Kurt Vonnegut

A Novel

Player Piano

The Sirens of Titan

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The protagonist is a writer named John, who decides to pen a book about the day Hiroshima was bombed. His research leads him to Newt Hoenikker, the son of Felix Hoenikker, a physicist instrumental in the creation of the atomic bomb. Newt's recollection of that day is surprisingly mundane; a young child absorbed in play while his father played cat's cradle. Newt's memories of his father are unflattering, painting him as remote and disinterested. Newt, his sister Angela, and his brother Frank had a tumultuous relationship. Their life takes an unexpected turn when Newt gets engaged to a Russian dancer suspected to be a spy.

To deepen his understanding of the Hoenikker family, John visits Ilium, their hometown during World War II. He learns about Frank's reclusive personality and Felix's scientific prowess. He also discovers that Felix, upon military request, had hypothesized a solution to tackle mud that plagued moving troops. This was ice-nine, an isotope of water that could solidify mud, albeit with the potential to freeze all water on Earth. John's curiosity about whether Felix actually created ice-nine is met with denial and hostility. At Felix's gravesite, he learns about Felix's apathy towards his wife from Martin Breed, the local tombstone shop owner.

Unbeknownst to John and others, Felix had indeed created ice-nine, which his children later divided among themselves. Subsequently, they each use it for their personal gains. John is then assigned to write about a philanthropist in San Lorenzo, an island where Frank has become a major general by trading his portion of ice-nine. The island is a "utopian" society under the religion of Bokononism, invented for the comfort of its impoverished inhabitants. However, chaos ensues when the island's dictator and Frank's future father-in-law commits suicide by consuming ice-nine. The incident leads to a global catastrophe when the dictator's body, contaminated with ice-nine, falls into the sea, freezing all the world's water. The survivors, including John and the Hoenikker siblings, find themselves in a frozen world, reflecting on humanity's folly.

Cat's Cradle

Canary in a Cat House

Mother Night

2BR02B

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

Stories

Welcome to the Monkey House

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Born in 1922, Billy Pilgrim leads a rather ordinary life in Ilium, New York, attending night school for optometry and eventually being drafted into World War II. After his father's tragic hunting accident, Billy is shipped overseas and thrust into the infamous Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, where he is captured by the Germans. Amidst the chaos, he has his first experience of time-shifting, seeing his entire life play out at once. He is then transported to a POW camp in Germany, and later to the city of Dresden, where he survives a horrific bombing by hiding in a meat locker of a former slaughterhouse.

After the war, Billy returns to his hometown, completes his optometry studies, and marries Valencia Merble, a wealthy optometry school founder's daughter. Despite seemingly achieving the American dream of wealth and family, he struggles with war memories triggered by simple events in his life, like a barbershop quartet at his eighteenth wedding anniversary. Interestingly, Billy claims to have been abducted by aliens, known as Tralfamadorians, who took him to their home planet and introduced him to new concepts of time and life. 

Following his return to Earth, Billy keeps his alien experiences to himself until a plane crash in 1968 leaves him the sole survivor among his optometrist colleagues. After a brain operation and the accidental carbon monoxide poisoning death of his wife, Billy feels compelled to share his extraordinary experiences with the world. He goes on a radio talk show, writes letters, and even predicts his own death in 1976, alleging that he will be assassinated at the behest of a wartime acquaintance. Billy is unwavering in his belief, stating that he will merely experience the hum of death and then time-shift to another point in his life.

Slaughterhouse-Five

A Play

Happy Birthday, Wanda June

Who Am I This Time? For Romeos and Juliets

Between Time and Timbuktu

Breakfast of Champions

Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons

Slapstick or Lonesome No More!

Jailbird

Sun, Moon, Star

An Autobiographical Collage

Palm Sunday

Deadeye Dick

Fates Worse Than Death

Galapagos

Bluebeard

Hocus Pocus

Timequake

Uncollected Short Fiction

Bagombo Snuff Box

God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian

A Conversation About Writing

Like Shaking Hands with God

Kurt Vonnegut on Mark Twain, Lincoln, Imperialist Wars and the Weather

A Man Without a Country

Armageddon in Retrospect

Short Fiction

Look at the Birdie

The Big Trip Up Yonder

Unpublished Short Fiction

While Mortals Sleep

Letters

A Collection of Previously Unpublished Writing

Sucker's Portfolio

The First and Last Works

We Are What We Pretend To Be

The Graduation Speeches and Other Words to Live By

If This Isn't Nice What Is?

Complete Stories

The Vonnegut Love Letters, 1941-1945

Love, Kurt

Kurt Vonnegut Books in Order (39 Book Series)

Player Piano

A Novel

The Sirens of Titan

A Novel

Cat's Cradle

A Novel

Canary in a Cat House

Mother Night

2BR02B

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

A Novel

Welcome to the Monkey House

Stories

Slaughterhouse-Five

A Novel

Happy Birthday, Wanda June

A Play

Who Am I This Time? For Romeos and Juliets

Between Time and Timbuktu

Breakfast of Champions

A Novel

Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons

Slapstick or Lonesome No More!

A Novel

Jailbird

A Novel

Sun, Moon, Star

Palm Sunday

An Autobiographical Collage

Deadeye Dick

A Novel

Fates Worse Than Death

An Autobiographical Collage

Galapagos

A Novel

Bluebeard

A Novel

Hocus Pocus

Timequake

Bagombo Snuff Box

Uncollected Short Fiction

God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian

Like Shaking Hands with God

A Conversation About Writing

Kurt Vonnegut on Mark Twain, Lincoln, Imperialist Wars and the Weather

A Man Without a Country

Armageddon in Retrospect

Look at the Birdie

Short Fiction

The Big Trip Up Yonder

While Mortals Sleep

Unpublished Short Fiction

Letters

Sucker's Portfolio

A Collection of Previously Unpublished Writing

We Are What We Pretend To Be

The First and Last Works

If This Isn't Nice What Is?

The Graduation Speeches and Other Words to Live By

Complete Stories

Love, Kurt

The Vonnegut Love Letters, 1941-1945

What To Read Next

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