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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780385333818
ISBN number: 0385333811
Label: Dial Press Trade Paperback
Manufacturer: Dial Press Trade Paperback
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: January 12, 1999
Publishing house: Dial Press Trade Paperback
Release Date: January 12, 1999
Sale Popularity Level: 184559
Studio: Dial Press Trade Paperback
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Product Description:
Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (Opinions) is a rare opportunity to experience Kurt Vonnegut speaking in his own voice about his own life, his views of the world, his writing, and the writing of others. An indignant, outrageous, always witty, and deeply felt collection of reviews, essays, and speeches, this work is a window not only into Vonnegut’s mind...but also into his heart.
“A great cosmic comedian and a rattler of human skeletons, an idealist disguised as a pessimist…has written a book filled with madness and truth and absurdity and self-revelation.”— St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“He is our strongest writer…the most stubbornly imaginative.”—John Irving
* The New York Times
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Rated by buyers 
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Hilarious, frightening, saddening, moving. I love this book and open it often, just to dip in and out, when I need some Vonnegutian insight and humor. It collects his nonfiction from 1965 through 1973, and the contents comprise one gem after another. You find KV expounding on subjects he hasn't engaged elsewhere, like murder (the Cape Cod serial killer Tony Costa), yachting ("Brief Encounters on the Inland Waterway"), and popular spiritualism (the once-notorious Madame Blavatsky). Since many of the pieces date from the late '60s and early '70s, you find him also expressing his own version of disgust and moral outrage at the various wars of attrition then being fought by America and other nations. Then there are the incisive speeches, the modest tributes to the unsung, and a classic Playboy interview. The reviewers are correct who say this collection is more for the Vonnegut fan than the casual or uninitiated reader, but once you've crossed the line from observer to fan, "Wampeters" will flesh out your experience of KV's fiction in surprising ways.
Rated by buyers -
Again, Kurt Vonnegut produces an excellent work of art through literature. This book, Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (Opinions) is a collection of essays written by Vonnegut. It took me only a few hours to begin and finish this book while drinking coffee in front of a coffee shop on a Saturday morning. I found the book to be highly entertaining, generously humorous, and, of course, packed with blithe satire.
Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (Opinions) exists in an aura of surreality, recounting the experiences had by Vonnegut. The preface, itself, explains that the novel contains situations related to ideas that are not only abnormal but not tangible, either. The word wampeter comes from Vonnegut's book, Cat's Cradle (see my review of Cat's Cradle at http://preview.epinions.com/book-review-5DE0-39E4406-397F4030-prod6 ), and it describes any "object around which the lives of many otherwise unrelated people may revolve". This definition, alone, prompts the reader to realize that the book will involve many exemplifications of abstract ideology.
The novel contains essays describing events and satiring politics and societal figures. Vonnegut is one of the world's greatest black-humorists, and it is expected that he will try to offend quite a few persons while writing his works. Thus, Vonnegut's writing may not be for the light-hearted, and if this means you, then maybe you should not rush out to the bookstore and buy this book. However, if you dare to delve into the depths of derogatory literature, then this should be your subsequent book. Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Vonnegut, but very much on my mind since I purchased it off Amazon is "The Losers' Club" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.
Rated by buyers -
The three words relate to lies, general screwups, and artificial families such as fraternities or the army, and are based on Father Kurt's creation Bokonanism from "Cat's Cradle". These essays are a look into the mind of a true original and should not be ignored. Highly recommended from one who has read every Vonnegut novel and essay he could get his hands on!
Rated by buyers -
I've just finished reading the entire Vonnegut collection - this was the last one, and it was a fitting finish. I feel this collection gives the best insight into KV as a person out of all his autobiographical collages (though this one isn't entirely autobiographical). While his other collections show his history, this one gives you some insight into how he thinks and feels. I especially liked the final piece - an interview from Playboy, he's very bitter and opinionated, yet openly vulnerable in it.
Rated by buyers -
Although you'd never guess it from the title, Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons is a collection of essays, speeches, and reviews from Kurt Vonnegut - along with one piece of fiction and one interview. Certainly, it isn't on par with his wonderful fiction (or even his marvelous non-fiction book, Fates Worse Than Death), but neither does it pretend to be. This is a book for those who have already read most of what else Kurt Vonnegut has written. The reviews are nothing to write home about, though some of the essays are quite good - but his public speeches, as always, make for excellent reading. There is a handful of them in here. The highlight of the book, though, for any Vonnegut fan is his long interview with Playboy magazine that closes the book. It's an essential read for any KV fan. I reccommend this book to those who love Kurt Vonnegut and his fiction, and know it. If you're not familar with this quite amusing author, you should pick up some of his marvelous fiction first...
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