A Collection of Short Works - Welcome to the Monkey House

This book is a collection of 25 short stories. They are simple but you can if you want read great depth in them. These stories would make good starters for a reading group or circle. They are professional but not extraordinary or unique.

"The year was 2081, and everyone was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal in every way."

I bought this book for one story in particular "Harrison Bergeron"; I bought the movie with Sean Astin and thought even if the story was fleshed out to be more like "This Perfect Day". So I thought it would be time to read the story. Unfortunately the short story can not hold a candle to the movie. It never really gets off the ground and comes to a curt conclusion never resolving the conflict.

Harrison Bergeron

This book is a collection of 25 short stories. They are simple but you can if you want read great depth in them. These stories would make good starters for a reading group or circle. They are professional but not extraordinary or unique.

"The year was 2081, and everyone was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal in every way."

I bought this book for one story in particular "Harrison Bergeron"; I bought the movie with Sean Astin and thought even if the story was fleshed out to be more like "This Perfect Day". So I thought it would be time to read the story. Unfortunately the short story can not hold a candle to the movie. It never really gets off the ground and comes to a curt conclusion never resolving the conflict.

Harrison Bergeron

Like most writers who got their start before or shortly after WWII, Kurt Vonnegut began his writing career as a short story writer. Consequently, this collection includes some of his very earliest work, as well as several truly classic short stories that rank among the best of the second half of the 20th century. As one would expect from a collection housing many stories from a writer in his infancy, the collection is not consistently stellar: some pieces are unquestionably wonderful; others are of lesser quality, and at least one -- Where I Live -- is pointless. Vonnegut himself is quick to point out that this is not his best work: in the introduction he states that the stories were written to finance the writing of his novels. Indeed, as with many beginning writers, they constituted his very livelihood; writing them was often a matter of necessity, and not always necessarily the calling of artistic craft. Don't expect the Vonnegut that you're familar with from the novels. Several of these stories hit a moral note, as Vonnegut inevitably does, while others are attempts to strike an emotional chord. Vonnegut, at his short-story-writing best, was a master of what some of the greatest practitioners of the art -- Edgar Allen Poe, among others -- have cited as the key element of any short story: evoking one specific feeling, emotion, or tone. Vonnegut achieves this in many of the stories contained herein, and uses far less humor in doing so than we are accustomed to from him. Some of the best stories include the title story, which lays out a highly provocative and imaginative future scenario; Harrison Bergeron, a truly classic story that really strikes a moral chord; Tommorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, a bleak, darkly funny satirical piece; All The King's Horses, a highly suspenseful and dramatic rendering; Unready To Wear, a thoughtful slice of science fiction; Report On The Barnhouse Effect, Vonnegut's first published story and a science fiction classic; and The Manned Missles, an emotional shocker. Many of these stories are science fiction, a genre under which a lot of Vonnegut's early work fell. Science fiction, at that time, was not even considered a real literary genre, and many literary elitists disparage Vonnegut for having mined it. The author himself has also distanced himself from the field in intervening years, due to the bad press it got him, which has caused a rift between Vonnegut and the science fiction community. Let it be said by me, then, a long-time reader of science fiction, that Vonnegut wrote very well in the genre, and that most of his best short stories were, indeed, SF. Though he never purveyed the so-called "hard" science fiction, full of complex technicalities, that made writers such as Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov famous, Vonnegut was continually full of great ideas that were well-suited the genre. I wish he had written more SF stories. Overall, quite a good collection of short fiction, certainly far superior to the more recent Bagombo Snuff Box -- do not avoid reading this book if you weren't a big fan of that one -- though it does not rank among the best of Vonnegut's work. I recommend it highly to fans of the author or enthusiasts of the short story art form.

I was once told that the true writer can write short fiction as well as lengthier works. If that is true then Vonnegut is a true master. "Welcome to the Monkey House" is a true masterpiece. The short stroies are a study of our society. The story that is the name of the book shows how a society can go wrong with the idea of doing good. The hero is a rapist who lives in a society that actually encourages suicide. The women who work at these suicide centers have sex with their clients before they die, but the women cannot feel anything below their waist so they cannot enjoy sex due to "medicine" they take. The "hero" lets the drug wear off then rapes the women so they can feel for the first time sexual pleasure. The study is the rapes of women by one man as compared to the societal rape by making women not be able to feel pleasure. Tough stuff. The story ends with the explanation of how the idea of anesthetizing the pleasurable feel of sex started, which is the name of the story.

Harrison Bergeron is every bit as scary because it is what happens when the law makes everybody equal. There is always someone that has to run the show and they can't be equal. "All of the Kings Men" is about a game of chess where captured soldiers are the actual pieces and their leader has to make tough choices.

Not all of the stories are so depressing. "Who will I be Tommorrow" is about a couple who fall in love by never being themselves. It is fun and light although it does explore the deeper meaning of relationships.

"Welcome to the Monkey House" is a masterpiece and should not be missed. It is a thinking man's book, but at the same time so well written that is it is truly enjoyable as it is on it's own. Highly reccommended.

Unlike his later novels ("Slaughterhouse-Five", "Bluebeard", "Jailbird"), where he utilized a biting economical style, the short stories in this collection are comprised of a more standard prose. That being said, they are still Kurt Vonnegut stories, and thus offer a mixture of radical sci-fi ideas and character creation that goes down just as easily in smaller chunks as it does in the longer novel form.
The stories here that made his reputation as a sci-fi writer (a reputation that doesn't come close to covering his oeuvre) are startling in their originality and awe-inspiring in their execution. `Harrison Bergeron' is a quick drawing of a "utopian" society, where the strong and smart wear handicaps to level the playing field. Vonnegut manages to create a unique world, and then destroy it, while saying much about our world. I'm sure anyone who has seen the film version of this story wonders why they tried to stretch it out to an hour and a half, when all was already said in those seven pages. The title story is another futuristic utopia, where overpopulation has created the need for voluntary suicide clinics and a complete repression of sexual desire. It's a society ripe for rebellion, and that's just what it gets. `Unready to Wear' follows a society in which those who have learned to transcend their physical bodies are at odds with those who haven't. None of these tales follows any long, drawn out narrative. They all tend to make their point, quickly, and move on with other business. Vonnegut never gets lost in his creations, or bogged down in trying to make them sound credible. He has an incredible knack for simplicity within complex ideas.
There are other stories here besides the sci-fi tales. My favourite is `Miss Temptation', which shows us a small town, mesmerized by the daily walk up Main Street of a hermit-like woman of startling beauty. The twist near the end is heartbreaking, and manages to not only indict the characters in the story for their objectification, it indicts the reader as well. `More Stately Mansions' is a tale of modern suburbia, which says something about one woman's obsession with decorating, as well as all of our obsessions with `looking the part'. `All the King's Horses' is loaded with dramatic tension, as an American Army Colonel, captured by a Communist guerrilla chief during the Vietnam war, is forced to play chess using his battalion and his family as pieces. Any captured pieces are executed. Besides the tension of the game, Vonnegut manages to slip in some criticism of xenophobia.
These stories are just a few of my favourites. The book is filled with wonderful pieces, each of equal strength, all showcasing Vonnegut's early-career skills as a writer.

