- 529 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
"Vonnegut's life was a fascinating tragicomedy worthy of his best novels . . . A superbly researched and above all very entertaining biography." —Blake Bailey,
New York Times–bestselling author of
Philip Roth: The Biography
A New York Times Notable Book
A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book
In 2006, Charles Shields reached out to Kurt Vonnegut in a letter, asking for his endorsement for a planned biography. The first response was no ("A most respectful demurring by me for the excellent writer Charles J. Shields, who offered to be my biographer"). Propelled by a passion for his subject, and already deep into his research, Shields wrote again and this time, to his delight, the answer came back: "O.K." For the next year—which ended up being Vonnegut's last—Shields had access to Vonnegut and his letters. After four additional years of research and writing, And So It Goes is "the first truly exacting look into the life of a man who has fascinated so many" ( Esquire).
"An incisive, gossipy page-turner of a biography." —Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"A triumphant biography . . . From his harrowing survival of the Dresden firebombing through forty years of culture clashes and domestic battles, here is the Vonnegut we all thought we knew and the man we never got to see, a writer of searing wit and wisdom, of driving ambition, and perhaps most of all, of aching loneliness." —Jess Walter, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins
"An engaging, surprising and empathetic page-turner." —Deirdre Donahue, USA Today
"Adroit literary analysis that highlights obscure or overlooked influences on Vonnegut . . . . With access to more than 1,500 letters, Shields conducted hundreds of interviews to produce this engrossing, definitive biography." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A New York Times Notable Book
A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book
In 2006, Charles Shields reached out to Kurt Vonnegut in a letter, asking for his endorsement for a planned biography. The first response was no ("A most respectful demurring by me for the excellent writer Charles J. Shields, who offered to be my biographer"). Propelled by a passion for his subject, and already deep into his research, Shields wrote again and this time, to his delight, the answer came back: "O.K." For the next year—which ended up being Vonnegut's last—Shields had access to Vonnegut and his letters. After four additional years of research and writing, And So It Goes is "the first truly exacting look into the life of a man who has fascinated so many" ( Esquire).
"An incisive, gossipy page-turner of a biography." —Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"A triumphant biography . . . From his harrowing survival of the Dresden firebombing through forty years of culture clashes and domestic battles, here is the Vonnegut we all thought we knew and the man we never got to see, a writer of searing wit and wisdom, of driving ambition, and perhaps most of all, of aching loneliness." —Jess Walter, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins
"An engaging, surprising and empathetic page-turner." —Deirdre Donahue, USA Today
"Adroit literary analysis that highlights obscure or overlooked influences on Vonnegut . . . . With access to more than 1,500 letters, Shields conducted hundreds of interviews to produce this engrossing, definitive biography." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access And So It Goes by Charles J. Shields in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Literary Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Epigraphs
- Contents
- Prologue: Out of Print and Scared to Death
- 1: You Were an Accident, 1922–1940
- 2: One of the Biggest Fools on the Hill, 1940–1943
- 3: To War in the Bridal Suite, 1943–1945
- 4: Folk Society and the House of Magic, 1945–1947
- 5: Stop Being Such a Hardheaded Realist, 1948–1951
- 6: The Dead Engineer, 1951–1958
- 7: Cooped Up with All These Kids, 1958–1965
- 8: A Community of Writers, 1965–1967
- 9: The Big Ka-BOOM, 1967–1969
- 10: Goodbye and Goodbye and Goodbye, 1969–1971
- 11: Cultural Bureaucrat, 1971–1974
- 12: Ripped Off, 1975–1979
- 13: Looking for Mr. Vonnegut, 1980–1984
- 14: Dear Celebrity, 1984–1991
- 15: Waiting to Die, 1992–2007
- Appendix: Vonnegut-Lieber Family History
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Acknowledgments
- Index
- About the Author
- Also by Charles J. Shields
- Copyright