Hocus Pocus

Alex Schmidt and Michael Swaim, the original Kurt Vonneguys, are back to break down the new nonfiction book 'The Writer's Crusade: Kurt Vonnegut and the Many Lives of Slaughterhouse-Five'! If this isn't nice, what is? The book is written by Tom Roston, and published by Abrams Books: https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/writers-crusade_9781419744891/ Vonneguys news: this is our last episode of this new run. Thank you all so much for re-forming this karass for another round of Vonne-joy. Enjoy Michael's new show 'Like Razorblade Pie' at Small Beans: https://www.patreon.com/SmallBeans Enjoy Alex's show 'Secretly Incredibly Fascinating': https://linktr.ee/sifpod SEGMENTS: Franken-Time (00:02:35) Summary Time (00:13:10) The Meat (00:36:15) Tom Rosto-grades (01:07:25) Related Reading (01:10:30) Vonnegut News (01:17:35) LINKS for Related Reading: 'The Things They Carried' by Tim O'Brien: https://www.arts.gov/initiatives/nea-big-read/things-they-carried "Ahab’s gift: Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and the meaning of pain" by Xi Chen: https://hekint.org/2020/06/23/ahabs-gift-herman-melvilles-moby-dick-and-the-meaning-of-pain/ The Autobiography Of Mark Twain: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520267190/autobiography-of-mark-twain-volume-1 LINKS for background about this book: 'Kurt Vonnegut: Letters', edited by Dan Wakefield: https://bookshop.org/books/kurt-vonnegut-letters/9780385343763 Tom Roston's website: https://tomroston.com/ 'The Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World: The Twin Towers, Windows on the World, and the Rebirth of New York' by Tom Roston: https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/most-spectacular-restaurant-in-the-world_9781419737992/ 'I Lost it at the Video Store: A Filmmakers' Oral History of a Vanished Era' by Tom Roston: https://books.google.com/books/about/I_Lost_it_at_the_Video_Store.html?id=TpzmsgEACAAJ Review from Kirkus Reviews: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-roston/the-writers-crusade/ Review from Publishers Weekly: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4197-4489-1 Full spreadsheet of Alex & Michael's "Vonnegrades" plus other grades: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1F2juhwV4ia1MzdQC8krE0yiV9e7rdrpkbMguGL037uo/edit?usp=sharing Homepage for the Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library: http://kvml.org/ Their next annual 'Night Of Vonnegut' is April 10th, 2022. Kurt Vonnegut's 100th birthday would've been November 11th, 2022.

Alex Schmidt and Michael Swaim, the original Kurt Vonneguys, are back to break down the new documentary 'Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time'! If this isn't nice, what is? The documentary is by co-directors Robert B. Weide and Don Argott. Here's its website and how to watch: https://www.vonnegutmovie.com/ Vonneguys news: we're still returning once more, in 2022, for an episode about 'The Writer's Crusade' by Tom Roston. Find out more about that book here: www.abramsbooks.com/product/writers…_9781419744891/ SEGMENTS: Franken-Time (00:02:15) Summary Time (00:26:00) Highlight Reel (00:37:57) Vonne-MEH (00:56:30) The Meat (01:03:55) Robert B. Weide-grades (01:17:15) Related Reading (01:22:45) Vonnegut News (01:35:07) LINKS for Related Reading: 'Life Itself' documentary: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2382298/ 'Meeting People Is Easy' documentary: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0195909/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 'Too Funny To Fail' documentary, streaming on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/movie/too-funny-to-fail-the-life-death-of-the-dana-carvey-show-c6c29995-0c40-4442-aed6-156bd11e2d9e 'The Brothers Vonnegut' by Ginger Strand: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374536534 'The Century Of The Self' documentary series: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432232/ LINKS for background about this documentary: Library Of America interview with Robert B. Weide: https://www.loa.org/news-and-views/1917-kurt-vonnegut-at-100-with-robert-weide transcript of the "Why a duck?" scene in 'The Cocoanuts' (1929): https://www.marx-brothers.org/whyaduck/info/movies/scenes/whyaduck.htm IMDb listings for Robert B. Weide: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004332/?ref_=tt_ov_wr IMDB listings for Don Argott: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0034531/?ref_=tt_ov_dr 'Kurt Vonnegut: Letters', edited by Dan Wakefield: https://bookshop.org/books/kurt-vonnegut-letters/9780385343763 'The Brothers Vonnegut' by Ginger Strand: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374536534 Review from RogerEbert.com: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/kurt-vonnegut-unstuck-in-time-movie-review-2021 Review from Variety: https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/kurt-vonnegut-unstuck-in-time-review-robert-b-weide-1235115093/ Review from NPR: https://www.npr.org/2021/11/17/1056477983/kurt-vonnegut-unstuck-in-time-remains-faithful-to-the-authors-spirit Review from the Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-11-18/review-kurt-vonnegut-unstuck-in-time-robert-b-weide-don-argott

