Slaughterhouse-Five

“Indianapolis wasn’t always eager to associate with Vonnegut. Once upon a time, many in our city found him vulgar, obscene, and weird.”

“How do you follow something like Slaughterhouse-Five? It can’t be done.”

The CliffsNotes guide to celebrating all things Vonnegut in 2017.

Banned Books Week starts on September 27. Here’s a list of six reads that rebel against the system.

The Slaughterhouse-Five building inspired the title of what is arguably Kurt Vonnegut’s most famous work. In 1945, he was in its basement when the Allies rained bombs down on Dresden in World War II.

There’s a video monitor in the library with a welcome message from Morley Safer that comes on every few minutes. At one point, it started skipping, and he sounded like Max Headroom.

From Tralfamadorian aliens to Billy Pilgrim’s near-death experience, this fantastical-historical tale would surely make the most levity-laden of splashes in theaters.

Honestly, I didn’t pay that much attention while reading Slaughterhouse-Five in high school English class. Even though it was short compared to other required books—I’m looking at you, Crime and Punishment—I didn’t fully understand the themes. So when assigned to check out a public media event for a new exhibit fashioned by Ball State University students for the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library, I was a bit apprehensive. My Vonnegut knowledge was slim. Yes, I knew that he was from Indiana and that I should be proud of that. I also knew that he had one heck of a mustache. And that’s about it. So when I walked into the KVML yesterday, I was a clean slate personified, although my soul felt dirty for the Slaughterhouse-Five crime.