Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children’s Crusade -
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
1969 - Seymour Lawrence / Delacorte Press, New York - First Edition, First Issue
First edition of Vonnegut’s quintessential anti-war novel, the core of which was formed by his own experience as German prisoner during the two day fire bombing of Dresden in 1945.
‘Utter destruction’, Vonnegut recalls, 'Carnage unfathomable.'
But this is Vonnegut, and as Salman Rushdie says in his brilliant New Yorker article, ‘There is much comedy in it, as there was in everything Kurt Vonnegut wrote, but it does not see war as farcical. It sees war as a tragedy so great that perhaps only the mask of comedy allows one to look it in the eye.’ Vonnegut earned a Purple Heart with the US infantry at the Battle of the Bulge, and was captured by the Germans and placed in Dresden where, in 1945, he witnessed the two days of fire bombing in Dresden. One of the worst air attacks in history killing an estimated 250,000 people, mainly civilians and European refugees. He was one of only seven American prisoners of war to survive the bombing, in an underground meatpacking cellar known as Slaughterhouse Five.
Vonnegut's mother committed suicide while he was in his early twenties. He himself attempted suicide in 1985 and later wrote about this in several essays. He maintained a long friendship with Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22.
‘Almost immediately upon publication, Slaughterhouse-Five became one of the most frequently challenged books in the United States public school system. In a landmark 1982 ruling brought before the Supreme Court over the book's removal from a public school, the Court declared that "local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to 'prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion'." Despite this, the book remains one of the most banned books in the United States.’
Reference: New Yorker, June 13, 2009, ‘What Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five” Tells Us Now’ - Salman Rushdie. #18 in Modern Library's 100 Best Novels. Karolides, Sova, & Bald, 100 Banned Books, 133-41. Currey, Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors, 504.
Octavo (book size 21.5x14.6cm), pp. [14] 186 [8]. In publisher's turquoise cloth stamped in gilt, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, scarlet gilt, and black, upper board with Vonnegut’s signature blocked in gilt, black endpapers. First state dust-jacket designed by Paul Bacon, priced ‘$5.95’ to upper corner of front flap, and with correct code ‘0369’ at foot of rear flap. Condition: Fine but for light cloth toning along the top edge, in near fine gently toned jacket, slightly heavier to spine, upper edge and edges of rear flap. Ref: 112687 Price: HK$ 20,000
‘Utter destruction’, Vonnegut recalls, 'Carnage unfathomable.'
But this is Vonnegut, and as Salman Rushdie says in his brilliant New Yorker article, ‘There is much comedy in it, as there was in everything Kurt Vonnegut wrote, but it does not see war as farcical. It sees war as a tragedy so great that perhaps only the mask of comedy allows one to look it in the eye.’ Vonnegut earned a Purple Heart with the US infantry at the Battle of the Bulge, and was captured by the Germans and placed in Dresden where, in 1945, he witnessed the two days of fire bombing in Dresden. One of the worst air attacks in history killing an estimated 250,000 people, mainly civilians and European refugees. He was one of only seven American prisoners of war to survive the bombing, in an underground meatpacking cellar known as Slaughterhouse Five.
Vonnegut's mother committed suicide while he was in his early twenties. He himself attempted suicide in 1985 and later wrote about this in several essays. He maintained a long friendship with Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22.
‘Almost immediately upon publication, Slaughterhouse-Five became one of the most frequently challenged books in the United States public school system. In a landmark 1982 ruling brought before the Supreme Court over the book's removal from a public school, the Court declared that "local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to 'prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion'." Despite this, the book remains one of the most banned books in the United States.’
Reference: New Yorker, June 13, 2009, ‘What Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five” Tells Us Now’ - Salman Rushdie. #18 in Modern Library's 100 Best Novels. Karolides, Sova, & Bald, 100 Banned Books, 133-41. Currey, Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors, 504.
Octavo (book size 21.5x14.6cm), pp. [14] 186 [8]. In publisher's turquoise cloth stamped in gilt, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, scarlet gilt, and black, upper board with Vonnegut’s signature blocked in gilt, black endpapers. First state dust-jacket designed by Paul Bacon, priced ‘$5.95’ to upper corner of front flap, and with correct code ‘0369’ at foot of rear flap. Condition: Fine but for light cloth toning along the top edge, in near fine gently toned jacket, slightly heavier to spine, upper edge and edges of rear flap. Ref: 112687 Price: HK$ 20,000