His books got me through high school. I would not have survived without his biting sarcasm and wit, his wry sense of humour about serious things. I miss him.
This is such a wonderful blast from the past. I'm quite positive I read every Vonnegut book at least once back in the day. It's refreshing to see/hear this conversation having been from these times and the (kind of) irony that it actually (in a funny weird way) still resonates so true today (2021). Thanks for sharing this video! I miss his wonderful authentic transparent curmudgeon humor. Such a wonderful talented man!
I saw him speak at The University of New Hampshire back in the early 90s. What a gift. Read every one of his books after that. Today, he still inspires me to give writing a go. God bless him.
"Your future will soon come to you and lie down at your feet like a dog who knows and loves you no matter what you are. And the dog of my future lying at my feet is snoring now." Kurt Vonnegut I just finished watching the documentary and love him even more knowing his flaws. The greatest writer of the 20th century 😑✌️
Their chemicals made them do it. "Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter could be said to remedy anything." Kurt Vonnegut.
The owner of a trendy, free-spirit cafe near me adores Kurt's ideas. There's a little shrine on the top of a large bookcase. I rarely "hang my hat" on any human philosophy or personality, but the owner seems dog-gone happy!
Crazy how in that time high schools were trying to ban Slaughterhouse 5, meanwhile when I was in high school, our teacher had to force us to read the same book and NOBODY wanted to read it lol I ended up reading it though and it became one of my favorite books ever.
@Andrew Dale We were assigned to read Slaughterhouse 5 in highschool, but I wasn't in the class that assigned it. I was in the class that assigned The Scarlet Letter. Buzz kill. My classmates who got to read Vonnegut raved about him and I would only know why after graduating and finding my own damn books to read, thank you very much. Then I saw him speak at UNH and it was game over - read all his books after that, one after the other.
I'm not making this up: Me too. In my case, I'm sure it's because I was trying to remember which of his books had a certain scene in it and we did a few Google searches and found it was The Sirens of Titan. I guess the Google and the KZclip talk to each other..
Dreamingrightnow google bought KZclip awhile back so they do talk but in my case I haven’t searched for Vonnegut in ages I just went on to KZclip and first thing was a lecture by him
In high school, not only did I read K, but also Mein Kampf (silly silly silly), the Satanic Bible (hilarious), but even that most dangerous of all: The Holy Bible. I've been fine for 68 years so far. But that's just Kismet. My daddy had borderline personality rage issues. My estranged mommy was psychotic for years. She had a brother locked in her parents' attic since he thought the U$A civil war was still on. My sister was psychotic. My brother was a druggie wastoid. I had a psychotic first cousin who died of suicide. Maybe re-reading K's stuff has helped my chemicals act sane enough? Certainly, realizing what a farce everything is has gotten me through a lot, including my wife being in a rage for about 40 years, my daughter being a drunken slut for a few years, and my only son slowly dying over 13 years from the devastating, hellish torture of Wilson's Disease. As my recovered daughter had tattooed on her wrist - And so it goes.
Nope, that thought was from a GE scientist. Later, K asked another scientist about it, and he needed about 20 minutes to decide it was not possible. Interestingly, in much later times room temperature ice has been made, but only under very tightly controlled conditions.
He was damaged by the war. He then refused to be a victim and made the world better by his perspective and zest for life. Irony and wit can get you through way better than depressive victimhood.
Guesses are not facts. Ignorance is not evidence.. Synthesis is not analysis. Kurt wrote he was himself surprised he wasn't an alcohol addict. On the other hand, after his self-described, "lame suicide attempt", he wrote that he was nutty about every 90 days no matter what was going on. Watch "Unstuck in time" andhow his kids describe their harrowing experiences of him when they were little.
"I figured out how to keep humanity from hurling itself off the cliff. To start, we're all going to post our favorite Rant(s) on 11-11 at 11:11. ~ xoxo Hahn Furst” #FLICKiT #HappyBirthdayKurt #HappyBirthdayFyodor #HappyBirthdayLeo
My word (nyuk-nyuk,) this man (was) is so intriguing! Incidentally, AgI is the only one of the nicest things to get dumped on with. Imagine, men organizing the physical task of dumping chemistries upon people from the cowardice of an aircraft. It is ALL chemical weapons, whether gasoline, bombs, vx, rads..
