Subject:Vonnegut Interview
Date:Wed, 12 Aug 1998 21:13:42 -0400
From:Chris Huber
Organization:Duke University
Newsgroups:alt.books.kurt-vonnegut
Hey! I found this while I was goofing off at work today...
+++
An interview with Kurt Vonnegut By Nelson Price, Star/News Staff Writer
Web posted 11/19/97
The following excerpt is from Nelson Price's book, Indiana Legends:
Famous Hoosiers from Johnny Appleseed to David Letterman. Price, a
reporter and columnist whose work appears in the Extra! section of The
Indianapolis Star and The Indianapolis News, specializes in personality
profiles. This excerpt is reprinted with permission from Guild Press of
Indiana Inc.
"The 1940 graduate of Shortridge High School who went on to become one
of the world's most influential contemporary writers has endured enough
agony in his personal life to fill half a dozen novels. Born in
Indianapolis in 1922, Kurt Vonnegut persevered through everything from a
stint as a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II (he witnessed
the destruction of Dresden during a bombing raid) to the mental illness
of loved ones.
"Descended from a prominent German American family — in the 1890s
Vonnegut's grandfather, an architect, designed the Athenaeum, a
centerpiece of ethnic cultural life in downtown Indianapolis — Kurt
Vonnegut initially was known as a science fiction writer and a cult
favorite on college campuses.
"But he achieved broad, international critical and popular acclaim
with such novels and collections of short stories as Cat's Cradle
(1963), Welcome to the Monkey House (1968), and Slaughterhouse-Five
(1969), most written with distinctive, satiric humor and many with
antiwar themes and traumatized protagonists. As early as 1969, The
Washington Post was praising Vonnegut as "America's leading novelist of
the whimsical, a constant spoofer of excess and champion of ordinary
folks." His numerous honors include the Guggenheim Fellowship (1968-69)
and the Literary Award from the National Institute of Arts and Letters
in 1970.
"His older brother Bernard, a distinguished scientist about whom
Vonnegut spoke with fondness during an interview in 1991, died in 1997
at age eighty-two.
"At least one of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s personal agonies eventually was
resolved. After talking candidly about an upcoming divorce in the
following '91 interview, Vonnegut reconciled with his second wife, Jill
Krementz.
"You expect him to be a curmudgeon.
""He's puckish, but prickly," said his friend, George Plimpton, the
writer-amateur athlete.
"Plimpton, the author of Paper Lion, owns a weekend cottage on Long
Island next to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s eighteenth-century house. "He
charges through the hedges every once in a while, smoking a cigarette
and armed with wry remarks about the world."
"Not only that, Vonnegut is in the midst of what he calls a
"debilitating divorce" from photographer-writer Jill Krementz.
"And on national TV last week, he blasted Geraldo Rivera, his former
son-in-law, as a "scumbag." Rivera, the controversial TV personality,
reveals in a new autobiography that he enjoyed frequent flings while
married to Vonnegut's daughter Edie.
"To top it off, Vonnegut recently broke his back while horseback riding
near his home. Assured the injury was merely muscle strain, the
Indianapolis native went ahead with an overseas trip to Palermo last
month, where he was awarded Italy's highest literary prize.
""The pain turned out to be excruciating," he reported.
"Isn't all that enough to make a man surly?
"Even under tranquil circumstances, Vonnegut is known for his dark
humor, pessimism and sharp edge. His novels and short stories about
human folly and cruelty have been required reading for decades in
literature classes from Harvard University to the University of
Washington.
"Without a scheduled interview appointment, you work up the courage to
call.
"You expect the sixty-eight-year-old author to bark — at best.
"Instead, what you get is a polite, patient man who speaks in soft,
even tones. The author of Cat's Cradle (1963) and Slaughterhouse-Five
(1969) is generous with his time and eager to talk about his roots.
""Indianapolis made me what I am today," Vonnegut said. "The city was a
terrific influence. Of course, my parents and most of my relatives were
well-educated people, so their houses were full of books and music. I
could not have done better for myself.
""I represent a strong liberal strain Indiana ought to be proud of, a
strain of people who took an interest in the lives and rights of the
working stiffs."
