Kurt Vonnegut R.I.P.

Novelist Kurt Vonnegut dies at age 84

Kurt Vonnegut, the satirical novelist who captured the absurdity of war and questioned the advances of science in darkly humorous works such as "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle," died Wednesday. He was 84.

Vonnegut, who often marveled that he had lived so long despite his lifelong smoking habit, had suffered brain injuries after a fall at his Manhattan home weeks ago, said his wife, photographer Jill Krementz.

The author of at least 19 novels, many of them best-sellers, as well as dozens of short stories, essays and plays, Vonnegut relished the role of a social critic. He lectured regularly, exhorting audiences to think for themselves and delighting in barbed commentary against the institutions he felt were dehumanizing people.

"I will say anything to be funny, often in the most horrible situations," Vonnegut, whose watery, heavy-lidded eyes and unruly hair made him seem to be in existential pain, once told a gathering of psychiatrists.

A self-described religious skeptic and freethinking humanist, Vonnegut used protagonists such as Billy Pilgrim and Eliot Rosewater as transparent vehicles for his points of view. He also filled his novels with satirical commentary and even drawings that were only loosely connected to the plot. In "Slaughterhouse-Five," he drew a headstone with the epitaph: "Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt."

But much in his life was traumatic, and left him in pain.

Despite his commercial success, Vonnegut battled depression throughout his life, and in 1984, he attempted suicide with pills and alcohol, joking later about how he botched the job.

Here is a timeline of Vonnegut's life from the Indianapolis Star.

I always had a love/hate relationship with the work of Vonnegut. For everthing I absolutely loved, like Bluebeard, Sirens Of Titan, and Breakfast Of Champions, there were things I hated like Player Piano, Timequake, and (especially) Galapagos. The only book of his I was "in the middle" on was Mother Night, which is remarkable when you think of the length of his career.

I won't pretend I have any great insight into the literary legacy of the man. But, little bits of his books have always stuck with me and I have enjoyed the way they show up at unexpected moments to either give a different "spin" on the world I witness, or maybe just give me a good chuckle. When you think of how much you read that never makes any sort of lasting impact on you, you appreciate the good stuff even more.

Well Mr. Vonnegut, here is to the good stuff.