Vonnegut's vision of the future in the story "Harrison Bergeron" has haunted me since I first read it in 5th grade. So it's surprising to me that I hadn't read anything else by him until this year. Luckily, many of his other stories in "Welcome to the Monkey House" were just as fascinating or twisted or surreal.

Several of the tales included seemed to be autobiographical, and were often very simple, without much point but with a lot of feeling. One involved a play which he directed when he cast someone from town who nobody would ever think would be able to act and a girl who looked perfect for the role, and the night of the play he gets quite a surprise from both. It was written simply and very fun to read.

Of his fiction, many stories stand out in my memory. There was on that was narrated by a man who could leave his body and inhabit others, and it tells of a war between the people who had this ability and those who did not. Vonnegut boiled down a complex world into just a few pages and was able to convey the perspective perfectly so that I felt as though I knew exactly what it would be like to live outside of my own body.

My absolute favorite involved a chess match where the pieces were real people commanded by a general who was the king piece. Without giving much away, anytime a piece was lost to the other side, the person playing as that piece would be killed. An incredibly intense story, it had my heart beating out of my chest as I tried to force myself not to flip to the end and find out how everything was resolved.

Of course, as with nearly every compilation of short stories I've read, there were a few tales that didn't quite jive with my tastes, but thankfully the writing was still descriptive and colorful and efficient enough that I whizzed through those fairly quickly and was able to get on to the stories I enjoyed more.

One thing I know for sure after reading "Welcome to the Monkey House" is that I'll definitely be reading more Vonnegut in the future.

This really is a five-star collection of stories--varied in theme--ranging from science fiction (the title story, "Harrison Bergeron," "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow," "Report on the Barnhouse Effect," "The Euphio Question," "Unready to Wear") to human interest/"literary" ("More Stately Mansions," "Miss Temptation," "The Kid Nobody Could Handle," "The Lie," "Adam," "Deer in the Works," "Who Am I This Time?") to non-fiction ("Where I Live," "New Dictionary") to the mysterious ("The Foster Portfolio," "Next Door") to the what-if ("All the King's Horses," "Go Back to Your Precious Wife and Son," "Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog, "Epicac").

The anthology is my first exposure to Vonnegut and I came away impressed by the man's range of storytelling. He dives right in, gets to the point and ends the story. Makes it look easy! Good, concise, well-told stories.

The only story I didn't particularly care for involved an orphaned African-American boy in post-WWII Germany and how he gets teased by the local townspeople and his fellow orphans and how he gets attached to an American G.I. he thinks is his father. I mean, it was written well, but it just didn't float my boat.

I liked this book so much I'm going to check out "Slaughterhouse Five" next.

In my mind, Kurt Vonnegut is the writerly equivalent to an eccentric, sarcastic, but kindly old uncle, the one you can always count on to take the stuffing out of your more puffed-up, less agile-minded relatives at family Christmas parties, while giving you a sly wink. In an important way, he was a voice for America in the 1950s and 60s, both a counterpoint to and a commenter on "mainstream" attitudes. He could do zaniness, anger, sorrow, and gentleness equally well.

This collection is a fine intro to what made the man great. A few stories fall a little flat, and a few feel dated, but most still resonate in one way or another. In style, they range from memoir to science fiction to allegory to absurd satire to"straight" fiction, which make them interesting as a prismatic breakdown of the eccentric, eclectic voice Vonnegut uses in his longer works. My own favorite story was a poignant piece about a half-black German orphan who encounters a unit of black American GIs in post-WWII Europe, and the friendship he forms with a particular soldier.

I love Kurt Vonnegut and this is my favorite short story collection of his. I am going to attempt to rank my favorite short stories from the book but that may be tricky as there are so many good ones included.

1. Harrison Bergeron - definitely my favorite, if you are only going to read one story --> read this one = questions aspects of society/social equality and whether it is actually worth it
2. EPICAC = kind of like Cyrano + Computers
3. The Euphio question - A new technological box that can transmit euphoria signals from space causes trouble
4. Who am I this time? - cute love story
5. Welcome To The Monkey House - I love the rhyming poem in this one = population control, a man on the loose with a goal to "deflower" government suicide female workers + weird drugs
6.Long walk to forever - Another cute(r?) love story.
7. All The King's Horses - chess story about power oppression

Over the years, I had encountered a few of these short stories before. But I never sat down and went through the entire collection. I enjoyed at least 60% of them and a few seemed a bit like filler. My favorites are when Vonnegut tackles the absurd and really uses his wit to challenge our notions of ourselves. I Found that I enjoyed the title piece, "Welcome to the Monkey House" more this time than in the past. However, somehow "Harrison Bergeron" was less compelling to me now that I am older. Additionally, "All The King's Men" remained a solid work even if the cold-war is over and my reaction to "The Kid No One Could Handle" was the same. I very much enjoyed "Manned Missiles" as well as "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow". I would suggest skipping or at least skimming: The New Dictionary, The Long Walk to Forever, Miss Temptation and Who Am I This Time? But none of the stories are very long and none are unbearable to read so reading them all is of course and easy option.

Vonnegut's portrait of the universe is painted with every emotion, every hope, and every fear that man can have. Welcome to the Monkey House contains some of the best short stories ever written. When we journey into Harrison Bergeron we feel the possibilities of our very demise, fear our own greatness, and triumphantly remember what it is to be free. Who Am I This Time?, (My personal favorite) brings a whole new perspective to real life. It asks us who we really are and questions our ability to change. This is a good quality in any book. And finaly, the title story, Welcome to the Monkey House. This story is a celebration of our sexual drives and our true needs as human beings. It sheds the proper negative light on those who oppress sexuality in all its forms. Billy the poet (the main character) goes around and frees women from the strongholds of sexual oppression by depriving them of their birth/pleasure control and then teaching them about sex. The story is amazing. It brings to light so many American ways that we may not even realize we have. I recomend this book to anyone who likes sex, poetry, love, drama, and to anyone who has a brain and a heart. Thank You

Kurt Vonnegut's "Welcome to the Monkey House" was more than just a book of short stories, it was a work of art. Mr. Vonnegut creates a perfect blend of comedy, drama, action and suspense. He has a certain way of having tons of detail but not so much that it bores you. You feel as much a part of the story as the characters. One of the stories, "Epicac," takes place when the first super computer is created. One night, a man stays late and talks about his love life with the machine. The computer has great solutions for him that work out for the man. Then, the computer burns out trying to figure out why he can't be loved. Another story, "Welcome to the Monkey House," takes place when the population is so massive that sex is outlawed. When a man refuses to take his hormonal pills, the police look for him. He then kidnaps a girl and takes her to a hidden place where he has sex with her. It changes the woman's feelings in the process. This is a great book for any reader. I was hesitant as many when about to embark on reading it but don't regret it at all. I suspect many who read it will also have a problem putting it down as i did.

