Mustard Gas and Roses: The Life and Works of Kurt Vonnegut

My family and I went to beautiful Bloomington Indiana today to visit the Farmer’s Market and soak in the “vibe” before our schedules are packed full of soccer games and Marching Band contests this Fall.

We drove through campus on our way out of town and I noticed the banner for the Vonnegut exhibit outside the Lilly Library

I didn’t have time to stop in today, but needless to say I will be planning a day off from work before September 8th, so I can check out the exhibit. I’ll make sure to do a thorough write up and post it here.

In the meantime you can click on the link here (Mustard Gas and Roses) to check out the details of the exhibit.

***Please note that the font on WordPress doesn’t always display web links very well. Click where it says(Mustard Gas and Roses) and you’ll be taken to the Lilly Library web site.

And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim at some point, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”
- Kurt Vonnegut

***** Post Visit Update. September 7th 2007*****

With just one day left in the exhibit, I finally made the trip back to Bloomington today.

The first thing to greet you as you enter the exhibit is a display with copies of Slaughterhouse 5 in 30 or more languages. This was very interesting and shows the universal appeal of Vonnegut’s work, but the overall impression I took away from the exhibit was the simple lesson to “never give up”. Vonnegut was always open about how difficult it was for him to write Slaughterhouse 5. That is apparent by the 9 different first drafts of Chapter 1 that are displayed. Each draft is typed and has notes scribbled throughout. For the most part each draft is also very different from the other. (The published version is on display too, so you can compare it with all the drafts.)

There is an entire display case holding many of the rejection letters he received during the 1940s and 50s. You could have wallpapered a room with all the rejection letters, yet you could have wallpapered a city block with all the fan letters by the end of his career. Imagine how different the world would be if after the 10th or 20th rejection he had decided to quit writing and just keep working at GE. Never give up…

One curious thing was a number of scrolls. When working on The Sirens of Titan Vonnegut would staple the pages together vertically and roll them into scrolls.

There are also many fans letters, several from other acclaimed writers; John Updike, Herman Wouk, Günter Grass, and John Irving. The letter from Irving was of particular interest. It was dated shortly after Kurt’s 60^th birthday and Mr. Irving was explaining his shyness at Kurt’s birthday party. He explains how in awe he was of Vonnegut and all of his friends. Irving was particularly taken back by seeing the real Bernard V. O’Hare in person.

There are also several sweet fan letters from a 5^th grade class in LA written in 2006. Kurt actually wrote them back and a small correspondence seemed to be going on for awhile. The letters from the children were quite moving. I’m paraphrasing here, but they told Mr. Vonnegut not to be sad, because they were the future generation and they had listened to him and would do the right thing when they were in charge. I’ve badly paraphrased what the letter says, but think I’ve captured the sentiment pretty well.

One not- so- nice letter was from an individual claiming to be the failed writer that Kilgore Trout was based on. The letter accuses Vonnegut of getting rich at his expense and that he is going to was sue Vonnegut. There is also a letter from Vonnegut to his publisher dated a couple of weeks later where he explains the situation to them and assures them that he created Trout and has never heard of the man with the lawsuit.

I hope my little write-up helps those of you who aren’t in Indiana get a feel for what the exhibit was like. How wonderful that Kurt Vonnegut entrusted all of this material to the Lilly library, in his and my home state. I feel privileged and honored to have such easy access in my own “backyard”.  Hi-Ho!