I cried.

“I was a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all.” -K. Vonnegut

po-tee weet?

Sardonic, funny, insightful…the man will be missed.

Vonnegut criticized most everything. Different in so many ways, but a Hunter Thompson sort of guy, or was Thompson a Vonnegut kind of guy?

Think about the iconoclastic literary voices that were listened to. We are losing them and I am not seeing a healthy resupply.

I read Cat’s Cradle when I was about twelve, and was a devoted admirer ever after.

Yes, we’ve lost some of the great ones, and there are few if any warming up in the bullpen.

One of my fondest memories was hearing Vonnegut speak at UC Davis in 1989. The man was truly one-of-a-kind, and will not be easily replaced. RIP, Kurt – we’ll miss you.

I will miss him. This calls for the breakfast of champions…

So it goes.

I don’t get to use the word “aristophanic” very often, so I’m going to suggest that it is an apt description of Vonnegut ‘s better work. I fell in love with Slaughterhouse 5 when I was about 14 and made my way through most of his novels. K.V.’s use of absurbdist/sci-fi elements in his stories presaged the “magic realism” that became all the rage in the early 90’s. Certainly, works like David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest owe a large debt to Vonnegut. For me, the outrage and dark humor that Vonnegut turned against the hypocrisies of the world were a source of comfort and inspiration. I’ll mourn ya til I join ya, Kurt. Let me pour out some IPA for you and make long distance phone calls, with breath like mustard gas and roses…

I was surprised how sad this made me. I’ve read a number of his novels with enjoyment, and always found his humanism inspiring. A chain smoker (Pall Malls I believe) dying at 84 isn’t surprising, but it was still a blow. It’s a sad day.

He was a good reader of his own work with the perfect voice for it: if there are audio books available check ’em out.

“The Report On The Barnhouse Effect” is one of the greatest anti-war statements ever put to print. The radio version is here, in mp3 format:

http://shiversradio.blogspot.com/2006/06/report-on-barnhouse-effect-professor.html

I screamed involuntarily when I heard the news. I wish he would have written more in his last years. I can’t get enough Vonnegut.

Why the fuck are all the icons of the left dying off, but rightwing lunatics just go merrily on with the air sucking?? Evil must keep its minions operating at any cost, apparently.

Also, I’m pretty sure “Take a flying fuck at a rolling donut” was a common soldier’s phrase during WWII. At least I’ve seen it quoted in a number of memoirs.

“Think about the iconoclastic literary voices that were listened to. We are losing them and I am not seeing a healthy resupply.”

…and that is what worries me the most, I suspect we’re truly fucked.

Draw a full pint, and wish him well, for his like shall not soon pass this way again:

“Oh, all the comrades e’er I had, they’re sorry for my going away.
And all the sweethearts e’er I had, they’d wished me one more day to stay. But since it falls unto my lot, that I should rise and you should not, I gently rise and softly call, Goodnight and joy be with you all.”

Maith thú..slan liat.

Salo is dismantling himself over this news.

You are dearly missed, Kurt. Thank you.

One thing this makes me realize; we have to protect George Carlin. At all costs. N I have to get off my ass n see him perform again, soon.

Hi Ho!

This afternoon I went for a walk on the late Paul Getty’s estate in the Chilterns, the sun was shining and the day was warm, two Red Kites were wheeling overhead in the distance, the birds were singing in the hedgerows and a besotted cock pheasant was walking six pheasant feet behind his mate and I thought what a lovely day. Then I remembered that Kurt Vonnegut had died as the sun went behind a cloud \nd it turned darker and colder. Ho hum.

The way I look at it, I’m just glad he didn’t succeed in his suicide attempt in the 1980s. His books had a great deal of influence on my tiny little teenaged mind.

There are others to follow on, folks. Don’t give up hope. Just off the top of my head I can name someone who is surely the rightful successor to Hunter Thompson. And he’s a blogger:
(oh shit, I don’t know how to link here…here goes nothing)

d r i f t g l a s s

Don’t think that link worked, Snowwy.

Maybe this will work?

Worst thing that ever happened to Vonnegut was getting canonized. I know people who, to this day, are disinclined to pick up one of his books, because they’re supposed to be GOOD FOR YOU AAAIIIIIEEEEE!!!! But of course his densest masterwork is more accessible than a John Saul novel.

.Aspiring English teachers: Please treat Vonnegut with disdain in front of your future students. They’ll be glad you did.

There won’t be another Hunter. Trying to fill his shoes will just dishonor his memory.
I just hope George Saunders finds a small element of intensity. It’s the only thing between him and greatness, if the PRKA manifesto didn’t already do that.
Btw, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read that if you haven’t.
Please.
You’ll understand why.

Oops. Wrong link, but just click Manifesto in the center of the page.

Or there’s the Rude Pundit, if you’re desperate for a replacement.
Maybe he lacks the charisma in person Doc had, but he still puts on a damn good show.

Yes, we’ve lost some of the great ones, and there are few if any warming up in the bullpen.
—

Oh come on. Drop the hang dog, self-pitying loserface attitude. That’s how torture loving Nazis get elected President of the United States. This whole fucking website, its authors and its commenters are straight outta Kurt Vonnegut …

The snark is dark and the snark is deep
I’ve got many caustic smiles before I sleep …

Trying to fill his shoes will just dishonor his memory.

With all deep and true respect, Different Brad, HST wanted his memory to be dishonored. He wanted people to come up on his backside and write 1 million times better than him and make him look like a wimpy, Walter Scott, Victorian ass doily knitting pussy. If HST thought he was the last in the line of writers with stones, he would have committed suicide …

That’s not what I was sayin. I meant that his style, his way, his perspective was his alone, and we can hope for more of his caliber to rise, but if nothing else the world won’t allow for quite his kind to walk this way again.
Shit, who can even find plain vanilla real acid these days? That gummy street shit isn’t actual LSD, but a close analog that doesn’t require heavily regulated ingredients.

Took a few hours for the reality of it to sink in……I started crying on the drive home from work yesterday, which is a bad thing in Miami traffic. It was hearing on the radio that “Slaughterhouse Five” had made it into the Amazon top ten yesterday that triggered it.

They’re actually sort of sold out of it right now – shipping time is currently estimated at one to three weeks.

Now, if only we could pay him a slightly better tribute than that to honor his passing….like taking some of his advice to heart as a nation and as a species.