Vonnegut’s War

An arresting account of the creation and impact of Kurt Vonnegut’s 1969 novel . . . Through Farrell’s detailed storytelling, including gutting scenes of Vonnegut’s wartime imprisonment, Slaughterhouse-Five emerges as an alchemical mixture of its author’s biography, the realities of war, and the 1960s cultural zeitgeist.This is a tour de force of literary detective work. * Publishers Weekly, starred review *
In Vonnegut’s War, Professor Susan Farrell neatly pieces together how Vonnegut created a modern classic whose anti-war message remains as relevant as ever. * The Independent *
Vonnegut’s War draws on oral histories and new archival discoveries, shedding light on how cultural forces shaped the classic 1969 time travel novel. * SFX *
When Kurt Vonnegut was my teacher, and the first reader of my first novel, he was writing Slaughterhouse-Five. Susan Farrell perceptively illuminates Kurt’s arduous rewriting of his POW experience as fiction; she also brings to light the enduring effect of this courageous novel on Vonnegut’s literary reputation and the rest of his life. First my mentor, later my dear friend, Kurt’s life and fiction were forever affected by the Allied bombing of Dresden, which Susan Farrell has admirably and comprehensively depicted. -- John Irving
Susan Farrell writes with warmth and style. Her penetrating study of Kurt Vonnegut’s life and work uncovers facets that freshly illuminate a much-read novel we thought we knew. With one keen insight after another, Farrell shows why Slaughterhouse-Five was a novel for its time, how it made its tumultuous, icon-smashing and self-questioning time, and why it remains a novel for our time. * Ken Kalfus *
Farrell writes the defining historiography of SL5, answering the question,“How the hell did Vonnegut do that?” by sequencing its well archived drafts before contextualizing his narrative choices. And that’s just the half of it. Farrell addresses SL5’s principle defining discussions including its metafictional elements, the questioned morality of Dresden’s bombing, its adoption as a valued tome among Vietnam protestors, Vonnegut’s science fiction albatross, and the novel’s importance in court history as a frequent target for censorship. * Marc Leeds, Author of The Vonnegut Encyclopedia, *
This book is superb.It’s a unique, fresh, deep dive into how Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut’s seminal work, came about. It’s also a damn good read: Concise, substantial,entertaining, surprising. * Suzanne McConnell, author of 'Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style' by Kurt Vonnegut and Suzanne McConnell *
Takes the reader through every aspect of Slaughterhouse-Five’s inspiration, genesis and afterlife in a stimulating fusion of biography, textual criticism and historical context. * The Spectator *
With Vonnegut's War, a military- cultural history of the novel of 1969 that made its author famous, Susan Farrell adds entertainingly and humanely to the Vonnaissance … a valuable, emotionally direct companion to a novel that is steeped in blackly comic evasion. * Times Literary Supplement *