with the magazine – so unlike just leaning back and turning on the tv” (35). Here, Vonnegut comments on the issues of television and how it creates more of a lazy audience. Vonnegut seemed to love the notion of an engaged and active audience, because instead of just listening to a television, they are reading things and processing them for themselves. This seems to be a big issue with much of today’s television. Today, channels are often filled with meaningless reality shows, dramas, and comedies that don’t really stir up true emotion and thought from an audience. Instead, television is now a form of entertainment that comes through one ear and out of the other. It seems to me that Kurt Vonnegut much more preferred the medium of writing as a way to inform an audience over everything else because he wanted to challenge the audience’s intelligence. Television on the other hand, does not challenge its audience but rather leaves them lulled and just listening to what a colorful box says. This is not what Vonnegut wanted to happen. He wanted the American people to have their own thoughts, opinions that were formed by the social fabric of society at the time. Many American today however, tend to base opinions on what is told to them rather than interpreting what is told and developing their own thought.
Another important connection that I discovered while reading about Vonnegut’s life was the parallelism of his life with Ernest Hemmingways. Klinkowitz touched upon this connection by saying, “Just as Ernest Hemmingway had come home from World War I and found not a world safe for democracy, but a civilization lulled by its own ignorant satisfaction, Kurt Vonnegut had returned from World War II determined to find out why people behaved as they did” (107). Here Klinkowitz showcases how both of the authors came back from a world war that was supposed to better society, however they were met with a new world where the same evils that they tried fight against in the world wars were within their own countries. Klinkowitz doesn’t go into much detail, however, of how this seemed to reflect both of their works. From reading Hemmingway’s novels, particularly The Sun Also Rises, the author depicts this perception of how Americans seemed to dissent into self-indulgence and moral less behavior. The aftermath of World War I created a “Lost Generation” because of how the war affected many of the soldiers on a psychologically level that did not allow them to care. In the same essence, Vonnegut wrote Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five as a way to provide a forum to discuss the atrocities and ramifications of World War II. In Cat’s Cradle, Vonnegut seems to touch upon the destructive manner of using science and technology and how a post World War II society has fostered this idea of advancing society through technology. Vonnegut sees the destruction and regression of this concept, because of how the atomic bomb was used to kill not just to end a war, but as a means to showcase to the world the power of the technology that the United States possessed.
After recently attending a lecture at USD about the relationship between art and activism, I realized how Vonnegut was not only an artist because he was a writer, but he was also an activist because of his writing. The lecture at USD was given by a professor/spoken-word perfomer/recording artist/activist, VJ Jennings. Professor Jennings spoke to the audience about how art is used as a statement and medium for activism. The lecture itself seemed to combine these two elements, and reminded me of Vonnegut himself. Throughout the biography Klinkowitz praises Vonnegut’s work and its impact on society, however he never used the words activism to describe Vonnegut. After reading the biography and gaining better insight as to why Vonnegut wrote the novels and how it related to American life, I feel that Vonengut himself was an activist and artist. Professor Jennings often used spoken word poetry in the lecture as a means to engage the audience while providing a message. The rhythm, style and wit that were within the spoken poetry were reminiscent of Vonnegut’s own rhythm, style and humor that he implements in his writing. I believe Vonnegut to be in the same level as spoken word activists like VJ Jennings because although they had different mediums, they both aimed to enlighten the public about many issues that plague the world. VJ Jennings said during the lecture that art and activism worked hand in hand with one another, and in the same sense Vonnegut’s writing (which was his art) was an act of activism.
