Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
New York : Delacorte Press, c2009.
Description
A volume of fourteen early and previously unpublished short works offers insight into the social satirist's developing literary style and includes pieces that explore such themes as innocence, ironic twists of fate, and morality.
Media reviews
The 14 stories in “Look at the Birdie,” none of them afraid to entertain, dabble in whodunnitry, science fiction and commanding fables of good versus evil. Why these stories went unpublished is hard to answer. They’re polished, they’re relentlessly fun to read, and every last one of them
Show More
comes to a neat and satisfying end. Show Less
Interzone 231
This is a collection of fiction plus one letter of “sententious crap” unpublished in Vonnegut’s lifetime. The stories appear to have been written for the most part in the 1950s; one even mentions King Farouk. Sparingly interspersed through the book are Vonnegut’s own illustrations in his
Show More
naïve style. They too appear of 1950s vintage though their copyright dates are much later.
Throughout, Vonnegut’s tendency to name his characters strikingly is to the fore; Ernest Groper, K Hollomon Weems, Felix Karadubian. Vonnegut’s characteristic dry style is also evident. He seems to have found his voice early. Though he made his name writing SF, before later disclaiming it, most of the tales here are devoid of speculative content.
The two stories that might vaguely be called SF are “Confido” and “The Petrified Ants.” In the first an ear piece designed to make people happy is “a combination of confidant and a household pet” but whispers only the worst of others. I trust Vonnegut was aware of the Latin pun of his title. The second is set in the Erzgebirge mountains in Soviet era Czechoslovakia where some newly uncovered fossils reveal ants once behaved individualistically. The revelation of their change to collectivity is hurried, though, and stretches credibility. The story is fun but too heavy-handed in its allegorisation of Soviet society.
As to the rest of the fiction, “FUBAR” is a gentle but utterly conventional story in which a crabbed bureaucrat begins to awaken to the possibility of a different kind of life when a newly trained young secretary is assigned to him. The 1950s ambience here is revealed by the F in FUBAR standing for “fouled” rather than anything more demotic.
“Shout About it from the Housetops” examines the deleterious consequences of publishing a novel whose characters are based on barely disguised neighbours, friends and the author’s spouse.
The two-part “Ed Luby’s Key Club” deals with Harve Elliot, who, along with his wife, Claire, witnesses a murder by the local gang boss. Both are then accused of it themselves. In the second part Harve alone escapes from custody and attempts to vindicate himself. The story’s conclusion, while worthy, is perhaps a little too complacent.
“A Song for Selma” tells how people’s aspirations can be transformed, for good or ill, by their expectations of themselves as mediated through those of others.
In “Hall of Mirrors” a hypnotist uses his powers to evade the police when they come to investigate the disappearances of his wealthy women clients.
“Hello, Red” is the story of a bitter wandering sailor’s return to his home town to try to claim guardianship of the distinctively flame haired daughter he fathered before his first trip abroad, and of her reaction to him.
“Little Drops of Water” concerns the subtle strategy employed by one former conquest to gain her revenge after being dumped by a confirmed ladies’ man of fixed habits.
In “Look at the Birdie” an encounter in a bar with a disgraced former psychiatrist who insists his wife photographs the narrator leads to a demand that can’t be refused.
“King and Queen of the Universe” has a very well to do teenaged couple in the Depression era on their way home from a party come face to face with the harsher realities of less privileged lives.
“The Good Explainer” is the doctor to whom a man and wife travel from Cincinnati to Chicago in order to have the reasons for their childlessness laid bare.
While all the stories in the book are never less than readable, they do not represent Vonnegut at his best. Among other faults they are too often prefaced by a brief paragraph or two of scene setting which are told to, rather than unfolded for, us and there is a tendency to repetition of such things as job titles.
Recommended to Vonnegut completists but not as an introduction to his work.
Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member dczapka
Anyone who's read through any of my reviews could probably guess that the passing of Kurt Vonnegut two and a half years ago was, to me, a major and devastating loss for the literary world. Though I have always been ambivalent about posthumous collections, I still looked very much forward to Look at
As the brief introduction by Sidney Offit explains, though these works were left unpublished throughout the author's lifetime, it is hard to see why. Each story possesses Vonnegut's characteristic style: brevity, concision, and economy. Most every story in the collection is less than 20 pages, and gets to its point in a direct and efficient manner. The title story, for instance, consists almost entirely of a brief dialogue between two men, one of whom blackmails the other by manipulating a secret that is both absurd and horrifying. It's a perfect example of how Vonnegut does so much with so little.
Some of the stories, of course, fall a bit short of the mark. While the first tale in the collection, "Confido," has elements of vintage post-WWII Vonnegut--such as family life, a sci-fi element, and the function (and fear) of advancing technology--the ultimate resolution of the tale feels a bit more trite than I think Vonnegut would be satisfied with. However, even at their weakest moments, stories like this are surprisingly memorable because you get a sense that the author has, if nothing else, complete command of the theme. They may not be memorable, but they're certainly not forgettable.
There are, however, pure gems here, the most obvious of which is also the longest story in the collection, "Ed Luby's Key Club." Vonnegut does a masterful job of portraying the dark underbelly of small-town life by putting two well-meaning, innocent people in a horrible and desperate situation, set up to be convicted for a crime they had no part in. The story does an amazing job of establishing and maintaining a feeling of hopelessness, punctuated well by the glimmer of hope that refuses to die. The ending, sadly, is handled a bit sloppily, but the forty pages that lead up to it are, dare I say it, among some of the best Vonnegut has ever written.
