"Vonnegut was prone to seeing the other side of the coin, ambiguity, and contradiction. He had, after all, been captured, imprisoned, and forced into labor carting corpses by an enemy regime rotten with idolatry, decayed by a people's desire for easy, authoritarian solutions."
"VONNEGUT'S BREAKTHROUGH-CLUSTER CONVERTED INTO ADVICE:
1. Make a commitment.
2. Trust fate, your Fairy Godmother Collaborator.
3. Tell the truth.
4. Keep on truckin'.
5. Surrender perfection."
A reverential look at the one-of-a-kind Kurt Vonnegut, "Pity the Reader" intersperses the novelists's pearls of wisdom with musings by Suzanne McConnell. The format of the book did not always make it easy to discern whether McConnell was quoting Vonnegut or not, though it's possible this was a function of e-reading.
"We're expressions of the entire society ... And when a society is in great danger, we're likely to sound the alarms. I have the canary-bird-in-the-coal-mine theory of the arts."
"Pity the Reader" is best for its witticisms and encouragement, though you have to dig for actionable advice on writing. The work functions best as a not-so-subtle reminder of Vonnegut's genius, picking the best lines from his entire bibliography and delving a bit into his formative years.
If you're looking for a how-to book, this may not be for you; if you're seeking proof that Vonnegut was among the most transformative writers of our time, look no further.
"The most dangerous thing they found on his person was a two-inch pencil stub."
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