Once ubiquitous as sitcoms, the short story has almost become an endangered species. The genre now barely ekes out an existence in obscure literary journals. That's too bad, because one read of "Welcome to The Monkey House" reveals just what short stories can do. From humanist science fiction to askew romance, Kurt Vonnegut mastered the form before he became one of the most popular writers of the twentieth century. Back when books and magazines were television, these stories were submitted to big time magazines such as Collier's, Atlantic Monthly, and The Saturday Evening Post. They printed them. And they paid handsomely in those days. One could once live off of a steady stream of submission income. Those days have, of course, vaporized like so much warm milk. Vonnegut blamed television for the collapse.

Released in 1970, this collection contains some of Vonnegut's earliest work. Elsewhere he wrote that "Report on the Barnhouse Effect," from 1950, was his first published story. It's here, along with at least three absolute classics. "Harrison Bergeron," one of Vonnegut's most cited works, begins with the unforgettable line: "The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal." Think PC gone completely hogwild. The protagonist of "Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog" argues that the light bulb was invented by Edison's dog, not by Edison himself. It's as hilarious as it is poignant. "Welcome to the Monkey House" depicts the future only as Vonnegut could. Everyone has been unsexed, meaning that they possess no feelings whatsoever in the vital areas. A rouge gang seeks to remedy this existence devoid of pleasure, inspired by a certain zoo monkey's inappropriate public actions. Vonnegut seemed to fear well-intentioned totalitarianism. "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" and "Unready to Wear" share this paranoid theme. The rest of the book contains themes as various as Pokémon characters. Stories about war, denial through interior decorating, corporate life, beauty, music as healer, computers in love, a machine that produces endless euphoria, and even a strange romantic tale from "Ladies Home Journal." Pick and choose. Everyone should enjoy something between these covers.

This collection alone would justify bringing back the short story as a popular form of entertainment. But it seems too late for such rabble-rousing. Technology, one of the things the self-proclaimed Luddite Vonnegut feared the most, played an enormous role in ending the golden age of reading. Apart from providing food for thought and laughter, this collection transports readers back to a time when the written word reigned.

I was first introduced to Kurt Vonnegut in high school when my creative writing class was assigned to read "Harrison Bergeron". I was captivated, and since then have read nearly everything that Vonnegut has written. These stories are an excellent introduction to Kurt Vonnegut, as they cover a wide range of the themes present in his work. My personal favorites are "All the Kings Men," about an army officer and his men who are trapped in a deranged dictator's game of human chess; "Harrison Bergeron", a story of a young boy blessed with the physical and mental prowess of a god who lives in a society that insists upon extreme equality for all its citizens; and "The Foster Portfolio", about a man who has hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank but won't spend a dime of it while his family lives in near-destitution - all to hide a secret he doesn't want his wife to know. I've reread this collection many times and it never gets old.

KV writes so well because he f-r-e-e-ly communicates so well. These vignettes from several different magazines compiled into a book are glorious examples of his brilliant satire and humor. Anyone who has traveled much and who has self-educated much will adore the complex but often times simple truths he most ardently puts forth for our inspection and e-n-j-o-y-ment.

Having just finished Welcome to the Monkey House, I must admit that I prefer Vonnegut's lengthier works. I know this may make me a grand candidate for a good stoning, as Mr. K is reputed to be one of the best short story writers around, but this one just didn't do it for me like Slaughterhouse or Hocus Pocus or even Slapstick. Don't get me wrong, these stories are good, they just aren't any better than other famous and well read sci-fi short fiction writers like Asimov or Bradbury.
I think, oddly enough, the constriction of the medium has to do with some of the similarities I see between these stories and, say, the works of Ray Bradbury (who came to mind a number of times while reading this work). While Vonnegut's novels are sprawling and conversational with enough room for a doodle or two, these small pieces are forced into a beginning, middle and end format that doesn't play as well with his style.
I have devoured a number of Vonnegut works in a day or so, and sometimes I have read a them back to back, but Monkey House took me almost two weeks to read. I stalled out a few times, sometimes after two pages of a new story, and put the book down to finish it later. I ended up reading a story a day for the last week, just so I could finish without getting burned out.
Like I said before, these stories aren't bad, they just seem to be standard for both their age and their genre when Vonnegut tends to be anything other than standard on every other occasion. I wasn't terribly disappointed, but I will stick to the novels from now on.

~ * * * * ~
~I'd love to give this book 6 ****** Stars!
This book made such an impression on me as an adolescent, and as an adult, I still love it. The short stories are very different, they are unique in that many show a more optimistic and hopeful Kurt Vonnegut than we see in any of his other books.
These stories were written at various times for publication in different magazines. The title story "Welcome to the Monkey House" is no less thought provoking 30 years later! My favorite story "D.P" for "displaced person"- about a little black orphan in an all white post-war 'German" orphanage - was heartbreakingly sweet.
Although he disparages the story, "Long walk to Forever" shows a caring and hopeful side of the author he rarely reveals.
All the stories are absorbing, and deceptively easy to read. This book was one I'll never give away, I need to reread the stories too often!

I would recommend this as possibly the best collection of Vonnegut's shorter works. It is a selection of short stories that were originally published in various magazines during the 1950s and 60s. The stories give off a feel of those times; they are sometimes funny, sometimes surprising, sometimes sentimental, and they contain a lot of Kurt's warmth, as well as his cynicism. Very easy to read, and likely to be of interest to anyone who likes Vonnegut, or just likes short stories.

Collection of short stories, some within the science fictional mold, others more mainstream in content. A rather focused way for me to look at the strengths and weaknesses of Vonnegut as a writer, and assess my own ambivalence with him. I've enjoyed almost all his books yet have rarely made an effort to seek them out, generally picking them up when I'm around. I find him amusing but less insightful than he seems to think he is, creative but often too awkward in what he's trying to do that the larger project falls apart. By fame and general influence he's certainly a major figure in twentieth century writing, but on the strength of my own reading I wouldn't place him in that category, as with Gunter Grass but to a greater extent I find him lacking some quality that would allow real excellence. Part of that has always been my dislike over his self-marketing and scampering away from genre lables 'yes my books have time travel and aliens but they're literature, not that science fiction trash'. As with Margaret Atwood, there's something about that basic attitude that I see as either very calculating or very ignorant and dislike in either case. Strictly speaking that's not a valid issue to bring against their writing, which should be assessed for its basic effectiveness and not the labels attached to it.

The stories in Welcome to the Monkey House are a mix, and a lot of specific stories I'm deeply ambivalent about. They're engaging, maintain a fast pace, and a very good talent in quickly establishing character and situation. At times they also provide some great creativity and imaginative use of some unconventional setups. At the same time I've got more than a little kickback to most of them. They often seem too impressed with their own cleverness, for one thing, playing up thier position as hilarious in a way that sets my teeth on edge. Additionally, in terms of actual stories the sequence of events is rather predictible, I was frequently able to predict the next step several pages in advance. Vonnegut has significant skills, but the way he uses them I don't find altogether fitting, and after a number of stories in a row I grew rather alienated from the (consistent) tone of the narrative voice. I definitely prefer Vonnegut's novels, and this reading has made me interested enough to try to finish reading his main corpus, but I retain some sizable reservations.

