Kurt Vonnegut

Twelve previously unpublished writings on war and peace include such pieces as an essay on the destruction of Dresden, a story about the first-meal fantasies of three soldiers, and a meditation on the impossibility of shielding children from the temptations of violence.

Armageddon in Retrospect, and Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace

Patrick Book

3.5⭐️ This was nice! Considering how many posthumous Vonnegut books there are it was genuinely nice to have one that’s thematic, not overly fussy with details (when they were written, when they were previously published, etc), and covers a broad range of messages and styles.

jennifer 

First published on the anniversary of Kurt Vonnegut's death, Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of twelve new and unpublished writings on war and peace. Imbued with Vonnegut's trademark rueful humour, the pieces range from a visceral nonfiction recollection of the destruction of Dresden during World War II-a piece that is as timely today as it was then-to a painfully funny short story about three 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, with 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

Andrew John Kinney

It is rare that a writer's style is as distinctive as KV's, and his earliest writings are as clearly his as any of the best bits of his most famous works. In one part, he recounts his war experiences in a letter to his parents after being freed from a POW camp, describing his many warm and familiar encounters with the grim reaper. In each paragraph, he tells a tale and says that this or that person died, or, in the case of Dresden, many thousands died, "but not me". The catch phrase is reminiscent of his later, all purpose utterance, "And so it goes".

He hated war and loved wit and kindness, and I miss his unique irreverence.

Armageddon in Retrospect, and Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace

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