Americas Dan Turell,theyre both forgotten by many youngsters now,because not anybody gets to know about them in school,or they,the damn rascals,dont listen and learn!They were both entertainment with learning.Get smart and have fun; read Kurt Vonnegut!And for us Danes,also Dan Turell.I wonder if Turell ever got translated to english.Poems ,essays,Crimestorys?
There are two kinds of intolerance. Those that think you cannot allow the profane to be in books; Those that think only the profane should be allowed in books. Unfortunately both are wrong and neither will stop trying to censure the other. I live according to my morals; You live by your morals. I want to convince you of my convictions, not repress yours. There is a difference. Unfortunately, we are beholden to both extremists. I worry that people fear being rational and up lift the padded room.
Calling him "the interviewer" betrays your lack of familiarity with the man. Gzowski, a man of infinite wit and intelligence, had a long career as "the interviewer." This was because he assumed the persona of a kind of childlike yet informed, curious everyman when interviewing. I still treasure every morning I listened to his show on CBC - he made many hours in the darkroom better. Incidentally, he quite disliked doing TV and much preferred radio. Possibly because it allowed him to smoke, and dress however he chose.
The Blues Brothers made good use of the Nazi March in Skolie for their movie plot. So, there's a reaon for everything. Everything is always perfect and in accordance with God's will.
Never knew Vonnegut was so arrogant. That’s too “my sh* t don’t stink” attitude-AND he only ever wrote ONE great book! I DARE someone to try to tell me “The Sirens of Titan” is a GREAT book! It’s not even a good book! I think “Galapagos” and “Hocus Pocus” are vastly superior to Titan. Man, this is gonna be in the back of my head next time I read his stuff. I recently got a bunch of books for my best friend’s 3 children and “Abattoir 748” was one of them. They haven’t picked the books up yet. I’m thinking about scrapping it from the collection after seeing this
RE: the First Amendment - the right to Free Speech does not guarantee and Audience for your material. It also does not mandate that a Particular person MUST read or hear the speech you are free to express.
Excellent interview, but let's just pause for a second and acknowledge the thoroughly creepy comment made by the interviewer around 16:30 - "My son doesn't use the Junior [on his name], so I keep getting calls from eighteen year old girls, which is quite nice." Umm...ew. Otherwise, Kurt Vonnegut is a doll
ikr in a 20min interview both make weirdo comments. The other one wrote slaughterhouse 5 for kids which referenced 'copulating with their mother', both just trying to get attention cheaply but it backfires.
@kipper - the copulating with mother comment was to inform the audience that the word objected to in his book was motherfucker without saying it. Context.
It was the times - back then, there was this creepy idea that it is natural for heterosexual men of all ages to find young women attractive ... I know - weird, right?
He seems a little fidgety here, but he sounds more or less like he always does. I suppose we would all sound that way if we were raised by Germans in Indiana in the 1920s.
His books got me through high school. I would not have survived without his biting sarcasm and wit, his wry sense of humour about serious things. I miss him.
Same with me
some will see this and think him crazy, but after this his masterpiece Galopicos was written.
it's hard to tell whether he's talking or composing fiction on the fly. love it!
This is such a wonderful blast from the past. I'm quite positive I read every Vonnegut book at least once back in the day. It's refreshing to see/hear this conversation having been from these times and the (kind of) irony that it actually (in a funny weird way) still resonates so true today (2021). Thanks for sharing this video! I miss his wonderful authentic transparent curmudgeon humor. Such a wonderful talented man!
I saw him speak at The University of New Hampshire back in the early 90s. What a gift. Read every one of his books after that. Today, he still inspires me to give writing a go. God bless him.
"Your future will soon come to you and lie down at your feet like a dog who knows and loves you no matter what you are. And the dog of my future lying at my feet is snoring now."
Kurt Vonnegut
I just finished watching the documentary and love him even more knowing his flaws. The greatest writer of the 20th century 😑✌️
What's the doc. called?
@iuseitToo It's called Unstuck In Time
Having read 4/5 of his books .. he is so calm, dark, brutish and funny at the same time.
4/5ths of 14 novels? Okay...
@BLDJLN He just couldn't finish any of them.
He attributes human behavior to chemistry and the audience laughs.
Their chemicals made them do it.
"Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter could be said to remedy anything." Kurt Vonnegut.