Alex Schmidt and Michael Swaim, the original Kurt Vonneguys, are back to break down the new 'Slaughterhouse-Five' graphic novel! If this isn't nice, what is? The graphic novel is by writer Ryan North and artist Albert Monteys. Publisher page: https://shop.boom-studios.com/collections/slaughterhouse-five Also here's a link to a *VIDEO VERSION* of this podcast episode (it's the same audio, plus some photos of what we're talking about): https://youtu.be/5BghQzkY0iE Vonneguys news: we're returning once more, in 2022, for a new episode about 'The Writer's Crusade' by Tom Roston. Find out more about that book here: https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/writers-crusade_9781419744891/ SEGMENTS: Franken-Time (00:03:55) Plot Time (00:24:55) Kurt Blurt Redux (00:43:45) Recurring Characters Redux (00:51:45) Kurt Cameo Redux (00:58:05) VonneWHAT Redux (01:00:30) The Meat (01:04:20) Ryan North and Albert Monteys-grades (01:17:25) Related Reading (01:21:25) Vonnegut News (01:26:00) LINKS for Related Reading: 'Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth' by Chris Ware: https://bookshop.org/books/jimmy-corrigan-the-smartest-kid-on-earth/9780375714542 'Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards' by Jim Ottaviani and Big Time Attic: https://bookshop.org/books/bone-sharps-cowboys-and-thunder-lizards/9780966010664 Quote from Tennessee Williams: https://www.themarginalian.org/2018/07/30/tennessee-williams-love/ 'Synedcoche, New York' (2008 movie): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383028/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 LINKS for background about this graphic novel: ComicsBeat.com interview with Ryan North: https://www.comicsbeat.com/interview-adapting-slaughterhouse-five-with-ryan-north/ Publisher interview with Ryan North and Albert Monteys: https://youtu.be/BU5xv4AhoCc Article about Albert Monteys leaving 'El Jueves' over censorship: https://www.thelocal.es/20140606/spanish-comic-censored-jueves-king-joke/ Image Comics page for the 'Solid State' graphic novel by Jonathan Coulton, Matt Fraction, and Albert Monteys: https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/solid-state Vox.com article citing new Dresden statistics: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/3/31/18287062/slaughterhouse-five-50th-anniversary-kurt-vonnegut January 2018 'Dinosaur Comics' strip that quotes 'Slaughterhouse-Five': https://qwantz.com/index.php?comic=3236 August 2021 news from Deadline.com on Noah Hawley's adaptation of 'Cat's Cradle': https://deadline.com/2021/08/noah-hawley-cats-cradle-not-moving-forward-at-fx-tca-1234814354/ Review from The AV Club: https://www.avclub.com/slaughterhouse-five-is-a-near-flawless-adaptation-that-1845419158 Review from Polygon: https://www.polygon.com/comics/2020/9/15/21438090/slaughterhouse-five-comic-graphic-novel-kurt-vonnegut-ryan-north-albert-monteys Review from MonkeysFightingRobots.co: https://monkeysfightingrobots.co/review-slaughterhouse-five-is-a-perfect-graphic-novel-adaptation/ LINK to a Google Sheet with all of Alex and Michael's past Vonnegrades: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1F2juhwV4ia1MzdQC8krE0yiV9e7rdrpkbMguGL037uo/edit?usp=sharing

Franken-Time (00:01:20) Essay Time (00:04:25) VonneART (00:05:10) Ad Time (00:40:25) Kurt Blurt (00:54:05) Recurring Characters Update (01:09:40) Kurt Cameo (01:09:55) VonneWHAT (01:10:15) The Meat (01:13:25) VonneGRADES (01:18:45) Related Reading (01:21:25) Vonnegut News (01:26:25)

Cosmologut (0:00:50) Vonne-Interviews (0:07:00) Kurt Vonnegut reading Mary Ainsworth interview (0:14:45) Vognettes (0:26:05) Kurt Blurt (0:59:50) Recurring Characters Update (1:05:50) Kurt Cameo (1:06:00) VonneWHAT (1:06:45) The Meat (1:09:00) VonneGRADES (1:15:45) Related Reading (1:17:20)

Franken-Time (00:01:10) Intro Time (00:08:15) Creative Writing 101 (00:13:45) Story Time (00:20:45) Coda Time (01:30:45) Kurt Blurt (01:40:35) Recurring Characters Update (01:41:05) VonneWHAT (01:42:40 VonneGRADES (01:46:45) Related Reading (01:51:10)

Plot Time (00:01:00) Kurt Blurt (00:26:30) Recurring Characters Update (01:15:20) Kurt Cameo (01:16:50) VonneART(01:18:30) Vonne-Amendments (01:23:00) VonneWHAT (01:28:10) The Meat (01:59:40) VonneGRADES (02:11:20) Related Reading (02:15:15)

Franken-Time (00:01:15) Story Time (00:08:15) Kurt Blurt (01:19:05) VonneWHAT (01:37:15) The Meat (01:48:45) VonneGRADES (01:50:00) Related Reading (01:53:00) Vonnegut News (02:00:10)

Plot Time (00:02:00) VonneART (00:09:30) VonneMATH (00:51:25) Kurt Blurt (00:55:30) Kurt Cameo (01:16:10) Recurring Characters Update (01:17:30) The Meat (01:20:00) VonneWHAT (01:28:45) VonneGRADES (01:40:30) Related Reading (01:45:25) Vonnegut News (01:53:50)

Plot Time (00:00:50) Kurt Blurt (00:50:30) Recurring Characters Update (1:28:20) Kurt Cameo (1:30:00) VonneWHAT (1:31:15) The Meat (2:04:15) Vonnegrades (2:20:30) Movie Time (2:24:00) Related Reading (02:32:00) Vonnegut News (02:45:00) Related Reading: Inside Llewyn Davis (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen): http://amzn.to/2ydCHJw The Hudsucker Proxy (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen): http://amzn.to/2wvP8hD Mad Men: The Gold Violin (Season 2, Episode 7): https://goo.gl/by3aY9 A Doll's House (Henrik Ibsen): http://amzn.to/2xGX1pm The Homecoming (Harold Pinter): http://amzn.to/2x8ZebV Amsterdam (Ian McEwan): http://amzn.to/2x5rH0D They're Made Of Meat (Terry Bisson): https://goo.gl/9KFq The Drone King (Kurt Vonnegut): https://goo.gl/2J5g9U