Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep" (short story, Christmas, non-genre)

This is light hearted christmas story of a newspaper editor obsessed with his work & uninterested in fun things like christmas celebrations.

Circumstances put him on a committee that will judge the town's Annual Christmas Outdoor Lighting Contest. So we'll see him turning the job into a news making exercise...

Title comes from a Christmas song in the story (I don't know if the song is real or imaginary):
  For Christ is born of Mary,
  And gathered all above,
  While mortals sleep, the angels keep
  Their watch of wondering love.

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "$10,000 a Year, Easy" (short story): Your mother doesn't always know what's best for you

A great singer died, & his widow keeps seeing his talent in their child. Child grows up thinking he has father's talent too - even if success has so far eluded him.

His music guru will gently & tactfully nudge him towards his true talent - without offending either mother or the pupil...

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "The Humbugs" (short story, humor, non-genre): My husband is better than yours!

Two painters - one old worldly wise, other young & idealistic. Younger one is poor, older one knows how to make money (will make a painting where the color of sunset matches your curtains, e.g.). Each thinks he's crappy & the other one has got all the talent. Each has a wife that adores her husband for his talent & thinks other is a humbug, a fraud.

One day, a wives' altercation results in a wager: each husband will make a painting in the style of the other, & we'll see who's more talented! Curious events follow...

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Money Talks" (short story, love story, non-genre)

A young man's grocery store has gone bust. Creditors take charge tomorrow; he's about the close the store for the last time. That's when a young woman walks in - asking for directions & to buy some stuff.

The woman is the nurse who'd cared for a dying rich man in the town during his last days, & to whom the man left his fortune - $12m. Of course, the town thinks the nurse manipulated the man.

They get talking, & a difficult love story develops - they know they're in love, but is the broke man after the newly rich woman's fortune?

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Mr Z" (short story, love story, non-genre)

A young man from a family of priests is studying criminology in college, among other subjects. As part of a project, he's sent to interview a very bitter but smart female convict in a local jail - convicted because stolen goods were found on her, though her thief & gangster husband is free for lack of evidence.

One thing leads to another & the two will end up in hospital with broken bones: young man beaten by friends of gangster husband, woman by the husband. And a romance begins... in the hospital.

Notes.

Title, "Mr Z", is a joke. During interview, the man is referring to woman's associates as "Mr A", "Mr B", etc - to protect their identity. So she begins referring to him as "Mr Z".

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "The Man Without No Kiddleys": (short story, non-genre): How many kidneys are there among 2 men?

This is a very simple story of chance meeting of two strangers in a park. Both very old. A lonely, very talkative, but simple-minded one who loves to talk of all things that ail him (I thought only India had such people!). Other a more sober one & a stranger to the town.

Talkative one will bug the stranger enough to make him lose his temper. But the kind hearted stranger will regret it & will come back to make amends.

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Bomar" (short story, humor): When a practical joke in office boomeranged

Carmody & Sterling, working in part of the company that does book-keeping for shareholders, have created a myth about a certain Mr Bomar Fessenden III. They picked this name from the shareholders list - because the name looked heavy & interesting! From the name & address they have, they give him an imaginary personality - of a deranged & wealthy playboy friend of one of the duo.

Only their lady office colleague has taken the story seriously. With consequences the duo could not have foreseen...

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Tango" (short story, humor)

This is a funny coming of age story.

An exclusive highbrow town somewhere in the US where everyone behaves exactly as expected - in a gentlemanly or lady-like way. But a teenager has discovered fun dancing the wild "Tango" - an indiscretion that will lead to both hilarity & chaos!

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Out, Brief Candle" (short story, love story, non-genre, free)

A lonely widow finds friendship & tender love in a pen pal, a pen pal who would rather not exchange pictures. When she learns the pal is sick, she'll make a real journey to see him, & we'll learn a little more about the pal than she does...

See also.

1. Eric Frank Russell's "P.S." (download scans as part of a larger package): Another fond pen pal story where at the other end of friendship lies something unimaginably ugly.

