The story of Kurt Vonnegut and his beloved masterpiece, Slaughterhouse-Five, a novel born in the destruction of Dresden in World War II and written during the tumultuous days of Vietnam
During the Vietnam War, Kurt Vonnegut, after surviving the horrors of Dresden as a POW during World War II, would lose his temper while watching the nightly news, point at the screen and shout, “The liars!” According to his family and friends, Slaughterhouse-Five was Vonnegut’s attempt to exorcize his demons. “He was writing to save his own life,” his daughter Nanette has said, “and in doing it I think he has saved a lot of lives.”
Tom Roston’s The Writer’s Crusade is a book about how books save lives. Two decades after World War II had ended, Vonnegut’s sixth book became a significant part of a vital storytelling tradition that has eased the trauma of war for both the writer and the reader. Although Slaughterhouse-Five was championed by the anti-war movement, it became a bulwark for veterans who found in its pages a voice that spoke to them with an intimate, shared understanding of wartime PTSD.
Mixing together the story of Vonnegut’s life, the writing and publishing of his most enduring work, and forays into the experiences of soldiers and writers today—people who have made the novel a touchstone in their lives—The Writer’s Crusade is built on research into Vonnegut’s life, from papers and interviews with his children, scholars, psychologists, and writers, including Tim O’Brien, Kevin Powers, and Karl Marlantes. This will be a captivating book for fans of Vonnegut and anyone touched by war and its aftermath.
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 9781419744891
Number of pages: 272
Dimensions: 210 x 140 mm
“A book about time; or, put another way, a book about how Pilgrim (and Vonnegut) became unstuck in time and how this 'unsticking' created ‘Slaughterhouse-Five'... Roston [casts] himself as part literary scholar and part psychoanalytic sleuth.” - The Washington Post
“A fresh look at Kurt Vonnegut’s classic 1969 novel through the lens of PTSD...[Roston] successfully reenergizes a major work from a writer whose star has faded somewhat. New wars, and more recent fiction about them, may have overshadowed Slaughterhouse-Five, but Roston persuasively shows how the novel speaks both to Vonnegut’s moment and to our own.” - Kirkus Reviews
“Part biography, part literary interpretation, and part fan notes, The Writer's Crusade is a spellbinding reexamination of both Slaughterhouse-Five and its author, Kurt Vonnegut. Although the emphasis of this marvelous book is on PTSD, Tom Roston never loses sight of the intuitive, imaginative genius of a boldly original prose stylist. Any Vonnegut enthusiast, and anyone interested in the sources of fine literature, will find pleasure in these pages.” - Tim O’Brien
“[An] engrossing tale...an absorbing biographical study...Roston [makes] a strong case that the roots of the novel—and its ultimate message—stem from Vonnegut’s attempts to process all he had witnessed in the war.” - Bookpage
“[Roston’s] passion for Vonnegut’s writing is contagious. … a fresh take on a classic.” - Publishers Weekly
“The Writer's Crusade is a multifaceted look at one of the great modern novels. It’s part history of how the book came to be, part Vonnegut biography, and a thoughtful consideration of the book’s impact on America’s post-WWII combat vets...The Writer’s Crusade is an important consideration of Kurt Vonnegut and the legacy of Slaughterhouse-Five. Even better, Roston’s work will send readers back to the original novel, and with fresh new insights on Vonnegut’s complex masterpiece.” - New York Journal of Books
“Mr. Roston gives the reader a book that encompasses many things — simultaneously biography, literary analysis, an inquiry into the creative process, and a concise history of the perception and recognition of war trauma and the development of the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder. He writes with informed insight as well as wit, and his tone is light and engaging despite the seriousness of the subject.... ‘The Writer's Crusade’ provides a thoughtful head start for a renewed appreciation of the author and his best-known work.” - East Hampton Star
A stark reminder of Vonnegut’s uneasy position with contemporary liberalism - The American Conservative Magazine
“Kurt Vonnegut’s dogged pursuit of the truth about his war experiences in writing what would become Slaughterhouse-Five is fully rendered in Tom Roston’s perfectly titled The Writer’s Crusade. In readable and probing prose, Roston illuminates Vonnegut as a veteran, writer, and human being, and investigates haunting questions about war and human nature. For anyone touched by war, Slaughterhouse-Five, or intrigued by the intersection of creativity with trauma and recovery, this superb book is for you.” - Suzanne McConnell, coauthor, with Kurt Vonnegut, of Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style
"I read Slaughterhouse-Five when I had just returned from my war in Vietnam. I didn't understand it until I read The Writer's Crusade. Tom Roston's insightful exploration of Vonnegut's struggle to write the novel, and its significant place in our ongoing task of better understanding and treating the trauma of war should be read by all fans of Vonnegut, and all who suffer from trauma, no matter what the source.” - Karl Marlantes
“I absolutely loved The Writer’s Crusade. As soon as I finished it, I picked up Slaughterhouse-Fiveagain. Tom Roston’s excellent book has given me the great gift of getting to read Vonnegut’s masterpiece as though it were my first time.” - Kevin Powers
“The best thing that Roston does...is to give context to the question of whether Slaughterhouse-Five is an autobiographical portrait of Vonnegut’s own war trauma. Roston writes in depth about the novel itself and how it came to be written... Roston also provides a history of war trauma and how our understanding of it has evolved over the years.” - The Millions
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