Slaugherhouse is great, but I would also recommend Breakfast of Champions. It was my first foray in to his work. I read it the same month I read Jack Kerouac's On the Road. -I was 18, both of those books had a tremendous impact on me. Later I would read, The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castenada and decide to be an anthropologist. I should have stopped at On the Road. -A 300 level Archaeology course stopped me dead in my tracks. Never got the anthro degree. Later it would be found that Casteneda was a fraud, but his book is none the less entertaining.
Ha. This is the problem with living in an interesting world with interesting art and being a curious person. The lists are ever-growing.
Imagine what it would be like the other way round - living in a boring world with terrible art where you struggle to find anything interesting or rewarding.
Time management is one of the keys to successful living. No doubt about it.
I love Breakfast of Champions as well. Really, I don't think I've disliked a Vonnegut book yet. I would like to read On the Road. I haven't read any Jack Kerouac, and he kinda keeps getting pushed down on my reading list I guess. It seems to me like people are often very polarized when discussing his writing. Many readers are fanatics, but a huge portion of readers are also disgusted by him. What's your take on this?
Gosh, it's been so long since I've read him that I can't really say. I can only say that the 18 year old version of me LOVED it. I felt challenged by it, like I was living some sedentary life and needed to be an adventurer. I was not going to college at the time, smoking tons of pot and had no direction. As much as it may sound odd, the book made me want an adventure and I chose college as that adventure. -I moved from Michigan to Montana and attended the university of montana. I think that book had a lot to do with it.