april-2012

ON THE TOWN: INDIANAPOLIS, IN
VAUNTED VONNEGUT
One of America’s most influential authors, fourth generation Indy resident
Kurt Vonnegut epitomized the literary side of the city.
H
ere’s the deal with writer, humorist,
and all-around fantasist Kurt
Vonnegut: “What people like about
me is Indianapolis.” Even though
he wrote from elsewhere, Vonnegut’s
heart really rests in Indy. “All my
attitudes are Indianapolis. My adenoids are
Indianapolis. If I ever severed myself from
Indianapolis, I would be out of business,”
Vonnegut said.
In his collection Fates Worse
Than Death, he wrote,
“That city gave me a free
primary and secondary
education richer and more
humane than anything I
would get from any of the
fi ve universities I attended.”
The city—its culture and values—permeated
throughout his prose, allowing him
to become one of the most infl uential
novelists of the past century. Vonnegut
was an avant-garde writer who laced satire,
science fi ction and suspense into a unique
style, one riddled with dark humor. His
trade-mark plain-spoken prose, sharp wit,
and crisp imagery was a clear homage
to his Midwestern roots. “A lot of critics
think I’m stupid because my sentences
are so simple and my method is so direct:
they think these are defects,” he said.
“No. The point is to write as much as you
know as quickly as possible.” He may have
specialized in straight forward prose, but
he was a stickler for punctuation, almost
to the point of insanity. “First rule: Do
not use semicolons. They are transvestite
hermaphrodites representing absolutely
nothing. All they do is show you’ve been
to college.”
If I ever severed myself from Indianapolis,
I would be out of business.
Clearly, the man had a handle on
humor. And in tribute to its favorite literary
son, Indianapolis declared 2007 “The
Year of Vonnegut.” The author, who said
he was “thunderstruck” by the honor, died
the same month he was scheduled to make
his triumphant return to the city.
As Vonnegut himself would say: So it
goes. The city celebrated anyway. And it
continues to celebrate.
For diehard fans visiting Vonnegut’s
APRIL 2012 74
GO MAGAZINE
BY LOU HARRY
hometown, a trip to the new Kurt
Vonnegut Memorial Library (vonnegutlibrary.org)
is a must. Recent events have
included a staged reading of Vonnegut’s
only play Happy Birthday, Wanda June
and the distribution of free copies of
Slaughterhouse-Five to students in Republic,
Missouri, where the book was recently
banned for profanity. Sounds like a plot
twist Vonnegut would approve of.
Another essential stop: Artist Pamela
Bliss’ new 38-foot-tall
mural of the rumpled
author on Massachusetts
Avenue, which isn’t far
from the Athenaeum
(athenaeumfoundation
.org), a landmark building
designed by Vonnegut’s grandfather,
renowned architect Bernard Vonnegut,
who was also responsible for the downtown
L.S. Ayres Building, which now
anchors Circle Center shopping mall.
Inside the Athanaeum you’ll fi nd The
Vonnegut Room, dedicated to the family,
and on April 14 the KVML will host its
annual “Night of Vonnegut” gala at the
Athenaeum theater, where Jim Lehrer
will give the keynote address.
JENNIFER S. ALTMAN/CONTOUR BY GETTY IMAGES