Worse than: A is for Alien by Caitlin Kiernan
Better than: The Deceitful Marriage and other exemplary novels by Miguel de Cervantes

There's an economy to Vonnegut's writing that is a wonder to behold. His ability to go off in unexpected directions and his amazing talent for finding humor where there should be none is just as apparent in his short stories as it is in his novels. WELCOME TO THE MONKEY HOUSE collects a number of early works from the 50's and 60's and the book abounds with gems. Standouts like "Who Am I This Time?" where acting and life become intertwined in a way that brings a special fascination to "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow," where horrendous overcrowding leads to brutally funny machinations in a very extended family are just some examples of Vonnegut's cleverness and insight. I hadn't picked up Vonnegut recently and this book once again reminded me of why he is one of America's great writers.

This collection of short stories written during the 1950's and 1960's before the author was well known is easily worth reading. Kurt Vonnegut delves into human nature, prejudice, oppression, hypocrisy, militarism and greed in this varied collection. One story introduces us to the first super weapon with a conscience. Another involves a chess game where the expendable pieces are live humans. "The Foster Portfolio" is a mystery about why a man would choose working poverty over wealth. "The Long Walk to Forever" shows young adults that almost accidentally discover the depths of their feelings for each other. There is also politics, hypocrisy, and of course, science fiction. Many of the stories are excellent; while a few don't measure up. Overall, however, this is a first-rate collection from a great writer.

If you like Vonnegut this collection of short stories is a must. This is the only book of short stories that I have ever read cover to cover. This is the only book I reread almost on a yearly basis.
I have give this book as a gift often to people suprise they say that it is Vonneguts best work. Unlike other short story writers, Vonnegut short stories different from one another and do not repeat the same boaring gimmics over and over.
"All the Kings Men" is about an insane game of Chess
"Eipac" is about a computer who becomes more than a computer.
"Who will I be today" is about two people who fall in love by not being themselves.
"DP" is about a half black / half German orphan who stumbles on a unit of american GI's during WWII
"Slow walk into tomarrow" is about an AWOL soldier who goes takes a walk with only woman that he could ever lovethe day before she is to marry another man. (THIS IS THE BEST)
There are about ten more each unique as Vonnegut.

Welcome to the Monkey House takes me to places both mentally and emotionally. I have never been a big reader but a friend had mentioned the book. He said that it was a good read. I have to disagree with him. It was an ecellent read! I loved the first story to the last. Kurt hits every string with perfect cord. I feel like I'm watching T.V. when I read his stories. He describes in great detail the surroundings but lets you feel the emotions for yourself. "A Long Walk to Forever" is a great example; the magazine she is holding when he comes to the door, to the orchard they walk to; yet the ending takes you to the point that you know exactly what happens without Kurt having to tell you a thing. I truly believe that this is the best I'll ever read!

My favorite Vonnegut book, of those I have read so far (including some of his non-fiction essays, which are terrible, his most well-known novels, which are mixed, and a couple of other short story collections, which are okay). The title story---about a future society that has outlawed sexual pleasure---and "Harrison Bergeron"---a brilliant satire of egalitarianism (which is strange, considering Vonnegut's own egalitarian leanings)---are great, and there are several other good stories, and none that are really bad. Definitely worth the read.

Having never read Vonnegut before, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. The title led me to expect some degree of science fiction. What I found was a collection of rich, wonderfully written stories about a wide assortment of subjects. Vonnegut is a great writer, pure and simple. Many of the stories dealt with the future and the state of society, and Vonnegut struck me as having a somewhat cynical yet witty view of the subject. I found the themes of his stories to be somewhat akin to my own fears of life as we will some day know it, in a world where the government attempts to create utopia on earth. Two of the more memorable stories found in these pages are "Harrison Bergeron" and "Welcome to the Monkey House." In the first story, we find the type of society that I fear the most, a socialist republic where all people are required to be equal; those who possess intelligence and pose the danger of actually thinking are controlled by implants which forcefully disallow any thought from entering their minds. In the latter, we find a Malthusian world of overpopulation where everyone takes pills to numb the lower halves of their bodies and people are encouraged to come to Federal Ethical Suicide Parlors and voluntarily remove themselves from the crowded world. Other stories deal with massive overpopulation troubles.
On the other hand, we find more simplistic stories in which Vonnegut conveys individuals in a deep, touching light, striking great chords of sympathy in this reader's mind. A woman who is obsessed with redecorating the houses of her neighbors yet cannot afford to buy decent furniture for her own house; a young woman who comes to a strange town, captivates everyone with her beauty, is criticized and publicly humiliated by a young man for being the kind of girl he could never win the heart of, and is richly shown to be an innocent, lonely soul; a teen who acts horribly because he has never had a real family but is saved from a life of crime by a teacher who makes the grand effort to save the boy--these are some of the many subjects dealt with by the author. There is even a heartfelt story about a young Russian and young American who are killed in space but who inspire understanding and détente between the two superpowers by bringing home the point that they were both young men with families who loved them and who had no desire for anything but peace--written during the height of the Cold War, that story really stood out to me.
All of the stories are not eminently satisfying to me, but the lion's share of them are; a couple of stories seemed to have been written for no other reason but to make the author some money, which is okay (especially since Vonnegut introduces the stories by saying he wrote them in order to finance his novel-writing endeavors). I may have been less than satisfied by a couple of stories, but even the worst of the lot was written wonderfully and obviously with much care, and I daresay that few writers could do better on their best day than Vonnegut does on his worst. Sometimes, as one ages, one fears that he will eventually have read all of the best books in the world, but then one discovers an author such as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and it is one of the best and most exciting things that can happen to that person.

I'm not a huge fan of short story collections since I'd much rather sit through a single story throughout all those pages instead of a series of tales that at best tend to be hit or miss and wildly inconsistent. However there are some writers that I will acknowledge are masters of the form, Theodore Sturgeon, Ray Bradbury and of course Kurt Vonnegut (that's not even counting the "classic" short story masters who I haven't read) who's novels sometimes come across as longish short stories anyway. Most of these stories were written early in his career, in the fifties or sixties and it looks like someone actually made an attempt to sequence them instead of just dumping them in chronoloogical order, thus there's a bit of a procession as you move along, finally ending with the darkly hopeful 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow". Along the way you'll find that the quality is quite high and many of these are very much vintage Vonnegut. He mixes around with genres and so SF exercises such as "Harrison Bergeron" and "Welcome to the Monkey House" (classics both) sit comfortably next to more typical stories such as "Manned Missiles" (which gets my vote for most effective story in the collection and surprised me the most). There aren't really any clunkers here, some are simpler than others and will pass you by without much impact, but the majority all have some moment or theme to recommend them as keepers and give you something to think about long after you've finished them. Sure, most of the stories were written in a different time but regardless of the SF or the Cold War backdrop or whatever, these are essentially timeless and deserved to be read again and again.

