357 pages
English language
Published April 30, 2000 by Berkley Books.
“Bagombo Snuff Box resurrects Vonnegut’s earliest efforts, stories written during the fifties and sixties for such popular venues as The Saturday Evening Post and Collier’s. In his engagingly autobiographical introduction, Vonnegut describes his stints as a Chicago journalist and PR man for General Electric in Schenectady, New York; his decision to supplement his income by writing; and his rapid success and evolution into a full-time writer. So, here are his literary roots, a set of stories that reflects their era’s eagerness to turn the horrors of war into anecdote and to equate technology with progress. Unabashedly fablelike, they can be either sly or sweet, sentimental or vaudevillian, but all are quietly subversive…Rich in low-key humor and good old-fashioned morality, Vonnegut’s stories are both wily and tender.” —Booklist
TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface by Peter Reed Introduction Thanasphere Mnemonics Any Reasonable Offer The Package The No-Talent Kid Poor Little Rich Town Souvenir …
“Bagombo Snuff Box resurrects Vonnegut’s earliest efforts, stories written during the fifties and sixties for such popular venues as The Saturday Evening Post and Collier’s. In his engagingly autobiographical introduction, Vonnegut describes his stints as a Chicago journalist and PR man for General Electric in Schenectady, New York; his decision to supplement his income by writing; and his rapid success and evolution into a full-time writer. So, here are his literary roots, a set of stories that reflects their era’s eagerness to turn the horrors of war into anecdote and to equate technology with progress. Unabashedly fablelike, they can be either sly or sweet, sentimental or vaudevillian, but all are quietly subversive…Rich in low-key humor and good old-fashioned morality, Vonnegut’s stories are both wily and tender.” —Booklist
TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface by Peter Reed Introduction Thanasphere Mnemonics Any Reasonable Offer The Package The No-Talent Kid Poor Little Rich Town Souvenir The Cruise of the Jolly Roger Custom-Made Bride Ambitious Sophomore Bagombo Snuff Box The Powder-Blue Dragon A Present for Big Saint Nick Unpaid Consultant Der Arme Dolmetscher The Boy Who Hated Girls This Son of Mine A Night for Love Find Me a Dream Runaways 2BR02B Lovers Anonymous Hal Irwin’s Magic Lamp
Couple of gems, but mostly the stories are small-town character pieces of mixed quality. Not Vonnegut's finest.