After many years, all of a sudden Kurt Vonnegut is in my life again. That makes me happy.
Peace. JR
I can not believe this literary giant has so few comments. A most unique character.
That was really good. Enjoyed it a lot; keep recommending such things.
i could listen to this man speak for hours
There were two books I insisted they read: Nancy Mitford’ s The Sun King, and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughter House Five , both masterpieces to my lights
Brilliant, hilarious, and inspiring human 😊🤣❤️☀️
A total genius
The owner of a trendy, free-spirit cafe near me adores Kurt's ideas. There's a little shrine on the top of a large bookcase. I rarely "hang my hat" on any human philosophy or personality, but the owner seems dog-gone happy!
so it goes
Sounds a great place!
I must visit sometime…
Amazing intelligent comedian
Gzowski was another man of whom we can all be proud...
are you related to Sneaky Pete?
This guy was a visionary
There is a powerful need for Vonnegut right now.
Brilliant as always. My hero, Mr. KV
To this day, I brush my teeth with warm water because of this man.
Did he advocate brushing ines teeth with warm water? Was there a reason? Thankyou :)
Gotta admire the way Gzowski never seems bothered by Vonnegut's non-sequiturs, non-answers, tangents, and incoherencies; just rolls along with them.
The 20th century Mark Twain, amazing man. RIP
kamuelalee i thought his mannerisms + mustache felt familiar!
Thinking the same... Although Kurt reminds me of a zillion people... What could that be?
So it goes.
a true genius
I’ve read every book he wrote.. the man was a prophet!
He was too human for his own good.
No doubt our modern day prophet. Such wisdom and wit. And entertaining as well.
Don't get too excited. He had a finely crafted public image. I like him too, but it's an act. A very good writer.
I remember seeing these guys on tv. Did a few interviews.
It's incredible how he even looked old in 1978. Wish he was still around though.
He looks 56.
I agree with Sam, he looks quite well at 56.
10,000 cigarettes, 1,000 pints of booze as he once wrote.
Samuel Griffin more like 756
yeah
Being told what to do is what the people want, just like Milton said.
Way ahead of his time! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I learned about a wonderful person today.
I try to do that more often each day lately.
Crazy how in that time high schools were trying to ban Slaughterhouse 5, meanwhile when I was in high school, our teacher had to force us to read the same book and NOBODY wanted to read it lol I ended up reading it though and it became one of my favorite books ever.
Most of the books we had to read in high school were dead boring. I think our teachers were born aged 53.
@Andrew Dale We were assigned to read Slaughterhouse 5 in highschool, but I wasn't in the class that assigned it. I was in the class that assigned The Scarlet Letter. Buzz kill. My classmates who got to read Vonnegut raved about him and I would only know why after graduating and finding my own damn books to read, thank you very much. Then I saw him speak at UNH and it was game over - read all his books after that, one after the other.
My high school English lit book had one of his short stories in it! That’s how I discovered him! He was a genius
happy to be here, some people are a joy to listen to
Peter Gzowski and Kurt Vonnegut! This is something special.
kurt is awesome....
Great interview!
God, this man had a savage mind. Witty af.
I have watched quite a few Vonnegut interviews, and I like how loose this one is. It has a bit of a Dick Cavett energy to it.
Happy 100th birthday, Mr Vonnegut!🎉
Going oblique to be the opposite. Standard procedure from him. Gorgeous stuff.
I think he’s my second favorite Kurt😌
Quite the raconteur, is our Kurt :-)
Canadians: We need a picture of Peter Gzowski on one of our notes.
KZclip has started recommending Vonnegut videos out of the blue don’t know why but it is a pleasant suprise
I'm not making this up: Me too. In my case, I'm sure it's because I was trying to remember which of his books had a certain scene in it and we did a few Google searches and found it was The Sirens of Titan. I guess the Google and the KZclip talk to each other..
Dreamingrightnow google bought KZclip awhile back so they do talk but in my case I haven’t searched for Vonnegut in ages I just went on to KZclip and first thing was a lecture by him
I didn't search about him and I was recommend about him. May be I see some life and philosophy videos
It's me... I'm doing a paper on Sirens on Titan. I didn't read much before Vonnegut, but damn, he's AMAZING!
same here, thats pretty wild. ive been watching nothing but vonnegut interviews
PG: Do you really know the answer to everything?
