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Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. 1922–

Vonnegut, an American novelist, fantasy writer, short story writer, and playwright, is one of America's best-known and most influential writers of fiction. His great achievement has been the combination of black humor and science fiction to form a powerful commentary on contemporary culture and its destiny. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 1-4, rev. ed.)

For years the literary establishment viewed Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., as a writer of science fiction, certainly nobody to be taken seriously. In 1969 when Slaughterhouse-Five was published, critics seemed confused. The novel did contain flying saucers and robots, but its protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, seemed more concerned with problems of morality and religious faith. What was a science fiction writer doing writing a modern sequel to Pilgrim's Progress? A reading of Vonnegut's earlier novels reveals that rather than a science fiction writer, he has always...

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1. Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. 1922–
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1. Kurt Vonnegut