NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Foreward by Dave Eggers
These previously unpublished, beautifully rendered works of fiction are a testament to Kurt Vonnegut’s unique blend of observation and imagination. Here are stories of men and machines, art and artifice, and how ideals of fortune, fame, and love take curious twists in ordinary lives. An ambitious builder of roads fritters away his free time with miniature trains—until the women in his life crash his fantasy land. Trapped in a stenography pool, a young dreamer receives a call from a robber on the run, who presents her with a strange proposition. A crusty newspaperman is forced onto a committee to judge Christmas displays—a job that leads him to a suspiciously ostentatious ex-con and then a miracle. Featuring a Foreword by Dave Eggers, While Mortals Sleep is a poignant reflection of our world as it is and as it could be.
From the Publisher
Immensely readable and thoroughly entertaining.”—The Washington Post“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.”—Los Angeles Times
“A lovely reminder of the mischievous moral voice we lost when we lost Kurt Vonnegut.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“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.”—The Seattle Times
“There’s something distinctly timeless about Vonnegut’s vision.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
William Sheehan
These stories…are decidedly less flamboyant both in style and subject matter than his later, more representative work…Vonnegut's characters are ordinary people from places like Schenectady, N.Y., and Indianapolis…[he] draws us into these unremarkable lives with remarkable speed and efficiency. His brisk, straightforward prose resonates, even in these early pieces, with authority and understated wit…It's good to have these stories, good to hear that inimitable voice once more. It's heartening to discover that Vonnegut's work, even at this early, relatively undeveloped stage, is still vital, still affecting, still capable of helping us through this thing. Whatever it is.
The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
The 16 previously unpublished short stories of this collection, taken from the beginning of Vonnegut's career, show a young author already grappling with themes and ideas that would define his work for decades to come. "Girl Pool" features typist Amy Lou Little, employee of the Kafkaesque Montezuma Forge and Foundry Company, who is tasked with transcribing a plea for help she receives on her Dictaphone from an escaped, dying murderer hiding somewhere in the works of the company's cavernous factory. The tale reveals Vonnegut investigating one of his recurring themes: the isolation brought by technology and the necessity for basic humanity in the workplace. The title story melds a sentimental meditation on the true meaning of Christmas with elements of the mystery genre as a hard-nosed reporter stalks the story of stolen nativity scene characters. 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. In the foreword, Dave Eggers calls Vonnegut "a hippie Mark Twain," which perfectly captures an essential truth about this esteemed author. (Jan.)
Library Journal
"Uncollected" rather than "unpublished," these are actually early stories that appeared in magazines such as Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post. They reveal a more conventional, commercial side of Vonnegut, though we see glimmers of the work that was to come. "Jenny" concerns a lonely researcher-turned-traveling salesman who converts a refrigerator into a walking, talking robot with his ex-wife's face. The title piece is a Christmas story about an ex-con, now wealthy investor whose garish outdoor display wins a local contest—and reveals the deeper meanings of the holiday after the central figures of the crèche are stolen. "Money Talks" is a charming tale of a nurse left a fortune by an elderly man she cared for and a struggling Cape Cod store owner and how the burden (or in this case, the voice) of the money almost thwarts their mutual desires. VERDICT Though not adding significantly to Vonnegut's legacy, this is an appealing glimpse of a young writer learning his craft. It deserves an audience among general readers as well as Vonnegut completists.—Lawrence Rungren, Merrimack Valley Lib. Consortium, North Andover, MA
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