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Armageddon in Retrospect
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Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $16.47
You Save: $ 8.48 ( 34% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Average Customer Rating:
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Armageddon in Retrospect Description
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.6
EAN: 9780399155086
ISBN: 0399155082
Label: Putnam Adult
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Studio: Putnam Adult
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.6
EAN: 9780399155086
ISBN: 0399155082
Label: Putnam Adult
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Studio: Putnam Adult
Editorial Review of Armageddon in Retrospect
The first and only collection of unpublished works by Kurt Vonnegut since his death--a fitting tribute to the author, and an essential contribution to the discussion of war, peace, and humanity's tendency toward violence.
Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of twelve new and unpublished writings on war and peace. Imbued with Vonnegut's trademark rueful humor, the pieces range from a visceral nonfiction recollection of the destruction of Dresden during World War II--an essay that is as timely today as it was then--to a painfully funny short story about three Army privates and their fantasies of the perfect first meal upon returning home from war, to a darker, more poignant story about the impossibility of shielding our children from the temptations of violence. Also included are Vonnegut's last speech as well as an assortment of his artwork, and an introduction by the author's son, Mark Vonnegut. Armageddon in Retrospect says as much about the times in which we live as it does about the genius of the writer.
Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of twelve new and unpublished writings on war and peace. Imbued with Vonnegut's trademark rueful humor, the pieces range from a visceral nonfiction recollection of the destruction of Dresden during World War II--an essay that is as timely today as it was then--to a painfully funny short story about three Army privates and their fantasies of the perfect first meal upon returning home from war, to a darker, more poignant story about the impossibility of shielding our children from the temptations of violence. Also included are Vonnegut's last speech as well as an assortment of his artwork, and an introduction by the author's son, Mark Vonnegut. Armageddon in Retrospect says as much about the times in which we live as it does about the genius of the writer.
Read an Unreleased Kurt Vonnegut Story, "Guns Before Butter"
"Guns Before Butter," Kurt Vonnegut's story of hungry GIs held as prisoner of war in World War II in Dresden (a site of Vonnegut's best-known novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, and his own wartime imprisonment), was unpublished until its inclusion in Armageddon in Retrospect. Read the complete story here.
Kurt Vonnegut Sketchbook
Click through on the images below to see samples of the artwork included in Armageddon in Retrospect:
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Customer Reviews of Armageddon in Retrospect
Customer Rating: 
Review Summary: Amegeddan in Retrospect
Review: I am a devout Vonnegut fan. I have read it all. But this book is simply not worth your time or money. it is all work covered before. It is almost all written very early (so included in other works).
The publisher must have wanted to wring a few more dollars from Kurt's great talent. A shame.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Vaya Con Dios, Kurt
Review: It is still hard to accept, even after a year, that Kurt Vonnegut is gone. I think this is the way readers must have felt after Mark Twain passed in 1910. "Armageddon in Retrospect" comes then as something like a parting gift...no, that's not right; "A Man Without a Country" did that. "Armageddon in Retrospect" is more like a visitation, our opportunity for closure, like the ghosts in those TV shows who hover ephemerally while mortals get things squared away.
The stories in this collection are concise and tightly written, and I enjoyed them very much. These were unpublished stories, and if they suffered this fate because Vonnegut considered their quality to be below his usual standards...well, I am just too biased to notice. These stories deal mostly with war, with Dresden, and lay plain the themes of Vonnegut's body of work in almost a haunting way. Also included is his letter home, as a P.O.W. in Germany, which describes the harsh treatment he and the other soldiers received as well as the bombing of Dresden. This letter is itself a satirical essay on the folly of war, and reads from 1945 with the same whimsy as his writing from 2005.
Kurt Vonnegut's books could be read in public schools until recent times. The words are still there, but I think young people have lost that sense of the horror of war. Perhaps "Armageddon in Retrospect" would be a good way to reintroduce students to a great American author.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Lucky Find
Review: I saw this at a bookstore and was surprised to see a "new" Vonnegut book. He is a fantastic writer and this book is no exception. The reason for four stars rather than five is that some of the stories are a little "rough" (you've been pitching that all night). I can see why some were not published previously. However, there are some in the book that are outstanding. If you like Vonnegut, you'll love this book. If you are a first time reader of him I would start with one of his other books first.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Wisdom lives
Review: Kurt's dead, but he keeps teaching us with humor and brevity (the best way).
Catch this one from page 6, voiced in the Introduction by son Mark:
"He didn't think the war in Iraq was going to happen, right up until it did. It broke his heart not because he gave a damn about Iraq but because he loved America and believed that the land and people of Lincoln and Twain would find a way to be right. He believed, like his immigrant forefathers, that America could be a beacon and a paradise."
Imagine that!
Rrrandy Wurst
([...])
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Armageddon in Retrospect
Review: Great stories from the late Kurt Vonnegut. The book gives more incite about many stories he included in his great works.
Review Summary: Amegeddan in Retrospect
Review: I am a devout Vonnegut fan. I have read it all. But this book is simply not worth your time or money. it is all work covered before. It is almost all written very early (so included in other works).
The publisher must have wanted to wring a few more dollars from Kurt's great talent. A shame.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Vaya Con Dios, Kurt
Review: It is still hard to accept, even after a year, that Kurt Vonnegut is gone. I think this is the way readers must have felt after Mark Twain passed in 1910. "Armageddon in Retrospect" comes then as something like a parting gift...no, that's not right; "A Man Without a Country" did that. "Armageddon in Retrospect" is more like a visitation, our opportunity for closure, like the ghosts in those TV shows who hover ephemerally while mortals get things squared away.
The stories in this collection are concise and tightly written, and I enjoyed them very much. These were unpublished stories, and if they suffered this fate because Vonnegut considered their quality to be below his usual standards...well, I am just too biased to notice. These stories deal mostly with war, with Dresden, and lay plain the themes of Vonnegut's body of work in almost a haunting way. Also included is his letter home, as a P.O.W. in Germany, which describes the harsh treatment he and the other soldiers received as well as the bombing of Dresden. This letter is itself a satirical essay on the folly of war, and reads from 1945 with the same whimsy as his writing from 2005.
Kurt Vonnegut's books could be read in public schools until recent times. The words are still there, but I think young people have lost that sense of the horror of war. Perhaps "Armageddon in Retrospect" would be a good way to reintroduce students to a great American author.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Lucky Find
Review: I saw this at a bookstore and was surprised to see a "new" Vonnegut book. He is a fantastic writer and this book is no exception. The reason for four stars rather than five is that some of the stories are a little "rough" (you've been pitching that all night). I can see why some were not published previously. However, there are some in the book that are outstanding. If you like Vonnegut, you'll love this book. If you are a first time reader of him I would start with one of his other books first.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Wisdom lives
Review: Kurt's dead, but he keeps teaching us with humor and brevity (the best way).
Catch this one from page 6, voiced in the Introduction by son Mark:
"He didn't think the war in Iraq was going to happen, right up until it did. It broke his heart not because he gave a damn about Iraq but because he loved America and believed that the land and people of Lincoln and Twain would find a way to be right. He believed, like his immigrant forefathers, that America could be a beacon and a paradise."
Imagine that!
Rrrandy Wurst
([...])
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Armageddon in Retrospect
Review: Great stories from the late Kurt Vonnegut. The book gives more incite about many stories he included in his great works.