Some of the other highlights of the collection include the darkly mysterious "Hall of Mirrors," the triumphant "FUBAR," and the O. Henry-esque "The Nice Little People." Each of those stories represents the variety of styles Vonnegut employs, and is a testament to his versatility as a craftsman. As a whole, the volume is perhaps best summarized through the final story, "The Good Explainer": it is, as the best of Vonnegut, all about people and the difficulty they have finding things as simple as happiness and satisfaction. It is yet another gift from beyond the grave, and I can only hope will become a point of entry from a whole new generation to explore and appreciate Vonnegut's genius.
Show More
the Birdie, the first collection of fiction to be published since his death. And I am pleased to say that this volume does not disappoint.As the brief introduction by Sidney Offit explains, though these works were left unpublished throughout the author's lifetime, it is hard to see why. Each story possesses Vonnegut's characteristic style: brevity, concision, and economy. Most every story in the collection is less than 20 pages, and gets to its point in a direct and efficient manner. The title story, for instance, consists almost entirely of a brief dialogue between two men, one of whom blackmails the other by manipulating a secret that is both absurd and horrifying. It's a perfect example of how Vonnegut does so much with so little.
Some of the stories, of course, fall a bit short of the mark. While the first tale in the collection, "Confido," has elements of vintage post-WWII Vonnegut--such as family life, a sci-fi element, and the function (and fear) of advancing technology--the ultimate resolution of the tale feels a bit more trite than I think Vonnegut would be satisfied with. However, even at their weakest moments, stories like this are surprisingly memorable because you get a sense that the author has, if nothing else, complete command of the theme. They may not be memorable, but they're certainly not forgettable.
There are, however, pure gems here, the most obvious of which is also the longest story in the collection, "Ed Luby's Key Club." Vonnegut does a masterful job of portraying the dark underbelly of small-town life by putting two well-meaning, innocent people in a horrible and desperate situation, set up to be convicted for a crime they had no part in. The story does an amazing job of establishing and maintaining a feeling of hopelessness, punctuated well by the glimmer of hope that refuses to die. The ending, sadly, is handled a bit sloppily, but the forty pages that lead up to it are, dare I say it, among some of the best Vonnegut has ever written.
Some of the other highlights of the collection include the darkly mysterious "Hall of Mirrors," the triumphant "FUBAR," and the O. Henry-esque "The Nice Little People." Each of those stories represents the variety of styles Vonnegut employs, and is a testament to his versatility as a craftsman. As a whole, the volume is perhaps best summarized through the final story, "The Good Explainer": it is, as the best of Vonnegut, all about people and the difficulty they have finding things as simple as happiness and satisfaction. It is yet another gift from beyond the grave, and I can only hope will become a point of entry from a whole new generation to explore and appreciate Vonnegut's genius.
Show Less
LibraryThing member goodinthestacks
Some decent Vonnegut stories, but nothing astounding. I enjoyed reading several, but others I could not get into at all. Though, a mixed bag of Vonnegut is better than no Vonnegut at all.
LibraryThing member campingmomma
I'm so glad someone decided to put all these "lost" stories in this fine collection. Hall of Mirrors and the title story; Look at the Birdie were probably my two favorite with Petrified Ants being my least. I have to admit though that Petrified Ants was not what I expected. I enjoed the story of
Show More
the ants more than I did the characters in the same story. All in all a good read for some previously unpublished stories. Show Less
LibraryThing member Phyrexicaid
I read "Petrified ants" before reading this collection. I feel "Petrified ants" is the weakest of the stories. The others are great vignettes, which could perhaps have been made into short novels. Enjoyable nonetheless.
LibraryThing member nivramkoorb
Having not read any Vonnegut in many years, it was a pleasure to read these stories. Not all of them hit the high mark that I came to expect from the author, but it was fun to get back into his unique way of looking at things. He was great at building absurdity upon absurdity. Not sure how much
Show More
younger readers are into Vonnegut but they should definitely read his classics. Show Less
LibraryThing member NickConstantine
I love the idea of sharing short stories with students. I was once told by a writer friend of mine that short stories are only read by writers of short stories. I hope to be a soldier of change in that I love the short story and I think everyone should read them. On top of my love for short
Show More
stories, I love Kurt Vonnegut. This particular collection of his short stories, published after his death, has a few lesser known of his stories including a very funny story of a man in the clutches of bureaucracy, but finally set free by a young secretary. It is a quick read, and it may be a good way to set an author’s work against itself as many genres and varying styles are collected in a single book and by the same man. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheCrow2
The second 'we-swear-it's-the-last' collection of short stories from one of the greatest american writer of the XX c. Still unique, still enchanting.... Miss you Kurt!
LibraryThing member AliceAnna
I really enjoyed this collection from earlier in his career. Most of these lack the edge of some of his later works, but I enjoyed the way the stories were crafted and the simple humanity of them. I particularly enjoyed A Song for Selma and King and Queen of the Universe and I think it was that
Show More
humanity that appealed to me. Show Less
LibraryThing member DanielSTJ
This was another good collection of short stories by Kurt Vonnegut. He managed to surprise me with many of them, not only holding my attention and entertaining me, but providing meaning and closure in nearly all of his tales. If you're a Vonnegut fan, you really should read this collection.
4.25
4.25
Show More
stars. Show Less
LibraryThing member zetetic23
Certainly not the best Vonnegut. However, all a nice read with that Vonnegut style of looking at the world.
Language
Original publication date
2009-10-20
Physical description
xiv, 281 p.; 22 cm
ISBN
0440338778 / 9780440338772