5 ms·

Vonnegut is brilliant. I have read almost everything that he has published and love finding new interviews like this. It is very important to remember the Dres

Vonnegut is brilliant. I have read almost everything that he has published and love finding new interviews like this. It is very important to remember the Dresden bombing which was a horrible war crime. Unfortunately, even up to this day there has been little self reflection on the Dresden bombing from official government sources. Same for the horrible and similarly unnecessary nuclear bombings of japan. So it is a good thing one of the best American writers ever born got to witness it, so that it cannot be swept under the rug. Another thing I got from the interview is that it must have been so nice to have these magazines to pay writers good money for short stories. Getting the equivalent of six weeks' salary for a short story is absolutely amazing. And this mind you is not some type of government sponsorship or charitable grant it is all free enterprise -- the magazine made money giving writers so much for their short stories. Most of the best american fiction writers got started writing stories for magazines. I do hope eventually something like this develops on the internet for the modern world.

bmitc 6y ago
Vonnegut is really special. I always like coming back to his Shape of Stories talks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ Here's a longer one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGru_4z1Vc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGru_4z1Vc It's interesting to see the difference in him with age. He seems to giggle more as an older man.
hobby-coder-guy 6y ago
I disagree. The german and japanese people were complicit.
jonjacky 6y ago
I recently ran across a review (from 2013) of Kurt Vonnegut's collected letters. He was working in public relations for General Electric (in the early 1950s, I gather) when he sold his first story to Collier's (a large-circulation magazine of the time). He wrote to his father that if he could sell five stories a year, he would make more than a year's pay at GE. But he wrote in 1986, "the magazines had gone out of business, and I was suddenly in the position of having to write a whole book in order to get what used to be my fee for just one story."
peterashford 6y ago
My favourite American author by a long shot. He never took himself too seriously which lent his works a sense of whimsy which I felt was very engaging. And then while you were engaged, he would sneak in something profound which shook you to the core. Quite a genius
patcon 6y ago
> I do hope eventually something like this develops on the internet for the modern world. Wish-granting in process courtesy of Mozilla's Grant For The Web, dweb nerds, and the co-operative economy :) "contribute to COMPOST, the first author-owned publication on dweb (and web) – in addition to pitching articles you'll contribute (compensated) hours toward shaping the mgmt/strategy of the magazine COMPOST" -- https://twitter.com/spacedflashes/status/1323625620849438720 https://twitter.com/spacedflashes/status/1323625620849438720 "We're excited to host this project! Party popperParty popperParty popper Follow along at :tada::tada::tada: @COMPOSTmag and sign up for the newsletter" -- https://twitter.com/HyphaCoop/status/1314200989793214464 https://twitter.com/HyphaCoop/status/1314200989793214464 "! https://compost.digital https://compost.digital is accepting pitches for creative work, their first issue themed "fertile grounds". timely theme and thoughtful way of approaching media making — they are developing a values-based publishing model. (also they pay!!! key info)" -- https://twitter.com/xrw/status/1326214767925555200 https://twitter.com/xrw/status/1326214767925555200 /shilling for a fellow co-operator's project
goto11 6y ago
Regarding Dresden, it is worth noting that his source David Irving (which he also name drops in this interview) turned out to be a neo-nazi and holocaust denier. Important context for the quote about "the largest massacre in European history." Slaughterhouse 5 is a brilliant book, but as a historical source it is only valid as far as Vonnegut personal experience goes. The information taken from Irving's book is very dubious, for example Irving wildly inflated the number of dead.

bmitc 6y ago

Vonnegut is really special. I always like coming back to his Shape of Stories talks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ Here's a longer one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGru_4z1Vc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGru_4z1Vc It's interesting to see the difference in him with age. He seems to giggle more as an older man.

hobby-coder-guy 6y ago

I disagree. The german and japanese people were complicit.

jonjacky 6y ago

I recently ran across a review (from 2013) of Kurt Vonnegut's collected letters. He was working in public relations for General Electric (in the early 1950s, I gather) when he sold his first story to Collier's (a large-circulation magazine of the time). He wrote to his father that if he could sell five stories a year, he would make more than a year's pay at GE. But he wrote in 1986, "the magazines had gone out of business, and I was suddenly in the position of having to write a whole book in order to get what used to be my fee for just one story."

peterashford 6y ago

My favourite American author by a long shot. He never took himself too seriously which lent his works a sense of whimsy which I felt was very engaging. And then while you were engaged, he would sneak in something profound which shook you to the core. Quite a genius

patcon 6y ago

> I do hope eventually something like this develops on the internet for the modern world. Wish-granting in process courtesy of Mozilla's Grant For The Web, dweb nerds, and the co-operative economy :) "contribute to COMPOST, the first author-owned publication on dweb (and web) – in addition to pitching articles you'll contribute (compensated) hours toward shaping the mgmt/strategy of the magazine COMPOST" -- https://twitter.com/spacedflashes/status/1323625620849438720 https://twitter.com/spacedflashes/status/1323625620849438720 "We're excited to host this project! Party popperParty popperParty popper Follow along at :tada::tada::tada: @COMPOSTmag and sign up for the newsletter" -- https://twitter.com/HyphaCoop/status/1314200989793214464 https://twitter.com/HyphaCoop/status/1314200989793214464 "! https://compost.digital https://compost.digital is accepting pitches for creative work, their first issue themed "fertile grounds". timely theme and thoughtful way of approaching media making — they are developing a values-based publishing model. (also they pay!!! key info)" -- https://twitter.com/xrw/status/1326214767925555200 https://twitter.com/xrw/status/1326214767925555200 /shilling for a fellow co-operator's project

goto11 6y ago

Regarding Dresden, it is worth noting that his source David Irving (which he also name drops in this interview) turned out to be a neo-nazi and holocaust denier. Important context for the quote about "the largest massacre in European history." Slaughterhouse 5 is a brilliant book, but as a historical source it is only valid as far as Vonnegut personal experience goes. The information taken from Irving's book is very dubious, for example Irving wildly inflated the number of dead.