
Cat's Cradle
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Narrated by:
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Tony Roberts
-
By:
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Kurt Vonnegut
About this listen
Cat's Cradle is Vonnegut's satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet's ultimate fate, it features a little person as the protagonist; a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer; and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny.
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Featured Article: Who's the best? Rediscover the greatest, most notable American writers of all time
To curate a list of famous American writers who are also considered among the best American authors, a few things count: current ratings for their works, their particular time periods in history, critical reception, their prevalence in the 21st century, and yes, the awards they won. Many of these authors are taught in school today. From Hemingway to Harper Lee, these famous American authors are all worthy of enduring recognition—and a fresh listen!
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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-
-
The survival of the human race is a total bore!
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- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: David Strathairn, Maria Tucci, Bill Irwin, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut's shorter works. Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly, what these superb stories share is Vonnegut's audacious sense of humor and extraordinary range of creative vision.
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Classic Vonnegut
- By Michael Carrato on 08-17-06
By: Kurt Vonnegut
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Slapstick
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Perhaps the most autobiographical (and deliberately least disciplined) of Vonnegut's novels, Slapstick (1976) is in the form of a broken family odyssey and is surely a demonstration of its eponymous title. The story centers on brother and sister twins, children of Wilbur Swain, who are in sympathetic and (possibly) telepathic communication and who represent Vonnegut's relationship with his own sister who died young of cancer almost two decades before the book's publication.
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Lonely No More!
- By Darwin8u on 11-16-16
By: Kurt Vonnegut
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Sinbad
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 1 hr and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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I had an uncle who left his hometown and the family business there to become a fine actor. His talent was a minor one, but a pretty one. It lasted for 15 years and was gone. He came home with the ashes of it and died 20 years later, poor and, as it happened, drunk.
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Short and Sharp
- By Elle Gato on 07-30-24
By: Kurt Vonnegut
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A Man Without a Country
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 2 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the greatest minds in American writing, Kurt Vonnegut shares his often hilarious and always insightful reflections on America, art, politics and life in general. No matter the subject, Vonnegut will have you considering perspectives you may never have regarded. On the creative process: "If you want to really hurt your parents...the least you can do is go into the arts. I'm not kidding."
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Good but uneven collection of essays
- By J. S. Koehler on 01-28-06
By: Kurt Vonnegut
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While Mortals Sleep
- Unpublished Short Fiction
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Kurt Vonnegut made his mark as one of America’s most influential writers with novels such as Slaughterhouse Five, named one of the 100 best English-language novels by Time. Published posthumously, While Mortals Sleep is a collection of 16 short stories, written early in Vonnegut’s career, that further cements his status as an American literary icon.
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old stories before he got to be the KV I've loved
- By Don Singletary on 10-29-11
By: Kurt Vonnegut
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If This Isn't Nice, What Is?
- Advice for the Young
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins, Scott Brick
- Length: 2 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Master storyteller and satirist Kurt Vonnegut was one of the most in-demand commencement speakers of his time. For each occasion, Vonnegut’s words were unfailingly unique, insightful, and witty, and they stayed with audience members long after graduation. As edited by Dan Wakefield, this book reads like a narrative in the unique voice that made Vonnegut a hero to readers and listeners of all ages. At times hilarious, razor-sharp, freewheeling, and deeply serious, these reflections are ideal for anyone undergoing what Vonnegut would call their "long-delayed puberty ceremony".
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Life advice from the ultimate cynic
- By Wayne on 12-05-18
By: Kurt Vonnegut
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Look at the Birdie
- Unpublished Short Fiction
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Christopher E. Welch
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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American literary icon Kurt Vonnegut enjoys immense popularity - and an equally immense amount of critical praise - for such works as his absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five. A must-have for readers everywhere, Look at the Birdie adds further insight into the author's body of work with a riveting collection of his previously unpublished short fiction.
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Great stories and performances to match
- By Jeff Lacy on 05-30-17
By: Kurt Vonnegut
About writing itself, KV once said in an interview, “Well, I've worried some about, you know, why write books ... why are we teaching people to write books when presidents and senators do not read them, and generals do not read them. And it's been the university experience that taught me that there is a very good reason, that you catch people before they become generals and presidents and so forth and you poison their minds with ... humanity, and however you want to poison their minds, it's presumably to encourage them to make a better world.” Bottom line for me, that’s what KV’s writings are always about: Humanity.
In 1971 the University of Chicago awarded KV his Master's degree in anthropology for Cat's Cradle. While at first blush that might seem a bit over the top, after reading this treatise on such subjects as science and technology, religion and morality, ethics and law, it becomes quite clear about his critique, KV did his homework. And, the originality of his work is unmistakeable. There are folks out there today such as Al Franken and Jon Stewart for whom KV had to have been an influence. KV was one of the originators of the movement for modern, self-reflection at least in contemporary America. That being said, this is not an unapproachable work reserved for the academic elite. This book is for the entertainment and edification of anyone and everyone: the unread generals, unwashed presidents and your any, off-the-street, Joe Blow, the Plummer. I cannot imagine anyone with a scintilla of humanity not loving this book. You're not into social critique you say. Great, read it just for the fun of it. It is funnier than _ _ _ _, well, it's just plain fun.
The narration could have possibly been done differently and still worked. It's hard to believe that it could have been done better.
KV at his best.
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The narrator gives you the feeling of sitting down around a fire and listening to your grandfather tell a tale of days long past. I actually quite enjoyed it.
Not for everyone ...
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The reader did an amazing job narrating and making a clear difdrrents between the speakers
interesting book
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A Well-performed but Peculiar Tale
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My favorite book
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Midget, midget, midget, how he struts and winks,
For he knows a man's as big as what he hopes and thinks!"
-- Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle
I first read this in 9th grade. The grade my two kids are right now. Life has a way of making you feel both old and insignificant. When I first read this book I was focused on the technology of Ice-9 and the absurdity of weapons of mass destruction. This time, as I read it in a quickly cooling bath.* Seriously, all men over 40 should read this book naked in a bath that is quickly losing its heat, while wrinkles develop on their hands, feet, etc. There is nothing emasculates a man faster than a cold bath, nakedness, age, and Kurt Vonnegut.
Anyway, 28 years after first reading it and I still love this book. It was my first Vonnegut. One of my first exposures to the world of literature as absurdism, dark satire, and the wicked wink of postmodernism. I was hooked.
* with all this damn technology, one would think it would be easy to develop a better system for insulating baths. During the last 60 years, our society has gone from porcelain to plastic. So, now I can't even scratch OR freeze my ass in my tub and remain dignified.
Stupid & vicious as men are, this is a lovely day!
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This work is less dislinear (my word - get your own if you dont like it) than other Vonegut works than I have read. That makes it a bit easier to live with and maybe a bit more manstream but none the less challenging.
As an exposition of the depths of inadvertant stupidity that man is capable of it is maybe a bit predictable. But the banality of purpose that the characters portray makes the final outcome seem all the more plausible and therefore maybe just a bit more scary. It might just be an important book as well as a very enjoyable one.
The narration is good just because it is pretty much transparent. What characterisation there is is helpful rather than distracting. Overall a first class audiobook.
Interesting, Funny. Challenging
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busy busy busy
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I laughed out loud several times. Really glad I opted for the audio book, the narrator was outstanding with his performance.
Oh, and there was a great interview with Vonnegut at the end of the book. Another plus.
#Vonnegut #Satire #ICE9 #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes
Very Good !
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RELAX EVERYTHING IS A LIE
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