– Readers Almanac – A Talk With Kurt Vonnegut – January 28, 1973 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
I wonder sometimes; do people read anymore? Not from PDF files or Kindle – not skipping all the character development and sticking with the broad strokes – actually sitting down with a book – you know, the paper kind where you turn pages and stare off into space every few paragraphs. I’m not so sure. I know for a fact they still do in Europe – I hear the French have voracious appetites for the printed word, the evocative sentence – there are still book stores and musty smells and dog-eared volumes. Here, there are empty storefronts and banned books and libraries no one knows where they are.
Wasn’t always that way – I bring all that up because Kurt Vonnegut was practically a household name throughout the 1960s. His books were carried around in knapsacks and paper bags and paperback versions were always heavily thumbed or with broken and repaired spines and we loaned them out to friends – sometimes got them back. Everybody knew where Tralfamadore was and felt a secret kinship to Tralfamadorians. Vonnegut was comfort food – one of many, to be sure.
Recently I dipped into the archives and pulled out an interview with Kurt Vonnegut, on the occasion of the release of his then-latest book, Slaughterhouse Five from 1973. As part of the Readers Almanac Radio program, Vonnegut discusses writing, other writers and the American scene in general in this half-hour interview program.
As someone whose works have endured and grown in stature over the years, listening to this interview, conducted some 51 years ago, I realize how timeless the work of Kurt Vonnegut has always been. I wonder how he would react to the world, some seventeen years after his passing. How truly unique and inspiring his voice is.
Here is that interview, as it was broadcast on January 28, 1973.
I suggest you look for a bookstore in your city, a real one, and head over to the V’s in the Fiction section and take a peek. Could be a game-changer.
Kurt Vonnegut Has A Word Or Two About Writing And Writers – 1973 – Past Daily After Hours Reference Room
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– Readers Almanac – A Talk With Kurt Vonnegut – January 28, 1973 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
I wonder sometimes; do people read anymore? Not from PDF files or Kindle – not skipping all the character development and sticking with the broad strokes – actually sitting down with a book – you know, the paper kind where you turn pages and stare off into space every few paragraphs. I’m not so sure. I know for a fact they still do in Europe – I hear the French have voracious appetites for the printed word, the evocative sentence – there are still book stores and musty smells and dog-eared volumes. Here, there are empty storefronts and banned books and libraries no one knows where they are.
Wasn’t always that way – I bring all that up because Kurt Vonnegut was practically a household name throughout the 1960s. His books were carried around in knapsacks and paper bags and paperback versions were always heavily thumbed or with broken and repaired spines and we loaned them out to friends – sometimes got them back. Everybody knew where Tralfamadore was and felt a secret kinship to Tralfamadorians. Vonnegut was comfort food – one of many, to be sure.
Recently I dipped into the archives and pulled out an interview with Kurt Vonnegut, on the occasion of the release of his then-latest book, Slaughterhouse Five from 1973. As part of the Readers Almanac Radio program, Vonnegut discusses writing, other writers and the American scene in general in this half-hour interview program.
As someone whose works have endured and grown in stature over the years, listening to this interview, conducted some 51 years ago, I realize how timeless the work of Kurt Vonnegut has always been. I wonder how he would react to the world, some seventeen years after his passing. How truly unique and inspiring his voice is.
Here is that interview, as it was broadcast on January 28, 1973.
I suggest you look for a bookstore in your city, a real one, and head over to the V’s in the Fiction section and take a peek. Could be a game-changer.
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