Kurt Vonnegut: Novels 1976–1985: Slapstick / Jailbird / Deadeye Dick / Galápagos: (Library of America #252)

With the success of Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Kurt Vonnegut cemented his reputation as America’s funniest and most original satirist. This third volume of the definitive edition of his fiction collects four novels written in the 1970s and ’80s, when Vonnegut was at the height of his storytelling powers. Slapstick (1976) takes the form of the post-apocalyptic memoirs of Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain, architect of a brilliant scheme to rid mankind of loneliness. Jailbird (1979) is a political fable of our time, the biography of a good man who becomes embroiled in several of the worst political scandals of the American Century. Deadeye Dick (1982) depicts a talentless playwright’s struggle to atone for the crimes of his youth, and the sins of his country. Galápagos (1985), a favorite of the author’s among his books, tells the story of how and why a million years ago—during the global ecological disaster of 1986—humankind embarked on an unlikely evolution. The volume is rounded out with an assortment of Vonnegut rarities: speeches, essays, and commentary from the period that touch upon the themes, incidents, and particulars of the novels. ** By 1976, the year that Kurt Vonnegut published his eighth novel, Slapstick , it was apparent that the author of Slaughterhouse-Five was more than a favorite of the sixties counterculture, more than an acidly witty public personality and a gadfly of the military-industrial complexmore, even, than one of Americas most widely read living writers. Out of the sweeping spotlight of popular success emerged the enduring Vonnegut: a satiric fabulist to rival Mark Twain, a comic storyteller whose books are as morally serious as they are imaginative and amusing. With the four novels collected here Vonnegut was recognized as an original American classic, the architect of an oeuvre built to last, a body of work tightly joined and cleanly made, designed along lines entirely his own. This third volume in the Library of America s definitive edition of his fiction opens with Slapstick , the memoirs of Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain, a hundred-year-old former president of the United States and the promulgator of an ingenious national program to stamp out American loneliness. By giving every citizen a new middle name, President Swain, himself assigned to the computer-generated Daffodil clan, also gives them a numberless network of concerned relativesa taste of the familial bliss that Swain once enjoyed with his twin sister, Eliza, his soulmate and missing half, now dead beneath an avalanche on Mars. Jailbird (1979) is a political memoir of a less fantastic sort, chronicling the misadventures of Walter F. Starbuck, a once-idealistic government functionary who, through no wrongdoing of his own, has become embroiled in every major national scandal from Sacco and Vanzetti to Watergate. Deadeye Dick (1982) is the story of a talentless playwrights lifelong struggle to atone for the accidental crimes of his youth, the foolishness of his father, and the sins of his country. And in Galpagos (1985), a favorite of the authors among his books, a ghost from the future reveals how and why a million years agoduring the global ecological disaster of 1986humankind abandoned the land for the sea and embarked upon an unlikely evolution. The volume is rounded out with an assortment of Vonnegut rarities: speeches, essays, and commentary that touch upon the themes and particulars of these novels. Slapstick (1976) Takes The Form Of The Post-apocalyptic Memoirs Of Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain, Architect Of A Brilliant Scheme To Rid Mankind Of Loneliness. Jailbird (1979) Is A Political Fable Of Our Time, The Biography Of A Good Man Who Becomes Embroiled In Several Of The Worst Political Scandals Of The American Century. Deadeye Dick (1982) Depicts A Talentless Playwright's Struggle To Atone For The Crimes Of His Youth, And The Sins Of His Country. Galápagos (1985), A Favorite Of The Author's Among His Books, Tells The Story Of How And Why A Million Years Ago, During The Global Ecological Disaster Of 1986, Humankind Embarked On An Unlikely Evolution. The Volume Is Rounded Out With An Assortment Of Vonnegut Rarities: Speeches, Essays, And Commentary From The Period That Touch Upon The Themes, Incidents, And Particulars Of The Novels. Slapstick -- Jailbird -- Deadeye Dick -- Galápagos. Kurt Vonnegut ; Sidney Offit, Editor. Includes Bibliographical References. Slapstick (1976) takes the form of the post-apocalyptic memoirs of Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain, architect of a brilliant scheme to rid mankind of loneliness. Jailbird (1979) is a political fable of our time, the biography of a good man who becomes embroiled in several of the worst political scandals of the American Century. Deadeye Dick (1982) depicts a talentless playwright's struggle to atone for the crimes of his youth and the sins of his country. Galápagos (1985), a favorite of the author's among his books, tells the story of how and why a million years ago, during the global ecological disaster of 1986, humankind embarked on an unlikely evolution. The volume is rounded out with an assortment of Vonnegut rarities: speeches, essays, and commentary from the period that touch upon the themes, incidents, and particulars of the novels.--Résumé de l'éditeur