My favorite Vonnegut book, of those I have read so far (including some of his non-fiction essays, which are terrible, his most well-known novels, which are mixed, and a couple of other short story collections, which are okay). The title story---about a future society that has outlawed sexual pleasure---and "Harrison Bergeron"---a brilliant satire of egalitarianism (which is strange, considering Vonnegut's own egalitarian leanings)---are great, and there are several other good stories, and none that are really bad. Definitely worth the read.

If you don't already know Kurt Vonnegut's work, this may be the best introduction to it -- especially considering that short stories are the art form that Vonnegut started out with, where he developed his craft.
And if you already know Vonnegut but don't know this book, then think of this as the author in delicious bit-sized chunks.
But read the book!
I would not say that Welcome to the Monkey House is Vonnegut's best book -- in fact, it may not even be in the top five by my calculations -- but it is the one book of his I would keep if I had to give all the other away, simply because of the diversity of the stories he tells and the simple writing skill they illustrate.
And I might argue that the best single STORY Vonnegut ever wrote is "Harrison Bergeron" the riveting and still-relevant tale about human nature that effects me as much today as it did when I first read it 20 years ago. Vonnegut without a doubt proves with this story that all writers are not created equal.

First, I want to say I give this collection 5 stars despite the datedness of some of the short stories. I can't fault Vonnegut for when he wrote them. They are like a series of really clever Twilight Zone episodes. It's been literally decades since I first read these. The most memorable is Harrison Bergeron, about a society where the playing field is so levelled that anyone possessing an unfair advantage is given a handicap to prevent them being competitive. It's actually a very Republican story (I'm being funny, a little). The next is the title story, and again it suggests that society has overcompensated for a problem, in this case providing "ethical suicide" for people in order to overcome overpopulation rather than...well, I won't ruin it. Other stories have just stuck with me all this time, like "Who am I this time?" about a man who has no personality except when he is acting in town plays. The thing about all these stories is that they are reminiscent of the Player Piano era. Player Piano is Vonnegut's excellent but outdated story about a society where machines and machine-thinking take over. In the story, there is a checker-playing machine that represents technology gaining ascendance over man. All of the stories in this collection have that 50's feel. If you can overlook that, the morals of the stories are what's important, and they are frequently unexpected. That is the power and beauty of this collection.

I hadn't read Vonnegut for years, and his name was brought up during a discussion about political correctness. I searched out this edition and remembered all the many reasons why I loved him back then, and also realized that he is even more relavant today. Just fabulous.

My favorite Vonnegut book, of those I have read so far (including some of his non-fiction essays, which are terrible, his most well-known novels, which are mixed, and a couple of other short story collections, which are okay). The title story---about a future society that has outlawed sexual pleasure---and "Harrison Bergeron"---a brilliant satire of egalitarianism (which is strange, considering Vonnegut's own egalitarian leanings)---are great, and there are several other good stories, and none that are really bad. Definitely worth the read.

My favorite Vonnegut book, of those I have read so far (including some of his non-fiction essays, which are terrible, his most well-known novels, which are mixed, and a couple of other short story collections, which are okay). The title story---about a future society that has outlawed sexual pleasure---and "Harrison Bergeron"---a brilliant satire of egalitarianism (which is strange, considering Vonnegut's own egalitarian leanings)---are great, and there are several other good stories, and none that are really bad. Definitely worth the read.

My favorite Vonnegut book, of those I have read so far (including some of his non-fiction essays, which are terrible, his most well-known novels, which are mixed, and a couple of other short story collections, which are okay). The title story---about a future society that has outlawed sexual pleasure---and "Harrison Bergeron"---a brilliant satire of egalitarianism (which is strange, considering Vonnegut's own egalitarian leanings)---are great, and there are several other good stories, and none that are really bad. Definitely worth the read.

My favorite Vonnegut book, of those I have read so far (including some of his non-fiction essays, which are terrible, his most well-known novels, which are mixed, and a couple of other short story collections, which are okay). The title story---about a future society that has outlawed sexual pleasure---and "Harrison Bergeron"---a brilliant satire of egalitarianism (which is strange, considering Vonnegut's own egalitarian leanings)---are great, and there are several other good stories, and none that are really bad. Definitely worth the read.

My favorite Vonnegut book, of those I have read so far (including some of his non-fiction essays, which are terrible, his most well-known novels, which are mixed, and a couple of other short story collections, which are okay). The title story---about a future society that has outlawed sexual pleasure---and "Harrison Bergeron"---a brilliant satire of egalitarianism (which is strange, considering Vonnegut's own egalitarian leanings)---are great, and there are several other good stories, and none that are really bad. Definitely worth the read.

Well, most of the 54 previous reviewers raved about this collection of stories, but I did see one reviewer who felt the story, Monkey House, seems to encourage a certain illegal behavior. I agree with that observation, and while I was reading the story I was certain people today would notice that point: Maybe in 1968 (the publication date), people didn't notice?
Some of the stories seemed like "starter" stories, something a "wannabe" writer might write. But some really do make you think. What if you were forced to be "equal" to everyone else (Harrison Bergeron)? What if an anti-aging concoction was discovered and the population explosion covered the earth with people of all ages (Tomorrow etc.)? These kinds of questions are certainly relevant today, and that may be one measure of their worth: longevity.
I could not read this book like a novel, with growing interest as the plot unfolds. For me, it was the type of book one would have to put aside from time to time, to kind of "digest" the contents, before reading more. That could be another measure of literary worth: it doesn't go down like cotton candy but kind of "stays with you," the way a good meal should. Diximus.

A varied and uneven collection of Vonnegut's short stories. Some read like Yankee Magazine or Saturday Even Post stories: boy home from WW II gets girl stories, or "hometown" stories of Barnstable, Massachusetts. Others, the better ones, play to Vonnegut's strengths, like the title work. These are science fiction with Big Themes like thought control, enforced birth control, a cemented-over world, weapons of mass destruction, and variations on Big Brother.

Eau de' Vonnegut is discernable in each Monkey House short story. They are simple and conceptual, Vonnegut doesn't bog down his stories with specifics. These are meditations: Brief, fun to read, interestingly cast plots. It has been a long time since I read (or watched) Slaughterhouse 5, or Cat's Cradle. I remember how familiar but demented character types were thrown into oddly improbable circumstances, with surprising outcomes. My favorite story was "Who Am I This Time". Or, perhaps it could be "Harrison Bergeron", or even "Welcome to the Monkey House"... you'll understand how hard it is to choose a favorite, as you randomly skip from the end of one short story to the beginning of another.

Kurt Vonnegut has a very unique writing style. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is not your regular book. This is a collection of short stories. All of them are classic Vonnegut. They include humor, and off the wall plots. A lot of the stories remind me of Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury).

Some of the stories are set in the future, others in the past. They are all captivating and encourage imagination. A lot of Vonnegut stories have a lesson to them if you look hard enough. This book's short stories definitely show some of the lessons he tries to teach.
If you have never read a Vonnegut book this would be a great one to start with. Because the stories are not very long, if you lose interest you can easily move on a different story. The actual story, "Welcome to the Monkey House" is great. Vonnegut shows us how warped our world could be. Many of the stories are like that.
Vonnegut continues to show us new possibilities in the realm we live in. None of his stories are so outlandish that they could never happen. He always includes enough reality to never make it impossible. What he does include makes us take a look at what we really want to allow the government to control and what could happen. Only Kurt Vonnegut could make a story that is about "ethical suicide." I loved it!!!! You will love this book, it is wild, it is crazy, and it is totally VONNEGUT.

