Blogs > Liberty and Power > R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922-2007)

Apr 12, 2007

R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922-2007)




THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General...

U.S. author Kurt Vonnegut, born 1922, died yesterday at the age of 84. His novels include such titles as Player Piano (1952), The Sirens of Titan (1959), Cat's Cradle (1963), God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965), and Slaughterhouse Five (1969), and others, along with later works Galapagos (1985) and Timequake (1997). His short story"Harrison Bergeron," quoted above, is widely regarded as a classic political dystopian work.

Read the New York Times obituary.


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Amy H. Sturgis - 4/12/2007

Excellent point!


Anthony Gregory - 4/12/2007

I think Mother Night is his most underappreciated work, including for a libertarian readership.


Amy H. Sturgis - 4/12/2007

Ah, selective memory strikes the NYT yet again!


Aeon J. Skoble - 4/12/2007

Funny you should mention "Harrison Bergeron," Amy -- the NYT obit somehow neglected this. Gee, I wonder why that might be.