Kurt Vonnegut

“I think it’s something that progressives need to think about, because the book talks a lot about two tendencies that people can adopt, to try to find meaning and purpose…The book, for me, is about trying to seek meaning, not trying to find simple answers, and appreciating that in some ways following a belief to an extreme can be equally as dangerous as having no beliefs.” Read more...

The best books on Bringing Change to America

Andy Stern, Nonprofit Leaders & Activist

“What I find intriguing about all this is that Vonnegut tried so many times to write the story of his memories of the bombing of Dresden and he kept failing. And, finally with Slaughterhouse Five, he wrote this outrageous story about time travel. That was his way of getting to grips with the horror that he lived with. His character Billy Pilgrim lives through the bombing of Dresden and he goes back and forth to Tralfamadore. There is one beautiful bit where he describes how Billy Pilgrim experienced the bombing of Dresden backwards. The bombs fly up to the airplane, then they go back to the factory and the parts go to the places where the parts came from and eventually back to the mines where the metal is mined. And all this is seen in slow motion. Even though he is no philosopher Vonnegut is still able to ask the questions that all of us think about – how time affects our lives.” Read more...

The best books on Time and Eternity

Carlos Eire, Historian