Vonnegut, Kurt - Jailbird
Jailbird is the first novel of Vonnegut's second writing period. He had come through the trauma of fame and dealing with various personal demons in his writing and was now freed up to write. He no longer had the burden of saying something, which allowed him to be creative and ultimately find something to say.
Jailbird is the fictional memoir of an extraordinarily ordinary man - Walter F. Starbuck. A career bureaucrat, former communist, and, as the title implies, a jailbird. He recounts the story of his life and the mild-mannered way in which he made a real contribution. It is a novel of the everyman, relishing in the successes and failures of ordinary people and bringing out the nobility of such a life.
The prose is witty and wonderful, while the story lacks a specific direction, it is complete and entertaining. Vonnegut's imaginative way incorporates real history (like the stories of Sacco & Vanzetti and Watergate) into an otherwise fictional tale. The reader learns and laughs. A great book for quirky readers.
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Originally Posted by Ryan Scott