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Download full text from Sorin Despot@Facebook or Scribd.
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Girl Pool" (short story): Life in a call center of a bygone era

Montezuma Forge & Foundry Company runs a call center for its products. Customers write letters to the company, a customer service center responds. This customer service center comprises of two wings - a men's area that handles the technical & content parts of the response to customers, & a stenographic area that types the men's dictations recorded into cassettes via "dictaphones" & posts the letters. This stenographic area comprises only of women & is called the "Girl Pool".

This is the story of a bored girl in the Girl Pool, one dying to have an adventure...

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "With His Hand on the Throttle" (short story, obsession, non-genre)

A successful businessman has a weekend hobby - playing with model trains in his basement. Only, it's much more than a hobby - it's an obsession that is ruining his married life.

Story is about one of his days in the basement with his mother visiting, with the man constantly ignoring both wife & the mother. Until mother decides to do something about it. And nearly succeeds...

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Guardian of the Person" (short story, non-genre)

I found it a bit lame. Actually, most of it is quite readable, but climax just went over my head. You feel the story is building up to something, & then a dud ending.

I have a feeling it might be a bit more effective for US readers - someone familiar with the cultural nuances in the story involving some family interactions.

Story summary.

A just married young man is driving with his bride to his home town - to take charge of his inheritance & to meet the Uncle who raised him.

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

5 endearing charactaeristics of Kurt Vonnegut's fiction

Gavin Extence lists them at Omnivoracious. The 5-point bulleted list appears near the end of article, however; easily visible if you scroll down.

[via SF Signal]

Kurt Vonnegut's "Hundred-Dollar Kisses" (short story, non-genre)

A cop is questioning a man on why he hit his office colleague on the head with a telephone receiver hard enough to send the victim to hospital. Very interesting reason.

It starts out light enough, but it has the authors' usual hard hitting ending.

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "The Epizootic" (short story, life insurance, free)

I wonder if this is a commentary on something observed in depression era US?

Epizootic of title is an epidemic affecting the bright, ambitious married men with more than one child. To ensure comfortable life for their family as their jobs are threatened, far too many men have been committing suicide to claim the life insurance money for their families!

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Download full text & audio from Short Story Radio.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (collection): Annotated table of contents & review

Where I have a post of a story, link on title goes there. My rating appears in brackets. Where I'm aware of an online copy, I include the download link too.

Table of contents (best first, unread last).

1. [ss] "Hundred-Dollar Kisses" (A): Some people are so insensitive... 
2. [ss] "Tango" (A): A teenager's coming of age via the wild Tango dance. 
3. [ss] "Bomar" (A): When a practical joke in office boomeranged...
4. [ss] "Girl Pool" (A): Life in a call center of a bygone era...
5. [ss] "Jenny" (A): Sad love story of a romantic...
6. [ss] "The Humbugs" (A); non-genre, humor: My husband is better than yours!
7. [ss] "Out, Brief Candle" (A); download: A lonely widow finds romance in a pen pal.
8. [ss] "The Epizootic" (B); download text & audio: Tragically securing family's future as jobs are threatened... 
9. [ss] "$10,000 a Year, Easy" (B); non-genre: Your mother doesn't always know what's best for you...
10. [ss] "Ruth" (B); non-genre: Two women coping with the loss of a loved one.
11. [ss] "The Man Without No Kiddleys" (B); non-genre: How many kidneys are there among 2 men? 
12. [ss] "Mr Z" (B): When a wannabe priest fell in love with a woman criminal... 
13. [ss] "Money Talks" (B): A broke man's love for a rich girl. Is he after her money?
14. [ss] "With His Hand on the Throttle" (B): A man's obsession with model trains is ruining his family life...
15. [ss] "While Mortals Sleep" (B); christmas; non-genre: A newspaperman is making news out of a chore...
16. [ss] "Guardian of the Person" (B); non-genre: A newly married young man goes to his home town to collect his inheritance & meet an Uncle.

Fact sheet.

First published: 2011.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Ruth" (short story, non-genre): Two women coping with the loss of a loved one

This is perhaps the third non-genre story I've seen of Vonnegut. I wonder if his sf/non-genre output was close to 50/50?

This one begins & proceeds well but leaves the resolution open.

Story summary.