KV: I haven’t been stumped very often
He was right about technology, as the unabomber was. It has been used and abused since inception...
KVJ was God incarnate.
I love Vonnegut may his soul rest in peace, but I think he might be inebriated in this video
Noooope. He himself said he was surprised that he wasn't a routine drinker.
2:30 love this moment
He’s adorable
Somebody should make biography of Kurt Vonnegut - and cast Nathan Lane as Kurt!
Too short
Nathan Lane?
It's finally been done as a subjective documentary: "Unstuck in time."
In high school, not only did I read K, but also Mein Kampf (silly silly silly), the Satanic Bible (hilarious), but even that most dangerous of all: The Holy Bible. I've been fine for 68 years so far. But that's just Kismet.
My daddy had borderline personality rage issues. My estranged mommy was psychotic for years. She had a brother locked in her parents' attic since he thought the U$A civil war was still on. My sister was psychotic. My brother was a druggie wastoid. I had a psychotic first cousin who died of suicide.
Maybe re-reading K's stuff has helped my chemicals act sane enough? Certainly, realizing what a farce everything is has gotten me through a lot, including my wife being in a rage for about 40 years, my daughter being a drunken slut for a few years, and my only son slowly dying over 13 years from the devastating, hellish torture of Wilson's Disease.
As my recovered daughter had tattooed on her wrist - And so it goes.
I wish i was into KV in 1978.
He was ahead of his time regarding chemistry and behavior. Listen to Robert Sapolsky or Sam Harris on free will.
Sam Harris hahaha
@mae What's wrong with Sam?
Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt
Marvelous
lol Gzowski wants to light up too - great interview, miss the old pros
The end there, about his brother; the genesis of Ice Nine.
Nope, that thought was from a GE scientist.
Later, K asked another scientist about it, and he needed about 20 minutes to decide it was not possible.
Interestingly, in much later times room temperature ice has been made, but only under very tightly controlled conditions.
He was damaged by the war. He then refused to be a victim and made the world better by his perspective and zest for life. Irony and wit can get you through way better than depressive victimhood.
Kurt Vonnegut invented Life Couching... It was too early though. Now, he would have plenty of customers. lol
Damn - I thought I had invented Life Couching - although, I have to admit, my dad was pretty good at it ... !
God Bless You Mr. Rosewater
Read your comment. Was verklempt.
Kurt's fucking wrecked. I still love him with all my heart though.
Yeah, that might explain it.
Guesses are not facts. Ignorance is not evidence.. Synthesis is not analysis.
Kurt wrote he was himself surprised he wasn't an alcohol addict.
On the other hand, after his self-described, "lame suicide attempt", he wrote that he was nutty about every 90 days no matter what was going on.
Watch "Unstuck in time" andhow his kids describe their harrowing experiences of him when they were little.
@Rabo KarabekianHe just saw too much.
A Good King is a Good Thing.
"I figured out how to keep humanity from hurling itself off the cliff. To start, we're all going to post our favorite Rant(s) on 11-11 at 11:11.
~ xoxo Hahn Furst”
#FLICKiT
#HappyBirthdayKurt
#HappyBirthdayFyodor
#HappyBirthdayLeo
9:08 Genius!
My word (nyuk-nyuk,) this man (was) is so intriguing!
Incidentally, AgI is the only one of the nicest things to get dumped on with. Imagine, men organizing the physical task of dumping chemistries upon people from the cowardice of an aircraft. It is ALL chemical weapons, whether gasoline, bombs, vx, rads..
That is the kind of ashtray you build a room around.
Americas Dan Turell,theyre both forgotten by many youngsters now,because not anybody gets to know about them in school,or they,the damn rascals,dont listen and learn!They were both entertainment with learning.Get smart and have fun; read Kurt Vonnegut!And for us Danes,also Dan Turell.I wonder if Turell ever got translated to english.Poems ,essays,Crimestorys?
There are two kinds of intolerance. Those that think you cannot allow the profane to be in books; Those that think only the profane should be allowed in books. Unfortunately both are wrong and neither will stop trying to censure the other.
I live according to my morals; You live by your morals. I want to convince you of my convictions, not repress yours. There is a difference.