Visual Represenation:
The image above exemplifies Klinkowitz’s discussion of the impact of Vonnegut’s work on the public. “So it goes” is a popular quote and mantra from Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse Five. The saying is often said throughout the novel whenever the concept of death is involved. It actually appears one hundred and six times in the book. As the above picture showcases, Vonnegut’s words are embedded into the American culture, and in this case, embedded into the skin. Throughout the biography, Klinkowitz sites the various amounts of Vonnegut fans and how he reached more popularity with the publication of the novel Slaughterhouse Five. With his rising popularing, Vonnegut seemed to become more well known in the public eye not only as an author, but as a philosopher as well. His words began to ring true for much of the American public and it allowed many to gain a different point of view of the world they were living in. Kurt Vonnegut seems to live on even after his death through his work and through the different sayings that reached popularity during his lifetime. As Klinkowitz described in his book, Vonnegut would be remembered as an important figure in America. “As for himself, Kurt Vonnegut feared that he’d be forgotten, or at best regarded as a relic of the 1960s. Ironically his death proved how wrong he was. On the morning of April 12, 2007, The Today Show’s Ann Curry announced his passing as a major news item. That evening NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams treated it with respect for the passing of a Melville or Faulkner”(2). Vonnegut and his work were immortalized by his death, Vonnegut would be anything but forgotten, because his words continue to live on through his grave and are tattooed into the people of America. So it goes.
Questions:
1. In what ways does Klinkowitz use Vonnegut’s writing and works as a reflection of what was currently happening in society and world news?
a. For example, how did his writing in the 1960s differ from his writing in the 1980s based on the current political status of the time?
2. Why did Klinkowitz believe Vonnegut had such an impact on society? Think about what Klinkowitz comments about in Vonnegut’s writing style and the subject matter he tends to focus on in his novels.
3. According to the author, how did Vonnegut seemed to transform as the decades progressed?
a. What events in Vonnegut’s life seemed to shape his writing?
4. According to Klinkowitz, which members of his family had the most impact on Vonnegut and why?
5. Throughout the novel, Klinkowitz names a chapter based on the decade that he discusses in Vonnegut’s life and work. Why does he choose the names for each chapter?
a. For Example:
i. Introduction: Vonnegut Unleashed
ii. Vonnegtu's 1950s: Human Structure
iii. Vonnegut's 1960s: Apocolypse Redone
Reflection:
Kurt Vonnegut’s America was an interesting take in the biographical genre. I quite enjoyed it because it described someone’s life in such a unique. I liked how the author drew parallels with Vonnegut’s real life events with his work and with what was happening in the American public. I thought that this was clever of Klinkowitz, because at the center of things, Vonnegut’s life was truly about being able to educate others. To me, I believed that Vonnegut’s life mission is to write in order to provide the public with information. VJ Jennings said during the lecture that knowledge is power, and in the same sense Vonnegut wanted to empower Americans by instilling them with his own wisdom.
As a whole I enjoyed the novel; however, I found several flaws that I believe took away from some messages of the biography. A lot of times, Klinkowitz would refer to one of Vonnegut’s novels without providing enough context, for me as a reader, to truly understand the argument that he is trying to convey. Klinkowitz often went into deep detail about some of Vonnegut’s novels, and I felt like much of the detail was unnecessary and took away from the purpose of describing those novels as examples n the first place. In addition, I hope to read more of Vonnegut’s novels and now that I know a lot of what now happens in them because of Klinkowitz, I’m a bit disappointed. At some points I feel like I was robbed of hearing the words and stories from Vonnegut himself and instead was hearing them from a secondary source. One other section that I didn’t quite like was the very conclusion of the novel. Although I can appreciate the subtle humor that Klinkowitz is trying to potray, I felt that they very last few pages of the biography did not truly encompass the biography as a whole successfully. I feel as though the end could have been stronger and more consistent with the rest of the biography, however I can understand why Klinkowitz would end the biography with a letter from Vonnegut to him.
Overall I quite liked reading the biography. It provided me with much insight into Vonnegut’s life and made me appreciate and love the author even more than I already do (if that’s even possible). This is a must read for all Kurt Vonnegut fans, however I caution those who do not know anything about Vonnegut to read it. Those who are unfamiliar with Vonnegut will not fully grasp many of the references that Klinkowitz makes in the biography. Vonnegut fans on the other hand, will benefit greatly from reading this biography. They will not only gain a better perspective on Vonnegut and where he is coming from, but they will also gain a better appreciation of the existence of Kurt Vonnegut himself.
In one of his books, Vonnegut titles the novel God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, however I think the more appropriate title should be, God Bless You Mr. Vonnegut.
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