is a rare opportunity to experience Kurt Vonnegut speaking in his own voice about his own life, his views of the world, his writing, and the writing of others. An indignant, outrageous, witty, deeply felt collection of reviews, essays, and speeches, this is a window not only into Vonnegut's mind but also into his heart.

"A book filled with madness and truth and absurdity and self-revelation . . . [Vonnegut is] a great cosmic comedian and rattler of human skeletons, an idealist disguised as a pessimist."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Includes the following essays, speeches, and works:

"Science Fiction"
"Brief Encounters on the Inland Waterway"
"Hello, Star Vega"
"Teaching the Unteachable"
"Yes, We Have No Nirvanas"
"Fortitude"
"'There's a Maniac Loose Out There'"
"Excelsior! We're Going to the Moon! Excelsior!"
"Address to the American Physical Society"
"Good Missiles, Good Manners, Good Night"
"Why They Read Hesse"
"Oversexed in Indianapolis"
"The Mysterious Madame Blavatsky"
"Biafra: A People Betrayed"
"Address to Graduating Class at Bennington College, 1970"
"Torture and Blubber"
"Address to the National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1971"
"Reflections on my Own Death"
"In a Manner that Must Shame God Himself"
"Thinking Unthinkable, Speaking Unspeakable"
"Address at Rededication of Wheaton College Library, 1973"
"Invite Rita Rait to America!"
"Address to P.E.N. Conference in Stockholm, 1973"
"A Political Disease"
"Playboy Interview"