Kurt Vonnegut interviewed about the Dresden bombing

Cat's Cradle, 1963

Kurt Vonnegut's letter

First letter written by Kurt Vonnegut (author of Slaughterhouse-Five) after his release from POW camp in Germany.

Letters of Note: Slaughterhouse Five

Slaughterhouse-Five, 1969

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, 1969.

All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true. One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn't his. Another guy I knew really did threaten to have his personal enemies killed by hired gunmen after the war. And so on. I've changed all the names.

I really did go back to Dresden with Guggenheim money (God love it) in 1967. It looked a lot like Dayton, Ohio, more open spaces than Dayton has. There must be tons of human bone meal in the ground.

Read "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut