Getting Acquainted With Kurt Vonnegut

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If you have ever had a desire to get to know some of the great American authors, one author who may be on your list is a man who had a huge impact on American literature from the 1950s to the early 2000s – Kurt Vonnegut. Kurt Vonnegut ranks among the most respected authors in American history, writing 14 novels, several short story collections, and several nonfiction books to boot, but with the number of books that Vonnegut wrote, it can be difficult to know exactly where to begin; if you're wanting to get to know Kurt Vonnegut, but are not wanting to read all of his books in order to do this, here a few books of his keep in mind – as reading these 3 books will lead you down the road to understanding Kurt Vonnegut.

After Kurt Vonnegut returned from World War II, his interests as a writer were in in two specific areas: the first area was science fiction, and the second area was books that explored the structure of society. Both of these ideas are explored in Kurt Vonnegut's second novel, The Sirens of Titan, and it is a strange and weird introduction to Kurt Vonnegut – which is the perfect way to be introduced to this man's writing.

The most enduring work Kurt Vonnegut released was Slaughterhouse Five, which was his 7th published novel. During World War II, Vonnegut was taken prisoner of war by the Germans, and he was in the city of Dresden while it was fire bombed by the US forces; Vonnegut survived the fire bombing by hiding out in the slaughterhouse along with a number of other soldiers, and Slaughterhouse-Five is his account of this tragedy – mixed in with that vintage, dark humor that Vonnegut was known for, as well as that trademark Vonnegut weirdness.

And Bluebeard, which is essentially an old writer's reflection over his career, using a painter as the protagonist of the story as a mirror of Vonnegut's life as a writer, was one of Vonnegut's final works, and was perhaps the most mature work he penned.