Slaughterhouse 5

Marvellous…the writing is pungent, the antics uproarious, the humour suitably black, the wit sharp as a hypodermic * Daily Telegraph *Mr Vonnegut knows a great deal about what is probably the largest massacre in modern history - the fire-bombing of Dresden in 1945. Slaughterhouse Five is a reaction to the event by one of our most gifted and incisive novelists. A work of keen literary artistry – Joseph Heller, author of ‘Catch-22’The individuality of Vonnegut’s style is a curious yet perfect match for the pain of the emotional content. A humane, human book that always remains a work of art rather than biography, no matter how apparent the author’s presence – Kate AtkinsonUnique…one of the writers who map our landscapes for us, who give names to the places we know best – Doris LessingFunny, satirical, compelling, outrageous, fanciful, mordant, fecund and at the bottom-line, simply stoned-out-of-its-mind * Los Angeles Times *There are writers who create a lot of readers, and there are writers who create a lot of writers, and Vonnegut was both – Jonathan Safran FoerDevastating and supremely human * Guardian *Agonising, funny. His eloquent concern transforms something as pedestrian as a war movie seen back to front into a vision which, in its weird way, is as effecting as any short passage ever written against war * Time magazine *Very tough and very funny…sad and delightful…very Vonnegut * New York Times *A most courageous account of the human condition; at the same time a satire so funny it makes one laugh aloud * Evening Standard *

Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis in 1922 and studied biochemistry at Cornell University. An army intelligence scout during the Second World War, he was captured by the Germans and witnessed the destruction of Dresden by Allied bombers, an experience which inspired his classic novel Slaughterhouse-Five. After the war he worked as a police reporter, an advertising copywriter and a public relations man for General Electric. His first novel Player Piano (1952) achieved underground success. Cat’s Cradle (1963) was hailed by Graham Greene as ‘one of the best novels of the year by one of the ablest living authors’. His eighth book, Slaughterhouse-Five was published in 1969 and was a literary and commercial success, and was made into a film in 1972. Vonnegut is the author of thirteen other novels, three collections of stories and five non-fiction books. Kurt Vonnegut died in 2007.