Complete Stories [Hardcover]

Here for the first time is the complete short fiction of one of the twentieth century's foremost imaginative geniuses. More than half of Vonnegut's output was short fiction, and never before has the world had occasion to wrestle with it all together. Organized thematically— War, Women, Science, Romance, Work Ethic versus Fame and Fortune, Behavior, The Band Director (those stories featuring Lincoln High's band director and nice guy George Hemholtz), and Futuristic —these ninety-eight stories were written from 1941 to 2007, and include those Vonnegut published in magazines and collected inWelcome to the Monkey House,Bagombo Snuff Box, and other books; here for the first time five previously unpublished stories; as well as a handful of others that were published online and read by few. During his lifetime Vonnegut published fewer than half of the stories he wrote, his agent telling him in 1958 upon the rejection of a particularly strong story, Save it for the collection of your works which will be published someday when you become famous. Which may take a little time.
      
Selected and introduced by longtime Vonnegut friends and scholars Dan Wakefield and Jerome Klinkowitz,Complete Storiesputs Vonnegut's great wit, humor, humanity, and artistry on full display. An extraordinary literary feast for new readers, Vonnegut fans, and scholars alike. For completists, this will be like a boxed set of a musician’s early work — Vonnegut’s Sun Studio sessions ... It’s fascinating to watch him work themes that would later animate his 14 novels and five books of nonfiction: the cruel stupidity of war, the dehumanizing dangers of technology, the distillation of American values into mere greed and selfishness.... An extraordinary heart exists behind these stories. —Jess Walter,New York Times Book Review

“There are wonderful lines, sentences, and whole l–