Vonnegut
Ever notice how the stuff I write has a little bit of irreverence to it?
I might zig when you expect me to zag during a history lesson, making commentary with a voice that steps completely outside of the narrative. At other times, I’ll try to get you to wonder whether something you’ve thought to be a given fact your entire life actually is true.
There is a method to this madness, and a lot of it came from reading a ton of Kurt Vonnegut earlier in life.
Vonnegut was a master of the metaphor, using analogies to tell a deeper story—all while maintaining the reader’s interest with sardonic wit and very, very clever storytelling. He was unafraid to question the status quo on all sorts of things, and I loved it.
Today, I want to tell you a little bit about Vonnegut the person, and in doing so I’ll talk about why I love these books so much, and how much they ultimately influenced my own writing.
The Introduction and Expansion
Slaughterhouse Five introduced me to the world of Kurt…
