I once tried to convince Kurt Vonnegut to spend a few days at Quarry Farm 
and deliver a chat in the barn about HF. He considered it, but declined due 
to health problems, and sent me a self-portrait by way of thanks for my 
efforts. I think he spoke at Hartford once.

Here's a snippet from an essay on three centuries of readers' responses to 
HF that I wrote for Kent Rasmussen's book on HF:

"Kurt Vonnegut’s take was also a bit different: After ranking the book with 
Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick (1851), Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms (1929), 
Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey (8th century BC), Fyodor Dostoevski’s 
Crime and Punishment (1866), and the Bible, he concludes that these are all 
books “about what a bummer it is to be a human being” (Vonnegut 8-9)."


Kevin
@
Mac Donnell Rare Books
9307 Glenlake Drive
Austin TX 78730
512-345-4139
Member: ABAA, ILAB
*************************
You may browse our books at:
www.macdonnellrarebooks.com


-----Original Message----- 
From: Hal Bush
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2018 8:06 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Welcome back to the semester! REMINDER: renew your degrees!

Jim;  I was and remain a huge fan of KV, just to clarify;  and have taught =
Slaughterhouse 5, Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle and other novels many times=
.  I certainly did not mean to imply I dislike or disregard KV"s power as a=
writer by circulating that little humorous piece.  It is probably not goin=
g too far to say that Vonnegut's work (along with Catcher in the Rye & Gats=
by) probably changed my life's direction & calling...  Nevertheless, Vonneg=
ut fanatics -- like those of Phish, or David Foster Wallace, or JK Rowling,=
etc-- can be somewhat monomaniacal.


Bonus fact:  my dad went to high school with Vonnegut, at Shortridge HS on =
Indy's near north side.  Dad was one year behind KV;  at the same time the =
school had Sid Collins, who became the legendary "voice of the 500"; as wel=
l as Madelyn Pugh, one of the lead writers on the I Love Lucy show in the 5=
0s!  Pugh & KV were co-editors of the HS paper at Shortridge, the Daily Ech=
o, which became famous at the time (the Great Depression) as supposedly bei=
ng the first daily high school paper in America.





Dr. Hal Bush

Dept. of English

Saint Louis University

[log in to unmask]

314-977-3616

http://halbush.com

author website:  halbush.com

________________________________
From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Jim Leonard <leonard=
[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2018 2:05:39 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Welcome back to the semester! REMINDER: renew your degrees!

I hope you'll pardon my digression in a discussion of Mark Twain and Andy W=
=3D
illiams, but I think Slaughterhouse-Five is a delightful book.  Sure Billy =
=3D
Pilgrim's wife and about 135,000 other people die in the novel, but Billy f=
=3D
inds an effective way to come to terms with it--with an incredibly goofy ef=
=3D
fort to change the way his fellow earthlings (mistakenly?) think about such=
=3D
things.  As Kurt Vonnegut would say, "I love that; it's so human."   --Jim=
=3D
L.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Hal Bush
Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2018 7:02 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Welcome back to the semester! REMINDER: renew your degrees!

John, I love the Andy Williams reference!  as for the billiards claim, are =
=3D
=3D3D there witnesses??




Dr. Hal Bush

Dept. of English

Saint Louis University

[log in to unmask]

314-977-3616

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__halbush.com&d=3DDwIBA=
g&c=3DPk_HpaIpE_jAoEC9PLIWoQ&r=3Df7i-Uq4rMQU8-TBe45qVLg&m=3DKCSIDUNlH-eth3S=
0KqHiCUc5O2DLKQ8jXEejEIKHxH0&s=3DOoruA2EAoc14KbAUm40hIHED9msAsCiouA_gr07mFP=
Y&e=3D

author website:  halbush.com

________________________________
From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of John R. Pascal <alph=
=3D
=3D3D [log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2018 9:01:19 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Welcome back to the semester! REMINDER: renew your degrees!

Excuse me, Dr Bush,

It=3D3D3DE2=3D3D3D80=3D3D3D99s a good thing my dear parents are in heaven. =
Since=3D
they =3D3D =3D3D3D paid for my B.A. in English, I think they might raise a=
n ey=3D
ebrow or two =3D3D3D and wish a private word with you concerning the need t=
o =3D
renew my degree.

