My Account Wish List
Advanced Search
Print - Close Window
www.greenwood.com/catalog/GM1914.aspx
All Greenwood Products
The Novels of Kurt Vonnegut Imagining Being an American
Donald E. Morse
ISBN: 0-313-31914-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-31914-3
232 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 7/30/2003
List Price: $79.95 (UK Sterling Price: £55.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: Vonnegut belongs to what Emerson called the party of hope but hope clearly restricted to this world. This book is the first scholarly study to discuss all of Vonnegut's novels against the background of his other writing, events of the 20th century, and the vast array of Vonnegut scholarship. In his novels he speaks eloquently and succinctly for his generation of Americans—the central generation of 20th-century Americans—thus making him the representative 20th-century American writer. His novels reflect the major traumatic public and private events that have gone into imagining being an American during that century, including the Great Depression, World War II, the Bomb, Vietnam, the weakening of social institutions, the vicissitudes of marriage and family, divorce, growing old, experiencing loss, and anticipating death.

The book presents a clear, well-argued view of Vonnegut's work within the context of American literature and history. Like a majority of American writers, Vonnegut is a moralistic novelist but one who employs humor to drive home his ethical points. In many respects he most closely resembles Mark Twain not only in being a highly ethical novelist, but also in his use of comedy. His books serve a remarkable range of purposes: social commentary, theological discussion, ethical argument, parody, satire, and prophecy. His work reflects his strong belief in the dignity and worth of all individuals, and as an American pragmatist, he reminds his readers again and again of the unfinished nature of America.
Table of Contents:
  • Preface
    Introduction
    Uttering Our Painful Secret
    No Reviews and Out of Print
    Breaking the Silence
    Under and Inexplicable Sentence of Death
    Thinking Intelligently, Thinking Ethically about Science, Art, and War
    Drowning the Book, Breaking the Staff
    Works Cited and Consulted
    Index
About the Author: DONALD E. MORSE is Visiting Professor of American, Irish, and English Literature at the University of Debrecen, Hungary, and Professor Emeritus of English and Rhetoric at Oakland University. He is the author of numerous articles on Vonnegut and his previous books include The Fantastic in World Literature and the Arts (1987), More Real than Reality: The Fantastic in Irish Literature and the Arts (1991), and The Celebration of the Fantastic (1992), all available from Greenwood Press.
LCC Class: 813
All rights reserved. Copyright © 1999-2009 ABC-CLIO
130 Cremona Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93117 805-968-1911