First meeting of a widow (Ruth, of title) with her mother-in-law. Her husband of 5 months recently died in a war, & she's pregnant. Neither of the women had anyone other than the man who's now no more.

The story is about the desperately different outlook of each woman to their common loss.

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Jenny" (short story, robot): Sad love story of a romantic

A brilliant engineer builds "Jenny", a robot refrigerator - a fridge that can walk around, & with a woman's flexible face mask attached to the door with springs. It connects with its "brain", a big computer nearby, via radio; computer also connects to a controller in the form of over-sized shoes with control buttons under toes - an experienced wearer can use them to make Jenny say things & give appropriate expressions.

Then he begins finding his wife "imperfect" in ways Jenny need not be, & a love story with the unreal begins, ultimately leading to a sad ending.

See also.

1. Lester del Rey's "Helen O'Loy": A far more famous story of a human inventor falling in love with his feminine robot creation.

Quotes.

1. "A man who hasn't built up a certain immunity to love through constant exposure to it is in danger of all but killed by love when the first exposure comes."
2. "I wound up loving her as a human being, as a miraculous, one-of-a-kind, moody muddle of faults & virtues--part child, part woman, part goddess, & no more consistent than a putty slide-rule."

Fact sheet.

First published: Kurt Vonnegut's "While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction" (2011).
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr's "Thanasphere" (short story)

This is Vonnegut's second published story. Going by the amount of space given to it in "Critical Companion to Kurt Vonnegut" (previous link), someone there thinks this is a very important story.

Story summary.

US sent a manned rocket ship to a lower earth orbit, the first such ship, to spy weather conditions over enemy territory & to warn of inbound atomic missiles. But it found near earth space already inhabited, in fact teeming, with ... ghosts - & that the man there in the rocket can see them & talk to them!

Here is the story's explanation of title: Beyond atmosphere, it's dead space. "Thanatos, that's Greek for death. May be instead of 'deadspace" you'd prefer 'Thanasphere'".

Fact sheet.

First published: Collier's, 2 September 1950.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr's "Long Walk to Forever" aka "Hell to Get Along With" (short story, love story, free): Funny way to say "I love you"

This very funny story is of Newt & Catharine. They grew up together as neighbors, never expressed love for each other, Newt went away to Army, Catharine got engaged. Now Newt has suddenly appeared at the door of Catharine, inviting her for a walk...

What is interesting is - it's atypical Vonnegut. In fact, it's a proper non-genre love story. I kept expecting the worst, & the simplicity of ending was a surprise.

Fact sheet.

First published: Ladies Home Journal, sometime in 1960.
Download full text from Loveblender or this unnamed site.
John A Gallagher directed a 20 minute movie based on this story. Movie is available at YouTube in three parts. (I haven't played yet)
Rating: A.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr's "The Big Trip Up Yonder" (short story, overpopulation, free): When getting a long jail term was such a desirable luxury!!

This is an overpopulation dystopia - overcrowding brought about by rejuvenation treatments that let people live centuries long without aging; just consume a bit of "anti-gerasone" periodically.

So we have people living in joint families - whole clan spanning several generations living under one roof. Only unlike India's joint families which often have good sized ancestral homes, here the folks live in small flats ("apartments").

This is the story of Gramps Ford, 172 years old in this year 2185 AD, & his large acrimonious clan that shares a 3 room apartment in (I think) New York.

Interesting ending.

Fact sheet.

First published: Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1954.
Rating: A.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, or Feedbooks.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr's "Confido" (short story): Now no one need be lonely!

According to US Playboy, September 2009 issue, this is a never before published story of Vonnegut, making its first appearance in this magazine now. Story, however, was written early in the carrier of Vonnegut.

Story summary.

Bowers - Henry, his wife Ellen, daughter Susan (7), & son Paul (8) - have been leading a happy contented middle class life.

Now Henry - a "tinker, maker, & mender who had a touch close to magic with materials & machines" - has invented a gadget that promises to make them super rich. A tiny device that you keep in your pocket, connect it to earpiece with wire - like a modern pocket MP3 player. Only it's way beyond even our modern devices.

