And what better person to do it than Kurt Vonnegut with his theory of ‘story shapes’. He is, of course, best known for 'Slaughterhouse-Five', an antiwar novel that resonated with its readers amidst the ongoing Vietnam War.
His famous deadpan wit includes many gems:
“There is a tragic flaw in our precious Constitution, and I don’t know what can be done to fix it. This is it: Only nut cases want to be president. This was true even in high school. Only clearly disturbed people ran for class president.”
“If Christ hadn’t delivered the Sermon on the Mount, with its message of mercy and pity, I wouldn’t want to be a human being. I’d just as soon be a rattlesnake.”
Wonderful reading if you're going through your midlife crisis, or, as in my case, an end-of-life crisis.
I leave you with a final quote from "A Man Without A Country": “We are on earth to fart around. Don’t let anybody tell you any different.”
P.S. Whetted your taste for more of Vonnegut's trademark wicked wit? Here's an audio version of "Timequake".
