Thursday, April 12, 2007

RIP

Indulge me...

Kurt Vonnegut
: Those cigarettes sure took a long time to kill him...

I started reading him when I was 14, and I never stopped.

Then I'm going down the steps, and my wife calls up, "Where are you going?" I say, "Well, I'm going to go buy an envelope." And she says, "You're not a poor man. Why don't you buy a thousand envelopes? They'll deliver them, and you can put them in a closet." And I say, "Hush." So I go down the steps here, and I go out to this newsstand across the street where they sell magazines and lottery tickets and stationery. I have to get in line because there are people buying candy and all that sort of thing, and I talk to them. The woman behind the counter has a jewel between her eyes, and when it's my turn, I ask her if there have been any big winners lately. I get my envelope and seal it up and go to the postal convenience center down the block at the corner of 47th Street and 2nd Avenue, where I'm secretly in love with the woman behind the counter. I keep absolutely poker-faced; I never let her know how I feel about her. One time I had my pocket picked in there and got to meet a cop and tell him about it. Anyway, I address the envelope to Carol in Woodstock. I stamp the envelope and mail it in a mailbox in front of the post office, and I go home. And I've had a hell of a good time. And I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different.



(Timequake) (I know I should link to the site where I found that quote, but it did not link to Timequake, so I won't link to it.)

My friend at Miniver Cheevy wrote his own obit. Unlike him, I never became disaffected with Vonnegut. I loved him: limitations and all.

3 comments:

MeaningfullyJack said...

Brilliant man. My sister and I agree that a number of the greatest minds of our time are going or gone.

احسان الف said...

He was my favorite American writer. I have always regarded Slaughterhouse 5 as the best anti-war work of art of any kind that I have ever come across. Great man. Magnificent legacy.

Diana said...

I moved away from him but when I learned that he died it was a kick in the guts. All of my childhood is dying.

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