Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut

This is a new book that includes short stories that have previously not been published by Kurt Vonnegut.

The majority of these stories deal with war. Most of them take place in Dresden, Germany. The stories are pretty quick reads. I enjoyed all of them. I'm not going to actually talk about each story and tell you what it's about, because that would take up a lot of your time. There were some that made more sense than others. There were some that stuck out as more enjoyable than others.

I will admit that I have only read one other book by Vonnegut, that was Slaughter-House Five. (Boy have my reviews improved!). Anyway, I really enjoyed reading that one and was glad I finally did. So, I admit that I was asked if I wanted a review copy of Armageddon in Retrospect and I said sure! While I enjoyed reading Slaughterhouse-Five, and would like to read more of his work, it's something that I would just keep putting off. However, if I'm asked to review it...that book gets moved towards the top of my TBR pile.

So, back to the review. I really enjoyed these stories. This book was different for me because while I have read short story collections in the past, it's not something I normally do. I tend to shy away from them. Why, I have no idea. However I think this book was read pretty fast because I didn't want to stop reading a story in the middle of it, I prefer to finish the story and then stop before beginning the first one.

If you have read Vonnegut before and enjoyed it, then pick up this one. I would guess that you would enjoy this one too. If you haven't read him before, I still recommend this book. The stories were really good, they kept my interesting, and it leaves me interested in finding some of his other books to read.

oh, and since I decided not to write a review piece about each story, I'm going to copy some of the info on the back of the book.

Imbued with Vonnegut's trademark rueful humor, the pieces range from a visceral nonfiction recollection of the destruction of Dresden during World War II - a piece that is as timely today as it was then - to a painfully funny short story about three privates and their fantasies of the perfect first meal upon returning home from war, to a darker, more poignant story about the impossibility of shielding our children from the temptation of violence.

fiction/230pgs