Unfortunately, we are beholden to both extremists. I worry that people fear being rational and up lift the padded room.
great interviewer. but i really wanted to hear the end of the free speech arc 14:45
Chemistry is the basics of all humanity.
We read Oepedis Rex in 9th grade as a literature assignmint in 1979
Dead ringer for Marc Maron.
For someone who has spent so much time memorizing Vonnegut quotes, the interviewer appears to completely misunderstand his sense of humor and satire.
I think he's just playing it straight
Calling him "the interviewer" betrays your lack of familiarity with the man. Gzowski, a man of infinite wit and intelligence, had a long career as "the interviewer." This was because he assumed the persona of a kind of childlike yet informed, curious everyman when interviewing. I still treasure every morning I listened to his show on CBC - he made many hours in the darkroom better. Incidentally, he quite disliked doing TV and much preferred radio. Possibly because it allowed him to smoke, and dress however he chose.
@John Spooner Thanks for that. I don't know him, but I love good interviews and those who build them. I'll be doing a search to find more Gzowski. :)
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS
The Blues Brothers made good use of the Nazi March in Skolie for their movie plot. So, there's a reaon for everything. Everything is always perfect and in accordance with God's will.
Never knew Vonnegut was so arrogant. That’s too “my sh* t don’t stink” attitude-AND he only ever wrote ONE great book! I DARE someone to try to tell me “The Sirens of Titan” is a GREAT book! It’s not even a good book! I think “Galapagos” and “Hocus Pocus” are vastly superior to Titan. Man, this is gonna be in the back of my head next time I read his stuff. I recently got a bunch of books for my best friend’s 3 children and “Abattoir 748” was one of them. They haven’t picked the books up yet. I’m thinking about scrapping it from the collection after seeing this
Thanx fer yer unsupported feelings, o angry one.
His cheek must have been sore on account of his tongue being lodged in there so often!
Mentions his brother got into cloud seeding.
RE: the First Amendment - the right to Free Speech does not guarantee and Audience for your material. It also does not mandate that a Particular person MUST read or hear the speech you are free to express.
Who ever said that it did? Ridiculous comment.
💗
If this isn't nice I don't know what it.
Benja Harguindey very nice
Farting and tap dancing
omg, I just watched that lecture about half an hour ago. Spot on, you. ;)
when smoking on TV was OK
Vonnegut Essay in March/April 2018 issue of Writer's Digest
THE HORROR, THE HORROR
WELCOME TO STOICISM
@Robert Galletta ?
Those zealous pretentious school teachers nauseate me!
Funny at 17:30 they mention the "weapon of war" silver iodide, something which is purportedly being dropped in chemtrails now.
Vonnegut=bernie=Jon stewart=dave chapelle=maybe joe rogan=
I love Kilgore Trout
me too
Isn't he the author of Slaughter House Five?
Yes
Excellent interview, but let's just pause for a second and acknowledge the thoroughly creepy comment made by the interviewer around 16:30 - "My son doesn't use the Junior [on his name], so I keep getting calls from eighteen year old girls, which is quite nice." Umm...ew. Otherwise, Kurt Vonnegut is a doll
16:19, to be precise.
ikr in a 20min interview both make weirdo comments. The other one wrote slaughterhouse 5 for kids which referenced 'copulating with their mother', both just trying to get attention cheaply but it backfires.
@kipper - the copulating with mother comment was to inform the audience that the word objected to in his book was motherfucker without saying it. Context.
It was the times - back then, there was this creepy idea that it is natural for heterosexual men of all ages to find young women attractive ... I know - weird, right?
Asking the writer of Harrison Bergeron about censorship is stupid
Wrote Slaughter House Five less than five blocks from my house in Iowa City
Who else is here because of a school essay
Had to read Cat's Cradle in high school. He was a great writer...Slaughterhouse Five particularly
“Gaslight.”
He seems sloshed. I have never seen him speak though.
Not sloshed
He seems a little fidgety here, but he sounds more or less like he always does. I suppose we would all sound that way if we were raised by Germans in Indiana in the 1920s.
@Felipe W He seems to be talking the way he usually does - distinctive style
Mark Twain in process
Boycott tv. 💥
Is that interviewer Geraldo's Dad?
Peter Gzowski en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Gzowski
Could not they put the ashtray a bit closer ?
Amit Verma nah, needs to be farther away. Lol.