Also, I have taught Slaughterhouse-Five (not my choice) to my high =3D3D3D =
sc=3D
hool juniors for several years.  It was the summer reading for =3D3D3D Sept=
em=3D
ber discussion.
It made them needlessly more depressed beyond returning to school no =3D3D3=
D =3D
matter how many different times I tried to explain it and put it into =3D3D=
3D=3D
context as an important work in American literature.=3D3D3D20
=3D3D3D20
So much better to have shortened SL-5 book discussion and jump right =3D3D3=
D =3D
into the mighty Mississippi River with Huckleberry Finn, which they =3D3D3D=
a=3D
bsolutely love each year;=3D3D3D20

It certainly is our favorite time of year.  I do play Andy Williams=3D3D3DE=
2=3D
=3D3D3D=3D3D 80=3D3D3D99=3D3D3D  =3D3D3DE2=3D3D3D80=3D3D3D9CThe Most Wonder=
ful Time of th=3D
e Year=3D3D3DE2=3D3D3D80=3D3D3D9D every Se=3D3D ptember =3D3D3D on the firs=
t day of c=3D
lass and it gets even the most emotionally hardened =3D3D =3D3D3D of studen=
ts t=3D
o smile and grin.  But hey, what do I know?  I=3D3D3DE2=3D3D3D80=3D3D3D99m=
=3D3D  =3D
=3D3D3D still learning myself.

I do know that you graciously let me win a round of billiards against =3D3D=
3D=3D
you at Elmira last year.

:D
John Pascal
> On Aug 17, 2018, at 5:30 PM, Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>=3D3D3D20
> Colleagues;  I was reminded of this by another colleague, and =3D3D3D
especially fo=3D3D3D3D
> r the younger folks on this LIST:  don't overlook the very crucial =3D3D3=
D
need to =3D3D3D3D
> RENEW your degree before the start of class.
>=3D3D3D20
>=3D3D3D20
>=3D20
>https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3D3D3Dhttps-3A__www.mcsweeneys.=
n
>et=3D3D
_articles_how-2Dto-2Drenew-2Dyour-2Denglish-2Ddegree&d=3D3D3DDwIBAg&c=3D3D3=
DPk_=3D
HpaI=3D3D
pE_jAoEC9PLIWoQ&r=3D3D3Df7i-Uq4rMQU8-TBe45qVLg&m=3D3D3Ds0tUscpxPGJmaaUYK-uY=
8lYN=3D
HN1V=3D3D
xNIwPlhPqZIte0k&s=3D3D3DeE2UoskW-tXy-PzSEWf5UiGSP6nXwremTg9eUDMV3Ac&e=3D3D3=
D
>=3D3D3D20
>=3D3D3D20
> O yeah, one other thing -- just in case you meet one of those Vonnegut=3D=
20
>=3D3D
=3D3D3D
stal=3D3D3D3D
> kers at the welcome back cocktail party on campus:
>=3D3D3D20
>=3D3D3D20
> =3D3D3D
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3D3D3Dhttps-3A__www.mcsweeneys.n=
et=3D
_a=3D3D
rticles_what-2Dto-2Ddo-2Dwhen-2Dsomeone-2Dasks-2Dif-2Dyouve-2D-3D&d=3D3D3DD=
wI=3D
BA=3D3D
g&c=3D3D3DPk_HpaIpE_jAoEC9PLIWoQ&r=3D3D3Df7i-Uq4rMQU8-TBe45qVLg&m=3D3D3Ds0t=
UscpxP=3D
GJmaaU=3D3D
YK-uY8lYNHN1VxNIwPlhPqZIte0k&s=3D3D3D_rkMzW0yVjoSZo9k-Vq0ujVft4voqLrR2kD6Fi=
MX=3D
2l=3D3D
M&e=3D3D3D
e=3D3D3D3D
> ver-read-vonnegut
>=3D3D3D20
>=3D3D3D20
> cheers, my friends!!  The earth has yet again returned us to our =3D3D3D
favorite t=3D3D3D3D
> ime of year...
>=3D3D3D20
>=3D3D3D20
>=3D3D3D20
> Dr. Hal Bush
>=3D3D3D20
> Dept. of English
>=3D3D3D20
> Saint Louis University
>=3D3D3D20
> [log in to unmask]
>=3D3D3D20
> 314-977-3616
>=3D3D3D20
>=3D20
>https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3D3D3Dhttp-3A__halbush.com&d=3D=
3D3D=3D
D
>wI=3D3D
BAg&c=3D3D3DPk_HpaIpE_jAoEC9PLIWoQ&r=3D3D3Df7i-Uq4rMQU8-TBe45qVLg&m=3D3D3Ds=
0tUscp=3D
xPGJma=3D3D
aUYK-uY8lYNHN1VxNIwPlhPqZIte0k&s=3D3D3DJ4F8tyqDtJk0M7ehsv3UdAgzuBFAJ9wba5dM=
qH=3D
7w=3D3D
KCo&e=3D3D3D
>=3D3D3D20
> author website:  halbush.com