What does the gadget - dubbed "Confido" by Ellen - do? It helps you gossip with someone - someone mysterious, someone who's neither a god nor a man. When the device is switched on, this someone has access to your thoughts & can sense your environment; & it can speak to you - speech that is picked up by a tiny mike set in earpiece which plays back the sound.

When testing the device in the family, the family will discover something very ugly about the "voice"...

Collected in.

1. Kurt Vonnegut's Look at the Birdie (coll), due out November 2009 from Delacorte Press.

Fact sheet.

First published: US Playboy, September 2009.
Rating: A.
Added to my "best of the year 2009" list.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut; Stories from 2009 issues of Playboy.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr's "Next Door" (flash fiction, free): Sometimes, "being helpful" is extremely inadvisable!

8 year old Paul was home alone, & extremely agitated by loud domestic quarrel next door. So he called up DJ on radio show currently on in quarreling home, with a message from man next door to his wife requesting patch up.

Only the quarrel next door wasn't just between man & wife, & the dedication on radio had an extremely unpleasant consequence...

Fact sheet.

First published: 1991. Where?
Rating: A.
Read full text at Scribd.
David Cooperman has a play adapted from this story & with the same title. Limited preview of play is available at Google Books.
Andrew Silver has done a 24 minute movie adaptation with the same title. Sample (but not whole video) available here.
BBC seems to have done a radio adaptation of the story too. But this doesn't appear to be online.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" (short story, satire, free): An extreme version of the idea of "equal opportunity"

What if everyone was made equal by

1. Dumbing down the smart,
2. Weakening the strong,
3. Uglifying the beautiful,
4. ... ?

In this story, this is done forcibly, via the office of "United States Handicapper General", until people have come to accept the idea as normal! Title is the name of a teenage rebel who will meet a sad end.

I can see something familiar in this very beautiful dark satire. And I guess readers from other countries will, too.

See also.

1. William Tenn's "Null-P": Another political satire where everyone is an intellectual equal.
2. Ted Chiang's "Liking What You See: A Documentary": What if you can no longer see either beauty or ugliness in a human face?

Both these have far less drastic impact than Vonnegut's version.

Fact sheet.

First published: F&SF, October 1961.
Rating: A.
Download full text from West Valley College, or from ToDay's MeNu. [first link via Best Science Fiction Stories]
Movie adaptations: Chandler Tuttle's "2081" (2009); Bruce Pittman's "Harrison Bergeron" (1995, TV); Patrick Horne's "Harrison Bergeron" (2006, short film).
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "2 B R 0 2 B" (short story, free): Drastic population control in a society of long lived people

Such a dark plot. And such a light read!

No solutions here. But a problem highlight & dilemma in a very dark scenario.

Story summary.

Two centuries hence, life expectancy is several hundred years, but available space is still just the earth. Two key characteristics of this society:

1. Sometimes people choose to die. This act is considered a public service. Government will help you out by cleanly killing you in a gas chamber & honor you before killing!
   
   That's where the title comes from: "2 B R 0 2 B" is a local telephone number in X. Number of Federal Bureau of Termination! You call them when you want to get yourself killed!
   
   For Indian readers (since phone numbers with letters are unknown here): Number above is the same as 227022 (but reads better in English - "to be or not to be"). You can read the number corresponding to letters on most cell phones in India (because letters are needed for text messages), but landline instruments typically will have only digits & no letters. For a text labeled instrument, common even for landline phones in some countries, it's just another number.
2. To have a baby, you must make someone agree to die!!! In the story, Edward K Wehling, Jr, ends up having triplets. He had arranged his maternal grandfather to die expecting a single baby, & was feeling very guilty about it. He will now have to choose a single baby from among the 3; other two will be killed, according to law!
   
   He chooses a rather drastic solution that will let all three babies & grandpa live.

See also.

1. Clifford D Simak's "Eternity Lost": Another strong story that deals with population issue aggravated by long lifespans. But this has happy future, even if protagonist won't get it.
2. A very dark subject brought up near end has an idea similarity with Larry Niven's "The Jigsaw Man".
   

Fact sheet.

First published: Worlds of If, January 1962.
Rating: A.
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks, Feedbooks, or Scribd. Or audio at LibriVox.
Related: Stories of Kurt Vonnegut; stories about immortality or very long life spans.