As a new novelist, I truly enjoyed this author, Mr. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Thanks sir for such a brilliant collection-emotionally engaging!!!!!

Anthony D. Woods
c/o Velvet Tears: Breaking the Silence

We had to read the short story Harrison Bergeron, one of the stories in this collection. This was the first "meaningful" short story I ever remember reading. Symbols & metaphors came alive--I concluded (and I remember this over 20 years later) that "society always crucifies its messiahs." I couldn't leave it alone after that. I hunted down my own copy of Welcome to the Monkey House.
If you're not ready to tackle one of Vonnegut's novels, take a shot at this collection of stories. Each one is a gem, faceted to challenge the spectrum of your thoughts. Not a book I recommend to "staid" folks, unless I want to see them shaken.

I found a copy of this for free at the recycling center and thought that maybe it was a book that I could read because the stories are mostly rather short. This collection of short stories, for the most part, really moved me. Vonnegut has a way of writing and a way of setting up a story that is really charming. So many times, I would think, "this is never going to work out " and yet it always, or almost always does. Very endearing !!!

This book is so timely. We live in an era pushing political correctness and "safe zones". People today demand equality...as in pull others down. In story after story we can see what our future might look like. This should be required HS reading...

Each of these stories is a world in its own right; all of
them speak from a deep understanding of what it means to be
human. Ranging from true (The Long Walk to Forever/Hell to
Get Along With), through plausible (Adam), to dark futurism
(Harrison Bergeron, the title story), Vonnegut celebrates
life, love, and freedom... and in every story, you will see
the world you know. Both tragic and comic, these stories
show us what we are, and make us glad of it. An
unforgettable read - don't miss it!

There are some really good short stories in this collection, but there's also a few that makes you go "eh"
In his novels, he always makes a statement which is missing from his short stories.

Some are really fun to read, but it's definitely wasn't one of those "couldn't put it down" books.

I would give it 3 and a half starts, but since there's no opinion for that, 4 it is.

Myself, I've never read any Vonnegut in the past. As a matter of fact, I have not read many books at all before. This collection of short stories is just perfect for someone like me. The stories vary from about five pages to twenty pages apiece, making them easy for anyone to ascertain in a short amount of time. After getting about half-way through the book I decided to go out and purchase SLAUGHTER-HOUSE-FIVE, SIREN OF THE TITANS, and GODBLESS YOU DR.KEVORKIAN. That is what is so beautiful about this book, the fact that someone who never reads, can easily peruse a story or two with out missing a beat. Kurt will capture your attention in every tale.
Vonnegut came way before my time, but now I see what all the recognition was about. His ideas on government and modern society were way ahead of his time. His notions of peace, shifty politicians, and clandestine activities are what make him an excellent addition to any radical library. He writes science fiction, with a dash of harsh reality. These ideals, of an overpopulated world in which every aspect of our lives are governed, are presented with extraordinary detail in Vonnegut`s writing. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Harrison Bergeron, and Welcome to the Monkey House (The story) are lurid representations of the way the future could be. This book has it all romance, tragedy, and triumph. Every story is not just science fiction, as you may imagine. Most of the stories are set in the past and have no portrayals of an automated society or a talking dog that helped to invent electricity. In fact, one of my favorite stories, The Foster Portfolio, is one that contains no special effects at all. Like many of Vonnegut's other stories, The Foster Portfolio just deals with simple human characteristics like pride, ambition, and happiness. The presentation that Kurt puts into his characters is marvelous. When you get done reading one of his stories you'll feel as though you know the characters.

Vonnegut locates his characters in unlikely, self-contained environments, and through wryness and the steady accumulation of detail he makes the whole plausible. His narrators are often plain-speaking, decent, imperfect people confronted with some paradigm-changing development, such as the bodiless souls in 'Unready to Wear'.

The science fiction stories are uniformly surprising, tender, perspicacious, laden with jokes, and, like all of Vonnegut's work, distinguished by his unhurried eloquence. For me, however, the real surprise lay not in these humanist parables but in more straightforward stories like 'The Lie,' a sad-eyed, third-person account of a family outing to a private prep school; not alone the best story in a dauntingly good collection, it also supplies further proof of Vonnegut's oft stated admiration for Richard Yates.

All told, I had fun reading the collection and will recommend it to others, though that recommendation will be tempered with commentary on the characters:

What struck me about reading this collection--and, mind, it could be on account of being spoiled by having recently read Alice Munro and several other women masters of the short story form--is that the characters are all very if not entirely flat--they are stereotypes of themselves. I suppose it could be that I am misunderstanding Vonnegut's strategy[, ideology(?), etc.,] for writing [short stories] if I think that the flatness of his characters is cause for alarm. After all, as the title of this review indicates, I see Welcome to the Monkey House as a series of thought experiments and furthermore I think that these thought experiments are mostly very successful.

Yet, unfortunately, they remain at the level of idealized thought experiment rather at the level of comment on the problems of such thought experiments which might take the form of rich characters inhabiting the idealized space and through their presence "tainting" that space; this sort of story would not only serve as a criticism of certain general, universal, masculine, etc., modes of thought (i.e. by indicating that such modes of thought must necessarily break down in any particular situation) but would additionally serve to show what happens to certain rich characters that we care about when they enter the idealized space.

Now, even though I cannot think of a single exception to this criticism, I do not mean that the stories were emotionally dull (and, by the way, I think that they are engaging in the same way that much science fiction is engaging--"Whoa! Cool! ...what if..?") as several of them definitely got to me and were able to make an interesting statement despite that statement's uncomplicated nature--I think here of the story involving the boy raised in an orphanage in Germany who goes looking for his father in the form of a sargeant in the US army who is also black, of the story involving the new father who is able to appreciate the value of his new son's life despite the crushing indifference of everyone else. But despite the author's efforts to the contrary in the story of the Geman orphan, Vonnegut still creates a situation in which [patriarchal] racist modes of thought are reinforced by the lack of complexity in the emotional responses of the boy and the sargeant. And despite his efforts to take seriously the holocaust in the second short story I mentioned above, he simplifies the situation in a problematic way.

It could be that I simply did not take up the short-story-reader's mantle in the way that a friend of mine indicated that I was not only able but obligated to do. It could be simply that I failed to imagine the complexity of the characters. But I believe that the short stories--which permit and obligate the reader to imagine and empathize--my friend had in mind are those in which enough is said so that one can begin to imagine the characters' depths after having brief glimpses of those depths revealed by the author; the stories in this collection are not of that sort--rather, they are of the sort in which the reader would have to imagine those depths in entirety on her/his own because those depths are not spoken and, I suspect, not even thought by the author.

