Kurt Vonnegut Jr. foi um escritor estadunidense de ascendência germânica.
Concluída a formação em Química, alistou-se no exército e combateu na Segunda Guerra Mundial. Feito prisioneiro, presenciou o bombardeamento de Dresden. Após a Guerra, formou-se em Antropologia.
É autor de vários romances, ensaios e peças de teatro, entre os quais se destacam Player Piano de 1952, Cat’s Cradle de 1963, Slaughterhouse-Five de 1969, Breakfast of Champions de 1973 e Galápagos de 1985. Sua última obra foi Look at the Birdie de 2009, livro póstumo com uma coleção de contos e ensaios.
Vonnegut morreu em 11 de abril de 2007, semanas após uma queda em sua casa em Manhattan que resultou em graves complicações cerebrais.
“Humanista é uma pessoa com grande interesse pelos seres humanos. Meu cachorro é humanista.”
I have found that a humanist is a person who is tremendously interested in human beings. My dog is a humanist.
citado em "The Vonnegut encyclopedia: an authorized compendium" - Página 311, de Marc Leeds - Greenwood Press, 1995, ISBN 0313292302, 9780313292309 - 693 páginas
There in the cocktail lounge, peering out through my leaks at a world of my own invention, I mouthed this word: schizophrenia. The sound and appearance of the word had fascinated me for many years. It sounded and looked to me like a human being sneezing in a blizzard of soapflakes.
Breakfast of champions: or, Goodbye blue Monday! - Página 198, Kurt Vonnegut - Delacorte Press, 1973 - 295 páginas
“Esta provavelmente é a história da minha vida: falta de determinação suficiente.”
that's probably the story of my life: not enough determination.
Breakfast of champions: or, Goodbye blue Monday! - Página 110, Kurt Vonnegut - Delacorte Press, 1973 - 295 páginas
Fonte: The Sirens of Titan (1959), Chapter 7 “Victory” (p. 181)
Fonte: The Sirens of Titan (1959), Chapter 1 “Between Timid and Timbuktu” (p. 41)
“We don't piss in your ashtrays,
So please don't throw cigarettes in our urinals.”
Eliot Rosewater's favorite poem, from the wall of the men's room at the Log Cabin Inn.
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965)
Fonte: The Sirens of Titan (1959), Chapter 2 “Cheers in the Wirehouse” (p. 52)
“We could have saved the earth, but we were too damned cheap.”
If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young (2013)
“Like most science-fiction writers, Trout knew almost nothing about science.”
Breakfast of Champions (1973)
Chapter 124 http://books.google.com/books?id=61W3aGvTVgIC&q=%22Beware+of+the+man+who+works+hard+to+learn+something+learns+it+and+finds+himself+no+wiser+than+before%22&pg=PA281#v=onepage: Frank's Ant Farm
Cat's Cradle (1963)
“Let us devote to unselfishness the frenzy we once gave gold and underpants.”
Breakfast of Champions (1973)
Fonte: The Sirens of Titan (1959), Chapter 1 “Between Timid and Timbuktu” (p. 25)
“My father said "When in doubt, castle."”
A Man Without a Country (2005)
Public conversation with Lee Stringer, in Like Shaking Hands With God (1999)
Various interviews
“His plan? To pass out weapons to slaves, so they could overthrow their masters. Suicide.”
God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian (1999)
Fonte: The Sirens of Titan (1959), Chapter 1 “Between Timid and Timbuktu” (p. 7)
Fonte: The Sirens of Titan (1959), Chapter 11 “We Hate Malachi Constant Because...” (p. 259)
"In a Manner that Must Shame God Himself"
Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (1974)
Opening line of novel.
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965)
