Slaughter-house Five [MM0050]

1971 MMPB 1st Dell MM printing of the 1969 sci-fi classic, Nice and clean with amazingly little wear. Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world's great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous World War II firebombing of Dresden, the novel is the result of what Kurt Vonnegut described as a twenty-three-year struggle to write a book about what he had witnessed as an American prisoner of war. It combines historical fiction, science fiction, autobiography, and satire in an account of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a barber's son turned draftee turned optometrist turned alien abductee. As Vonnegut had, Billy experiences the destruction of Dresden as a POW. Unlike Vonnegut, he experiences time travel, or coming 'unstuck in time.'

An instant bestseller, Slaughterhouse-Five made Kurt Vonnegut a cult hero in American literature, a reputation that only strengthened over time, despite his being banned and censored by some libraries and schools for content and language. But it was precisely those elements of Vonnegut's writing-the political edginess, the genre-bending inventiveness, the frank violence, the transgressive wit-that have inspired generations of readers not just to look differently at the world around them but to find the confidence to say something about it.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "What a ride. I truly enjoy Vonnegut and this book is no exception. I remember reading this about 20 years ago and I feel a bit like Billy Pilgrim right now as I again key in on some of the same parts of the book I once enjoyed. I am a different person now than I was 20 years ago...so, a bit of time hopping for me as well. I thought it was just as clever this time around and I am always in the mood for a good time travel book."; "Wacky book that is very enticing. Not my usual genre, but will be reading more Vonnegut!"; "I absolutely love Vonnegut's writing style. Off-the-cuff conversational narrative but never wandering and nothing is superfluous or out-of-place. I've never read such a deep book so fast. No wonder it's a classic."; "Beautiful, and brutal."