Buried in the back pages of newspapers and passed over in favor of more
While Vonnegut's death struck me pretty hard, what hit harder was the response I received when I told anyone the grim news: "Who's Kurt Vonnegut?" Unfortunately, much like Vonnegut's writing, there's no one simple answer to the question.
My high school English teacher, Mr. Arnone, was always known as the "cool" teacher; the only teacher who had the guts to give students stories none of the older teachers would give. One memorable day, he handed me a packet entitled "Harrison Bergeron."
"Kurt Vonnegut? Sounds familiar, I don't think I've ever read anything from him," I thought to myself.
My teacher was obviously enjoying the fact that he could teach this story to his class of impressionable youths, hoping to share his excitement with at least one student.
Before reading along together, I started looking at it on my own, and I couldn't stop reading. It was like nothing I had ever read before. The way he was able to mix social commentary while tugging on the heartstrings of the reader was incredible.
I was enthralled by the story, reading it over and over. That little five-page packet changed everything for me.
After finishing the book, I went to the library to get as many of his books as I could get my underage hands on. From "Cat's Cradle" to "Slaughter House-Five," I told myself I would not stop until I read it all. Unfortunately, I haven't read it all yet, but damn if I haven't gotten through most.
He was everything I wished I could be when it came to writing. He was able to mix satire with science fiction while using his dry sense of humor on actual events in his own life.
Vonnegut was a prisoner of war in 1945, where he survived the Dresden bombings. He later used the experience as his muse for writing "Slaughter House-Five," which is considered a classic by most literary experts. It was included in TIME Magazine's one hundred all-time best English novels written since 1923. But I bet very few know that.
He continued writing up until his death in both the novel and journalistic form. Vonnegut could take a trip to the post office and make it more entertaining than any of the books found on the best seller's list.
After reading more of his work, I realized I wanted to write for a living. I wanted to be just like him, creating a style that would change the way people read to be different and exciting. I wanted the ability to teach some lost, young kid in high school, like I was, the mix of entertainment and depth found in a Vonnegut-inspired novel.
In his collection of short fiction, he wrote the eight rules to writing a short story. Number seven stuck with me the most.
"7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia."
As I'm sitting here looking at this article, I'm realizing that even though he is not writing directly to me, it feels exactly like a personal letter.
He once said, "If you really want to disappoint your parents, and don't have the nerve to be gay, go into the arts."
Being any kind of artist promises extreme difficulty. That being said, Kurt Vonnegut taught me that if you want something good enough, it shouldn't be about pleasing somebody else, but rather about appeasing yourself.
It's saddening to think that more people don't know about Vonnegut. He was an artist who painted wonderful imagery with prose. In many ways, he was quite regular. He was a father, a husband, and a teacher. Yet, no matter how you define Kurt Vonnegut, whenever I think of his genius, inspiration is the first word that comes to mind.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
