Look at the Birdie by Kurt Vonnegut

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Date: October 20, 2009

Just like every other Vonnegut enthusiast out there, I was a little wary when two years after his death, it was announced that Look at the Birdie, a collection of  14 unpublished short stories would be published. I really didn’t want this book to suck.

So I was lucky that this book was classic Vonnegut. Most of the stories were written in his younger days as a writer and it shows. There seemed to me to be more Player Piano-type writing in this collection than any other of his books. I’ve said this before on here and I’ll say it again, there is no other writer that makes me feel simultaneously utterly ashamed, but also very proud of being a human. These stories follow familiar Vonnegut paths - good can conquer evil, and seemingly zany tales can spin into deeply profound lessons in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately this book is also a reminder that Vonnegut is no longer with us. Selfishly, I think of the few times I will reach out for a book of his that I have not read before. This number is dwindling into the low single digits now, but I am certainly glad this book was published and any fan of his would be wise to pick this up someday.