God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian

In high school I read Slaughter House Five and absolutely loved it. I quickly made it my mission to read all of his books. He’s one of my absolute favorite writers of all times and just an amazing human. This was so awesome to add to my home library collection as well.

Kurt Vonnegut had a recurring segment on public radio which provided the fodder for this engaging short work. In a series of 21 interviews, conducted "from the death chamber in Huntsville" by dying at Dr. Kevorkian's hands only to be revived at the interview's conclusion, Vonnegut maps out a periphery of the humanist ideals. Not merely entertaining quips, but a roadmap for what is right and wrong, and why we humans ought to do the right thing even without Holy Punishment rained down upon us. He interviews the obligatory villain, Adolf Hitler, who shrugs off accusations that he's the worst person to ever live. "I paid my dues with everyone else," he said. It is his hope that a modest monument, possibly a stone cross, since he was a Christian, will be erected somewhere in his memory, possibly on the grounds of the United Nations Headquarters in New York. It should be incised, he said, with his name and dates 1889-1945. Underneath should be a two-word sentence in German: "Entschuldigen Sie." Roughly translated into English, this comes out, "I beg your pardon," or "Excuse Me." He also interviews John Brown, Karla Faye Tucker, Clarence Darrow (of the Scopes Trial, or Monkey Trial, fame), James Earl Ray, Mary Shelly, William Shakespeare, and Salvatore Biagini, a construction worker who rescued his schnauzer from a pitbull. My favorites included his interview with Isaac Asimov, friend and fellow humanist; Socialist hero and presidential candidate, Eugene Debbs; and Sir Isaac Newton who spent his time interrogating the interviewer on the nature of the blue tube toward the light of the afterlife. In usual rambling style, Vonnegut expounds on life, insanity, and all manor of social justice issues. It's a fun read, less substantial than other Vonnegut works, but still full of wisdom and meaning. - CV Rick

Vonnegut's sense of humor is as ascerbic as ever. He speaks to us "from the death chamber in Huntsville" (Texas). Those of us from Texas have long had cause to be ashamed of that particular place, but Vonnegut's use of it may be the only one that wouldn't embarrass us. The "interview" with Isaac Asimov is priceless. You will be pleased to hear that Asimov is still writing, although avoiding the embarrassment of publishing new books years after he's dead (unlike, say, L. Ron.)

Thank you Mr. Vonnegut for doing what 100 mg of Prozac a day cannot do. What an inspiration for holding on to one's ideals! Don't read it in the book store. The money goes to a good cause. If I had money I would buy this book for every depressed English-speaking person in the world; that is, most of us. Also, it is a good place to keep a stirring quote by Eugene V. Debs at hand.

Old Kurt has done it again...Further pushing back the walls of reality to make room for his outlandish yet all too believable fiction. In "God Bless You, Dr Kevorkian" Vonnegut presents written transcripts from the post-mortem interviews he's conducted with dead celebrities(both well known and obscure) through controlled near death experiences courtesy of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. It is through these fictional interviews that Vonnegut gives his take on life, death, and the human experience and ends up at his familiar refrain: Life may be meaningless--but at least it's beautiful. This is vintage Vonnegut--A gospel of the laughable irony of human existence. This book was a joy to read.

I am almost ashamed to say that this was the first Vonnegut book I have ever read -- and I am an English major! After this introduction to him, I am now ready to go to my library and check out all of his novels. In this novella, he takes us through a kaleidoscope of people from all walks of life. He gives as much attention and respect to "a sailor's wife" as he does to Shakespeare -- more even. This novel made me laugh at people I might have taken too seriously and give more thought to those I might not have noticed. I applaud this novel and enjoyed every minute of the half-hour it took me to devour it and I sincerely hope you do as well.