I don't favor short stories, but this collection sounded like something I might get into. Well, I did enjoy the stories. My favorite would have to be "Unready To Wear". The thought of being able to leave your body and enter dead bodies to use whenever the need arose (say, if you might want to be in a parade), sounds like a pretty good way to extend your life some. Also, I've discovered that since I began the book, I've been thinking in a more abstract way. This is a good thing. A freeing feeling.
Kurt Vonnegut wrote in a way that makes you think of possibilities. I appreciate that.

This is a collection of Vonnegut short stories that many, maybe all, were published in magazines in the 50's 60's and possibly later. They are a collection insights into Kurt's sense of angle on human nature and the possibilities of our interactions and relations. I read the story Harrison Bergeron when I was in 7th grade and it changed my life forever. Seriously. I no longer thought of Star Trek and Star Wars as being the entire scope of sci-fi, to which I wasn't interested. I eventually have seen all episodes of the original ST, STNG, STDS9, and some of STV but that's neither here nor there. ST and other series like Dune and Hitchhikers have their place, and I've come to respect them, but to me there still is no better sci-fi than that of alt civilizations that play off of mans greed and/or what if things were different. If you've read other Vonnegut classics like Slaughter House 5 or Mother Night, this book gives you a little different look at his interests. This collection has a range of his views, hopes, and some zany characters like Cats Craddle and some subtlety of Breakfast of Champions put into short delightful stories. I love Vonnegut and between him and Herman Hesse I recommend their writings to anyone between the ages of 13 and death. Not that these are kids stories but that I would afford anyone the opportunity to have this author and especially the stories in this book affect them like they did me.

From the wonderous humanity of EPICAC, the computer who loved a girl, to the simply yet imaginatively told story of "Thomas Edison's Shaggy Dog", to the black American soldier's relationship with a certain displaced person ("D.P.") to the title story's grim view of the future population (see also "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", the last story in the collection), Vonnegut surprises with his humor, and then delivers a knockout punch with his pathos. *SPOILER* The story about the boy who cannot tell his parents that he didn't get in the School, and "The Kid Noone Could Handle" *END* Is the "fifty-year man" the real "Deer in the Woods"? One of my favorite stories has always been "More Stately Mansions" about the woman who yearns for a more perfect abode as collected and clipped from many home decorating magazines. The realism of his stories is kind of spooky sometimes. His prose writing is amazing--a master of the quick turn of phrase, the one-sentence description that reads like a book, the presence behind the prose somehow is able to make complex, profound ideas more simple, and vice versa. I first read this volume in 1974 on airplanes and while traveling to Africa at the age of 12. Some of it escaped me then, but by now I think I get it. And I recommend it highly!

I just read this book last year, as a tenth grader. It might sound as though I'm exaggerating if I say it changed my life, but I believe that almost everything you read changes you in a small way. Well, this book changed me in a big way. I'll still be thinking about these stories months after I read them. They're the kind of stories that make you want to close your eyes and think for an hour after you're done reading them. This book was my introduction to Kurt Vonnegut, and it remains my favorite.

I also think its amazing how a book read by somebody 30 years ago can still have the same effect on a young person today, and I hope that 30 years from now, this book will still change people.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! When I picked it up I thought that it was not going to be as good as Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-five", but it deffinately was. Vonnegut has once again proved himself to be a magnificent author in this collection of short stories.
In this book, there were a few parts that I beleive may have been adapted from the past. If this is the case, Vonnegut has deffinately done a good job reproducing them, as well as make up brilliant tales of his own.
This is one of those books that you'll read once and contemplate for a while. Then you'll find it lying around a month or two later and pick up a totally new perspective on its initial meaning. This is book that MUST be read, no questions asked. :-D

I love Kurt Vonnegut- I have read just about all of them. I really enjoyed this one cause it offered a different perspective on his genius--a unique experience compared to reading Cat's Cradle and Hocus Pocus. I'm not sure that I would recommend it for a first time reader, but only cause I don't want to spoil the experience for you!! Definitely, in this case, save the best for last. It is essential Vonnegut, but with a fresh twist to it.

Great collection of Vonnegut's early writings. Remarkable character development and sense of storyline for the brevity of the short stories contained in Welcome to the Monkey House. Amazing brevity in the portrayal of the most crucial and tragic events of each story.

You gotta love Vonnegut!

A good collection of short stories requires a vivid imagination and a wealth of various ideas, and Vonnegut shows off both of these traits in this anthology of his short works. He is truly a creator of worlds, capable of developing a colorful setting quickly and effectively in this brief format. As many of these works were written soon after the Red Scare, there are is an underlying theme involving cynicism towards structured society in general and communism specifically. However, this compilation is certainly a diverse blend of concepts - there is everything from a world in which the human mind has evolved to shed their physical manifestation to the creation of a device that produces a euphoric sensation. Vonnegut's tales and the characters found within are deep and meaningful as well, and there his wit manifests itself in every story to make each one enjoyable and distinct. One account tells about an actor who is shy, not really knowing what to say without a script, but who can completely become the characters he plays. A sense of irony can also often be found throughout this collection, with many things turning out different from what the society worked towards or from what we expect as readers. "Welcome to the Monkey House" is truly a multifaceted gem with much to offer; I wholeheartedly recommend to all readers as a joy to read, whether done in extended sittings or one story at a time.

There's nothing new that I could say about this collection. Vonnegut's writing is truly timeless, feeling just as relevant today as when it was written. The short story form of this anthology makes it a very approachable read, especially to those looking to get back into reading. I will definitely be returning to many of these stories as I experience the situations of which these are commentaries.

My favorite Vonnegut book, of those I have read so far (including some of his non-fiction essays, which are terrible, his most well-known novels, which are mixed, and a couple of other short story collections, which are okay). The title story---about a future society that has outlawed sexual pleasure---and "Harrison Bergeron"---a brilliant satire of egalitarianism (which is strange, considering Vonnegut's own egalitarian leanings)---are great, and there are several other good stories, and none that are really bad. Definitely worth the read.

My favorite Vonnegut book, of those I have read so far (including some of his non-fiction essays, which are terrible, his most well-known novels, which are mixed, and a couple of other short story collections, which are okay). The title story---about a future society that has outlawed sexual pleasure---and "Harrison Bergeron"---a brilliant satire of egalitarianism (which is strange, considering Vonnegut's own egalitarian leanings)---are great, and there are several other good stories, and none that are really bad. Definitely worth the read.

this collection of vonnegut is probably better than any novel of his that i have read. because, while his novels are wonderful this colletion of short stories makes you proud to be a person. i feel this collection of his works is very positive and, in contrast to his other, later works has very little negative social commentary. and hearing positive things is something very nice in a world full of so many negative things to talk about.

This book opened something in me that I wish more would: the desire to write. While reading Vonnegut's varied works, I felt myself itching to grab the wp and start writing--anything! Perhaps his imaginative stories or the fact that each one was so different from the other brought this on. Whatever the reason, the book exposed a deep mental level that few others even scratch. If you want stimulating enjoyment, buy it.

