Kurt Vonnegut made his mark as one of America's most influential writers with novels such as Slaughterhouse- Five-named one of the 100 best English-language novels by Time. Published posthumously, While Mortals Sleep is a collection of 16 short stories, written early in Vonnegut's career, that further cements his status as an American literary icon.
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"Vintage!!! Ahhh it reminded me of welcome to the monkey house. Such good stories and I can't help but love his writing about Indiana, upstate NY and life on the cape. It make me melt thinking about him and his stories and what they mean to me. " — Karleen (5 out of 5 stars)
"Vintage!!! Ahhh it reminded me of welcome to the monkey house. Such good stories and I can't help but love his writing about Indiana, upstate NY and life on the cape. It make me melt thinking about him and his stories and what they mean to me. "
“Immensely readable and thoroughly entertaining.”
“Taut, concise...The stories set themselves up with neat swiftness, proceed at a clip, and shut down with equal speed, [showing Vonnegut] honing his skills in structure and satire.”
“A lovely reminder of the mischievous moral voice we lost when we lost Kurt Vonnegut.”
“Each story has points of interest that make for rewarding reading...Professional storyteller Norman Dietz’s masterly narration adds emotional depth.”
“These stories were all good when they were written decades ago, but many strike me as great now. Never has the voice of Kurt Vonnegut, humanist and humorist, been more relevant.”
“While these early stories show an author still testing the boundaries of his craft and obsessions, Vonnegut’s acute moral sense and knack for compelling prose are very much on display.”
“Narrator Norman Dietz, appropriately, seems to be channeling a bit of Mark Twain into some of the stories’ narrators, and he has command of a broad range of American regional accents. He deftly evokes the ordinariness of so many of the characters, letting their words and actions drive them away from stereotype.”
“Tightly and crisply written.”
" I don't know what to write here. Short stories by Kurt Vonnegut. what else could a person want? duh. "
" Sometimes the unpublished stuff should remain unpublished. No matter who wrote it. "
" Great old Vonnegutt stuff. Introduction by Dave Eggers is funny. "
" Perhaps five of these stories are great, notably "While Mortals Sleep" and "Ruth". Aside from that there's a reason why much of this went unpublished. "
" A great book of short stories - I like anything this man writes! "
" Loved pretty much all the short stories (one or two duds). My favorite was "Humbug" which I recommend to all people everywhere, about two artists whose wives try to figure out which of them is the better painter. "
" Couldn't finish it. Guess I'm not cut out for Vonnegut! "
" These stories are early Vonnegut that were unpublished. Some I liked, some not so much. There is supposed to be another book of stories coming out from later in his life. I would give those a shot. "
" Saw on New Books shelf at library - big fan of author "
" This book, a collection of short stories, was okay. Some of the stories were more interesting than others. I expected more from Vonnegut, somehow. It wasn't a bad book, and it's a fairly easy read, but it's not a must-read. "
" Some really good ones, some OK ones, and some not so good. I liked While Mortals Sleep, Jenny and the one about the widow receiving love letters (can't remember the name of the story itself right now) the best. "
" Some funny and some touching stories in the collection. I especially liked the The Man with no kiddleys. Actually I think I will change that rating from 3 stars to 4. :) "
" 3 stars because it's Kurt Vonnegut and how much more of his writing are we going to get. No more because these aren't the greatest short stories and they remind us that Kurt is gone. "
Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) was a master of contemporary American literature. His black humor, satiric voice, and incomparable imagination first captured America’s attention in The Sirens of Titan in 1959 and established him as “a true artist” with Cat’s Cradle in 1963.
Norman Dietz is a writer, voice-over artist, and audiobook narrator. He has won numerous Earphones Awards and was named one of the fifty “Best Voices of the Century” by AudioFile magazine. He and his late wife, Sandra, transformed an abandoned ice-cream parlor into a playhouse, which served “the world’s best hot fudge sundaes” before and after performances. The founder of Theatre in the Works, he lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
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