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Product Description
Review
Look at the Birdie is a collection of fourteen previously unpublished short stories from one of the most original writers in all of American fiction. In this series of perfectly rendered vignettes, written just as he was starting to find his comic voice, Kurt Vonnegut paints a warm, wise, and funny portrait of life in post—World War II America–a world where squabbling couples, high school geniuses, misfit office workers, and small-town lotharios struggle to adapt to changing technology, moral ambiguity, and unprecedented affluence.
Here are tales both cautionary and hopeful, each brimming with Vonnegut’s trademark humor and profound humanism. A family learns the downside of confiding their deepest secrets into a magical invention. A man finds himself in a Kafkaesque world of trouble after he runs afoul of the shady underworld boss who calls the shots in an upstate New York town. A quack psychiatrist turned “murder counselor” concocts a novel new outlet for his paranoid patients. While these stories reflect the anxieties of the postwar era that Vonnegut was so adept at capturing–and provide insight into the development of his early style–collectively, they have a timeless quality that makes them just as relevant today as when they were written. It’s impossible to imagine any of these pieces flowing from the pen of another writer; each in its own way is unmistakably, quintessentially Vonnegut.
Featuring a Foreword by author and longtime Vonnegut confidant Sidney Offit and illustrated with Vonnegut’s characteristically insouciant line drawings, Look at the Birdie is an unexpected gift for readers who thought his unique voice had been stilled forever–and serves as a terrific introduction to his short fiction for anyone who has yet to experience his genius.
From the Hardcover edition.
Here are tales both cautionary and hopeful, each brimming with Vonnegut’s trademark humor and profound humanism. A family learns the downside of confiding their deepest secrets into a magical invention. A man finds himself in a Kafkaesque world of trouble after he runs afoul of the shady underworld boss who calls the shots in an upstate New York town. A quack psychiatrist turned “murder counselor” concocts a novel new outlet for his paranoid patients. While these stories reflect the anxieties of the postwar era that Vonnegut was so adept at capturing–and provide insight into the development of his early style–collectively, they have a timeless quality that makes them just as relevant today as when they were written. It’s impossible to imagine any of these pieces flowing from the pen of another writer; each in its own way is unmistakably, quintessentially Vonnegut.
Featuring a Foreword by author and longtime Vonnegut confidant Sidney Offit and illustrated with Vonnegut’s characteristically insouciant line drawings, Look at the Birdie is an unexpected gift for readers who thought his unique voice had been stilled forever–and serves as a terrific introduction to his short fiction for anyone who has yet to experience his genius.
From the Hardcover edition.
Product Description
Look at the Birdie is a collection of fourteen short stories from one of the most original writers in American fiction. This series of perfectly rendered vignettes, never before published in Kurt Vonnegut’s lifetime, reveals a warm, wise, and funny portrait of life in post–World War II America—a world where squabbling couples, high school geniuses, misfit office workers, and small-town lotharios struggle to adapt to changing technology, moral ambiguity, and unprecedented affluence. Featuring a Foreword by author and longtime Vonnegut confidant Sidney Offit, Look at the Birdie is an unexpected gift for readers who thought that Vonnegut’s voice had been stilled forever—and serves as a terrific introduction to his short fiction for anyone who has yet to experience his genius.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
There's More Left!, Jan 5 2011
By J. Edgar Mihelic "Iconoclast, Bearded Marxist" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Look at the Birdie: Short Fiction (Paperback)
Much better than the last two bits of material. These are stories from the front end of his climb to becoming the best American writer since Twain. The other stuff I'd heard before but read greedily like a man thirsting for his last breath. While these stories don't equal his best known works, they are worth the time of someone who has idolized the man and his writing. But if that is true, you probably aren't reading this. Give it a whirl, what have you got to lose?
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth a Look, Dec 9 2010
By EllenL - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Look at the Birdie: Short Fiction (Paperback)
I admit I've never read Vonnegut's famous novels... But these short stories served as a splendid introduction to the author's sharp wit and uncanny timing. The stories kept me engrossed during a long, dreary airplane flight. After recently slogging through one of those "Best Short Stories of 2010" anthologies full of formulaic magazine fiction, this collection struck me as modern, fresh, and unexpected. I will never think about girls from the typing pool, or miniature rocket ships, in quite the same way.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must Buy Compilation of Stories, May 7 2012
By MotionCityDesign - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Look at the Birdie: Short Fiction (Paperback)
A great collection of short stories that any Kurt Vonnegut fan is sure to enjoy. Each story is well written and captivating.
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