In the preface of Welcome to the Monkey House, Vonnegut writes, "I am self-taught. I have no theories about writing that might help others. When I write I simply become what I seemingly must become." In his collection of short stories, Vonnegut becomes many things; from a sales man, to a soldier to a sexually oppressed women. This collection holds diverse types of stories, all original, and all charming in their own way. This is not a short story collection that repeats itself. Each one opens a door to a different subject matter. The stories are glued together with Vonnegut's humor and whit. I truly felt that each story was fantastic.
I know someone who cried after reading the story D.P. After reading Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog, I haven't been able to look at dogs the same way. And the selection Welcome to the Monkey House is guaranteed to give you butterflies in your stomach.
Vonnegut holds on to your attention and doesn't give it back until you have finished all 25 stories. This book displays the extensive imagination that Vonnegut encompasses. Once again Vonnegut brings to light things that we never could imagine, and puts it on paper.

Simply one of the best collection of short stories from the greatest post-war writer of the 20th Century. Wow he'd hate to be called that. LOVE Vonnegut and enjoyed re-reading some of the best short fiction that can be read.

Welcome to the Monkey House and The Bamboo Snuff Box are two of Vonnegut's short story collections. They are his earliest published work.
I like his novels much more. It is difficult to really get into a short story. Most of the stories are just average but I cannot give Kurt Vonnegut less than four stars.

This is the kind of book that doesn't lose its entertainment value. With so many short stories from which to choose, there is something for nearly any mood. The stories are written beautifully and with expert wit. It's the book that I'd bring with me to a desert island. My recommendations: The Foster Portfolio, Barnhouse Effect, and Euphio Question.

I greatly desire more people to read this book (and Vonnegut in general, for that matter), if for no other reason than to remind us that we're all made of the same stuff. We are catastrophically headed in the exact, opposite, fatal direction.

True, some of his earliest works were in this book, but it's just as essential to Vonnegut's catalogue than one of his acclaimed novels like Slaughterhouse-Five and Bluebeard. Most of the stories in here kept me very interested and a lot of them had very brilliant storylines. Essential reading.

Great Stories! Kurt Vonnegut is a master at understanding human behavior and can really have fun with it in his writings. The story 'Who am I this time?' was made into a short 1-hour movie back in the early 80's and Christopher Walken played the main character and he was fantastic. I saw the movie on PBS one night years ago and loved it. This was before I ever heard of Kurt Vonnegut and his talent for creating memorable characters. I also like the George Helmholtz (over-the-top, dedicated band director) character he writes about in some of the stories. This character is also in some of the Bogambo Snuff Box collection of short stories. So many of Vonnegut's characters are just like someone you've known, only a little more maladjusted.

I read this book when I was in the 11th grade. It was my introduction in to Vonnegut. Of course this was way back in the 70's. If you read this now and you remind yourself how many years ago he wrote these short stories you will find Kurt had an amazing take on science fiction and fiction back then. That alone makes this book stand the test of time.

Vonnegut in my opinion is both a genius and a madman. Ever since reading Slaughter House 5 in high school I have held Vonnegut in high regard and this collection of his short stories only strengthens my conviction that he is one of the greatest SF minds of his time. His stories are comical, fantastic, dramatic, and each one draws you in. Each story has something different to offer each with its own twists and turns. The story that gives this collection its name is my personal favorite though I enjoyed every single on of the 25 stories that make up the collection. So I invite you to step through the wacky yet masterful mind of Kurt Vonnegut and into the monkey house.

Terrific reading material for a raining afternoon. Among my favorite short stories wereTom Edison's Shaggy Dog, The Euphio Question, Deer in the Works (which must have been an obvious influence on Terry Gilliams Brazil and a satire of big business and mindless capitalism) and Unready to Wear.

Kurt Vonnegut's short stories reflect on his coming of age. The reason of his pessism is that his mother commited suicide and and tried many times. I know; it is sad. Anywho, he is one of the best science fiction writer. All in all, Vonnegut uses a good sense of imagination

All fans of Kurt Vonnegut's literary genius will love the short stories included in this compilation. The stories themselves are pure Vonnegut, but the work done by each of the narrators makes them even better. This is not an audiobook of short stories read by a bland voice artist. The narrators make each story their own, with different voices for different characters, injecting full personality.

I'm very glad I found this gem.

This book is among my 10 favorite. This book has a story for every mood. Harrison Bergeron debates true equality, Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow focuses on the aged and their overwhelming numbers, and Firehouse Harris just discusses a man who is satisfied with his arrangement with life. All the stories within are so simple and yet, so developed, formed, and well-delivered that the only word that blankets this book is "elegance".

I honestly can say that literature like this can go along way in re-affirming your faith in the human race. For all the horrible stories in life we hear about horrible people doing horrible things; to know that there are human beings within our midst who are capable of presenting words on a page in a manner in which Kurt did here, it just makes you forget about all that other stuff.

Truthfully, Kurt Vonnegut scares me. This awesome collection of his shorter works definitely captures his warped imagination in all of its glory. The topics of this collection range from religion to birth control to government censorship. From the first story to the last, it is very hard to put down. He{Vonnegut} has an odd way of describing things. In the title story, there are many situations that require a sense of humor. I don't want to give away too much, though. I acn't say enough good things about this book.

This has been a favorite of mine since i read it in college with some of the concepts invading my thoughts over the decades, especially the title story and Harrison Bergeron. I am enjoying it even more now that I am older and wiser. This is a masterpiece!

But I have to say Vonnegut would cringe if I, like another reviewer on this page, wrote that I feel like I'm watching TV when I read his stories. The way Vonnegut feels about TV, this is not a compliment. Speaking of TV, read Vonnegut's "Euphio Effect" in this collection. It's a nice satire, I feel, on TV's addictive quality. Second only to Harrison Bergeron.

This book is for the Vonnegut fan (or any good literature fan for that matter) who is a tiny bit ADD, like myself. I read it when I was 20 and it changed my life and made Vonnegut my favorite author. This is a great way to see just how diverse a writer the old guy really was.

I've loved Vonnegut's books, but never read his short stuff until this. According to the introduction, these stories were written to finance the novels. Anyway, it's full of the wit and challenging ideas Vonnegut is known for. Science fiction, but not really. Incidentally science fiction is all. Loved The Eupio Question.

Don't get me wrong, there are moments of brilliance in this book. The story about the human chess match comes to mind, but many of the stories are conventional and sappy. None of the biting dark humour that you find in his better works like Cat's Cradle and the Sirens of Titan. Still, it's better than a lot of books, but all in all I was very disapointed. ...

My wife, son, and daughter really got a kick reading this. Unlike most fictions, this one really has a great plot. In fact, my son took it to school and read it to the whole class. I strongly recommend this for everyone who enjoys great porn.

This book was excellent, it was a Kaleidoscopeof different imaginative stories, and was not boring for one second. I would recomend this book to anyone who does not know how much fun it can be to read.

I received my book promptly, however it was missing its front cover, which had not been mentioned in the description. I contacted the seller and they promptly refunded my money. I would have been happier to get a book with a cover, but a prompt refund was a good response from the seller.