Early Life: 

 

Kurt Vonnegut was born on November 11, 1922, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Kurt Vonnegut is "considered one of the most influential American novelists of the twentieth century". Vonnegut  "blended literature with science fiction and humor, the absurd with pointed social commentary" (Bio).

 

After studying at "Cornell University from 1940 to 1942," Kurt Vonnegut enlisted in the U.S. Army (Bio). He was sent by the Army to what is now "Carnegie Mellon University to study engineering in 1943" (Bio). The following year, he served in Europe and fought in "Battle of the Bulge". After the battle, Vonnegut was captured and became a prisoner of war (POW). He was in Dresden, Germany, during the Allied firebombing of the city and saw the complete devastation of the city. Vonnegut’s job "for weeks after the bombing was to gather up and burn the remains of the dead. His experience at Dresden marked him for life" and eventually resulted in his literary masterpiece, Slaughterhouse-Five (Allan).

Vonnegut himself escaped harm only because he, along with other POWs, was working in an underground meat locker making vitamin supplements. 

Soon after his return from the war, Kurt Vonnegut married his high school girlfriend, Jane Marie Cox. The couple had three children. He worked several jobs before his "writing career took off, including newspaper reporter, teacher, and public relations employee for General Electric" (Bio). A lot of Vonnegut;s work is said to be highly influenced from his time in Dresden. 

 

Works

 

Vonnegut published several novels throughout the 1950s and 1960s, beginning with "Player Piano in 1952" (Bio). Player Piano is about a fictional city called "Ilium in which the people have given control of their lives to a computer humorously named EPICAC, after a substance that causes vomiting" (Allen). The Sirens of Titan takes place on several different planets, including Mars, where the inhabitants are electronically controlled. The "fantastic settings of these works serve primarily as a metaphor for modern society, which Vonnegut views as absurd to the point of being surreal (irrational; dreamlike), and as a backdrop for Vonnegut's central focus: the hapless human beings who inhabit these bizarre worlds and struggle with both their environments and themselves" (Bio).

Vonnegut once again focuses on the role of "technology in human society in Cat's Cradle (1963)", widely considered one of his best works (Bio). 

 

 

Further Success

Emerging as a new literary voice, Kurt Vonnegut became known for his unusual writing style—long sentences and little punctuation—as well as his humanist point of view. He continued writing short stories and novels, including Breakfast of Champions (1973), Jailbird (1979) and Deadeye Dick(1982). Vonnegut even made himself the subject of Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage (1981).

Despite his success, Kurt Vonnegut wrestled with his own personal demons. Having struggled with depression on and off for years, he attempted to take his own life in 1984. Whatever challenges he faced personally, Vonnegut became a literary icon with a devoted following. He counted writers such as Joseph Heller, another WWII veteran, as his friends.

 

 

 

 

 

References: 

"Kurt Vonnegut." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.

Allen, William. "A Brief Biography of Kurt Vonnegut." Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library             2012. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.