" The fourth-generation German-American and grandfather also spoke with
pride about his relatives. He referred several times to his admiration
for his older brother Bernard, an atmospheric scientist and college
professor in Albany, New York.
" "He is easily as distinguished as I am," the critically acclaimed
author said. "He probably knows more about tornadoes than anyone else
on Earth."
" Vonnegut was similarly effusive when talking about his son Mark, a
pediatrician in Massachusetts. The younger Vonnegut wrote The Eden
Express (1975), an account of how he started a hippie commune in the
Canadian wilderness — and of his subsequent schizophrenic breakdown and
commitment to mental hospitals.
""Mark recently won an honor higher than the Nobel Prize," Vonnegut
said. He described an award given to his son by fellow health care
workers and nurses.
"Denying reports he was irritated by the revelations in The Eden
Express, Vonnegut said, #"That's a very important book and has helped a
lot of people. I was just pained, as any father would be, by the
struggles he went through."
" Mark and his sisters Edie and Nanette, both accomplished artists, are
Vonnegut's children from his first marriage to Indianapolis native Jane
Marie Cox.
" Vonnegut also has an eight-year-old daughter, Lily, from his marriage
to Krementz. Currently, Vonnegut, whose new collection of essays,
speeches and recollections is called Fates Worse Than Death, lives
alone.
"Make that almost alone.
""I have a snow-white cat with one blue eye and one yellow eye," he
reported. "The cat adopted me. It started yowling outside. I let it in,
and we have been together ever since."
"His rapport with horses has not been so satisfying. When Vonnegut
learned he would be returning to his hometown for a visit, he got the
itch to saddle up.
""I figured I used to enjoy this in Indianapolis, so why not enjoy it
now? We had relatives in the Oaklandon area, so I would ride their
horses when we visited.
" "This time I had an accident. I was told it was muscle strain, so I
went to Palermo — in agony! Turns out I had broken my back. But I'll be
all right by the time I get to Indianapolis."
"Vonnegut's father, also named Kurt, was an architect and hardware
store owner. The author of Welcome to the Monkey House (1968) objected
to descriptions of the elder Kurt and of his mother, Edith, as leftists.
""They were middle-class people. My dad was a Democrat and my mother a
Republican. To have been a leftist in the thirties would have implied
membership in something like the Socialist or Communist parties. My
parents never were.
""In any case, what is a leftist in the United States now is nothing
but what a Democrat was back then. We have no 'left' left in this
country."
"Saying he believes a nuclear accident is inevitable, Vonnegut offered
this view of contemporary society: "We're living like drunks now, like
reformed alcoholics, just day-to-day ... The system promotes to the top
people who don't care about the planet."
"Ironically, Vonnegut once was a public relations man. After his stint
as a police reporter with the Chicago City News Service in the
mid-1940s, he worked for General Electric for three years.
"Asked to describe his current writing routine, Vonnegut said: "I'm
sixty-eight years old now, soon to be sixty-nine, so I am four years
beyond conventional retirement age. I'm slowing. Most people my age have
about four good, productive working hours in them daily."
"He paused and laughed. "That's even true with doctors my age, which
scares me. Anyway, my observation is you can teach your body to spend
those four hours (at work) any time around the clockbut you are limited
to four hours. I choose to work from 7 or 8 a.m. until noon."
" His friends include fellow writers like Plimpton, John Updike, Tom
Wolfe, and Joseph Heller.
"How often do they get together?
""I could call any of them up at any time," Vonnegut replied. "But what
we do calls for isolation and concentration. All writers are loners,
really. We have no real business associates. We have no organizations.
In fact, we really don't have jobs."
"Reflecting on his lifestyle, Vonnegut added, "A lot of writers are
alone at the end of their lives. Hemingway was alone at the end.
Certainly our greatest playwright, Tennessee Williams, was quite alone."
" Talk of the theater reminded the literary icon that he wants to take
in a popular satirical movie. Suddenly, his mood shifted. He sounded
vital and enthusiastic.
""I can't wait to see Hot Shots," he said, referring to the producers
of the movie, an irreverent version of Top Gun, he said, "I love what
those guys do." Vonnegut enjoyed a long, loud laugh.
""Their bad taste is wonderful."
Posted by Chris Huber
