Kurt Vonnegut

The great Kurt Vonnegut died on Wednesday, and for a moment the earth stopped rotating. To me, he was an inspiration for his brutal honesty, intense skepticism and willingness to think and write utterly strange things. He seemed to be constantly in pursuit of a particular spectrum of truth that only he could see. When I reflect on the aspirations I have for my children, high on the list is that willingness to be brazenly your own self. If that isn't one of the key ingredients of greatness, I don't know what is.

I was fortunate to briefly visit with Vonnegut in his home almost 20 years ago, as I was just beginning my writing career. Here is the published interview that came out of it.

Comments

[Andrew]

Very good interview. I've only read Slaughterhouse 5 & a little of some other one. I find plenty imagination, humour & integrity but I htink as Vonnegut wrote describing Kilgore Trout, & quite clearly an autobiographical point, that he had excellent ideas but wasn't actually a great writer. He seemed a kind of great stand-up philosopher figure rather than a great writer. As far as someone kind of similar but imo a much greater mind & talent, I recommend Victor Pelevin, especially Buddha's Little Finger or Life of Insects.