About this title: This novel features a man who was in on the founding of the first major art movement to originate in the United States, Abstract Expressionism. He now has an extensive private collection acquired in repayment for small loans to colleagues.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780385295901ISBN:0385295901
Description: Good. 0385295901 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Dell Publishing Company
Date published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780440201960ISBN:0440201969
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. tight-clean unmarked pages different cover than image. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 304 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: 1st thus 11/1988
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Dell
Date published: 1988-10-01
ISBN-13:9780440201960ISBN:0440201969
Description: Has spine and front reading crea. Mass Market Paperback: Dell: 20196: 1st thus 11/1988: Has spine and front reading creases. Has no markings. Has a bent upper front corner and tanning on the inside of the covers. Binding is square and tight. : Cover Artist: None Credited. read more
Edition: Large type / large print.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Chivers North America
Date published: 1988
ISBN-13:9781555046002ISBN:1555046002
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Ex-library. Large print ex library, usual lib markings, small cut out on front end page. Spine reinforced. Large print. read more
Edition: Edition Unstated
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Dell Pub Co, New York, U.S.A.
Date published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780440201960ISBN:0440201969
Description: Good+ As issued No Jacket. Spine lean, corner bumps, pages age toned, edgewear to the covers, and other light to moderate shopwear. read more
Description: Good. B000O04ZCU Earlier trade paperback same content exactly-Aside from newer introduction/afterward, original text has never changed, Standard Used Condition, different cover, No writing or Highlighting, some spine creases, age tan though holding together well, sold for content. read more
Edition: 1st trade ed.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press, New York
Date published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780385295901ISBN:0385295901
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Signed by previous owner. Minor shelf wear. Otherwise clean, unmarked, tight. Signed by previous owner on ffe. Dj has light general wear, rubbing. Sewn binding. Black and blue half cloth over boards with gilt printing. 300 p. 22 cm. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books, New York
Date published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780440201960ISBN:0440201969
Description: Very Good + Very Good +. Very Good +. Spine has a mild crease, interiors are slightly yell owed but tigh t and unmarked. A great reading copy. A cantankerou s reclusive ar tist is coaxed into autobiography by a young widow whose true aim s are obscure. What erupts from the pen of master fabulist Vonneg ut is a story of American dreams, delusions, the Art world, and m ore. Highly recommended! .. read more
Edition: Large type / large print.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: John Curley & Assoc
Date published: 1988
ISBN-13:9781555046002ISBN:1555046002
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
"A fictional autobiography of an artist, a veteran, a father, a failure. Vonnegut's sardonic humor imbues itself into the main character and his 'setting': a massacre in Turkey, the Great Depression, WWII, the present. A thoroughly American story of rags to riches, and of the privilege and opportunity of finding meaning in life, whatever that means. Strangely feminist, brilliantly humorous, recommended.
Favorite Quote:
It was the last conceivable thing a painter could do to a canvas, so you did it...leave it to Americans to write, "The End.""
"Although not one of his most popular novels, this is one of my favorites. Vonnegut combines humor and pathos within a gentle satire in this reflection about war and human destructiveness. To Vonnegut, we're all not far removed from our childhoods and their insecurities, but now we no longer have kind parents to protect us and to appear to answer our questions.
Whether Vonnegut knew of the CIA's funding of abstract expressionism is unknown to me. If not, he anticipates their latterly revealed motives."
"I re-read this every couple of years and am always surprised to remember how many of the things that I think or believe are lifted directly from this book. Also, I think about 2/3s of the "Kurt Vonnegut said..." things that I go on about are also from this one novel (The others are mostly from "God Bless You Mr. Rosewater"). There are so many great bits about art and loneliness and Life and Everything. Realism v. Abstract Impressionism and Is It Art? 'Flensing' your enemies in order to forgive them. Anti-epiphanies. The list goes on and on.
Last time I tried re-reading this, I made the unhappy mistake of leaving it at a coffee shop about a quarter of the way from the ending, so it had been a while since I'd read it through. This wound up being kind of lucky, as I'd forgotten the last line, which is one of my favorites in all of fiction. My face about cracked open with light spilling out of it when I got to it this time.
I know Vonnegut gets criticized for being preachy, and he is (I really want to add a second 'He is!' right here, which is a stylistic device that I've also lifted from this book to use in my own writing a couple of times. Another surprise.), but he has so many amazing things to say and ways of saying them. It's difficult to mind a bit of heavy handedness with the message when you feel like the writer is telling the real truth.
(If my Vonnegut fanaticism hasn't come through yet, believe me. It exists and might be influencing anything I say here.)"
"More Vonnegut...I really liked this one. Some of the smartest commentary on modern art (well, sort of modern -- the abstract expressionists) and just being human via art...Ah, I'm not doing this justice. It's grumpy and the ending is a little implausible (the final masterpiece sounds pretty cool the way a World War II diorama of infinite detail is cool...I like that sort of stuff, but I find it hard to consider it sublime, exactly). I miss Kurt Vonnegut."
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