Showing results by author "Kurt Vonnegut" in All Categories

Dive into the thought-provoking world of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., a master of satire, black comedy, and science fiction. In 2 B R 0 2 B, he presents a chilling vision of a future where aging has been eradicated and the government strictly controls population through a darkly humorous lens. This satirical short story explores the implications of a society that mandates death to maintain balance. Join us for a dramatic reading featuring a talented cast Denny Sayers as the Narrator, Mark F. Smith as the Hospital Orderly, Alan Davis-Drake as the Painter, Laurie Anne Walden as Leora Duncan, Michael Yard...

Als Winston Niles Rumfoord sein Raumschiff in ein chrono-synklastisches Infidibulum flog, wurde er in pure Energie verwandelt. Er wird nur dann wieder stofflich, wenn seine Energiewelle einen Planeten kreuzt – also materialisiert er sich alle 59 Tage in seiner Heimat Newport, Rhode Island, und das auch nur für eine Stunde. Aber immerhin weiß er jetzt alles über alles, was je geschehen ist und je geschehen wird.

Kurt Vonnegut creates a near-perfect world. There are no prisons, no slums, no insane asylums, no cripples, no poverty, and no wars. All diseases were conquered. So is old age. Death, barring accidents, was an adventure for volunteers. The population of the United States is stabilized at forty-million souls. Have a problem? Not really, just call the Federal Bureau of Termination. Nothing to it. Just pick up the phone and call 2BR02B. Thus the title, "To be or not to be".

In 2022, acclaimed American author, Kurt Vonnegut, turns 100 years old. From the Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library, The Vonnecast explores the ways Vonnegut’s legacy has shaped the lives of others and continues to make souls grow.

Three disparate and suspenseful looks at ourselves in three very different worlds. These engaging short stories by three of the masters of American science fiction literature, Isaac Asimov, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Philip K. Dick, open windows into our psyches, our souls, and our surroundings that presage the world we find ourselves in today. Like episodes of The Twilight Zone, cinematic in their language and characters, the stories connect with our times in surprising ways.

In the not-too-distant future, 2185 AD, anti-gerisone is the new drug that stops ageing. People are now living into their hundreds until it's time to take their own big trip up yonder, and in the case of the Ford family and Gramps, the notable patriarch, families are living and fighting together in one home for much longer. Eventually there are no prisons, slums, asylums, poverty, wars, or disease. and 200 years later the population of the US is set at 40 million people. But since no one gets any older, someone must volunteer to die if a baby is born.

"2 B R 0 2 B" (pronounced: to be or not to be), was first published in 1962, and introduces the listener to a future where old age has been cured, population control has been implemented to keep the United States population at exactly 40 million, and death is voluntary. "The Big Trip Up Yonder" was published in 1954, and is similarly themed (old age has been cured), but in opposite. This story follows the Ford family who has 23 members spanning several generations all living together in a small one bedroom apartment under the tyrannical head of the family, "Gramps".

What if there were a product that taken daily and barring an untimely accident or murder allowed one to live indefinitely? In Kurt Vonnegut Jr's fanciful tale, that is just what happens. At first the miracle product Anti-gerasone seems like a blessing. But what if the population keeps breeding? How to make room for the new ones. And then there is the problem of the curmudgeon who doesn't get the stuff until he's in his late 70s becomes head of the family and is still going strong 104 years later.

Let yourself be swept away by these classic tales of hope and courage!!

- Classic tales (short stories and poems) of hope and courage from the 19th and 20th centuries

Annotated for modern listeners

The third entry in the Classic Tales series, joining "Classic Tales of Horror" and "Classic Tales of Christmas"

For adventure fans of all ages, these stories are guaranteed to intrigue, delight, and sometimes take you by surprise!

Billy Pilgrim, amerikanischer Veteran des Zweiten Weltkriegs, überlebte 1945 den "Feuersturm" auf Dresden als Gefangener im "Schlachthof 5". Nach dem Krieg lebt er mit seiner Frau und seinen zwei Kindern in Ilium, New York. Doch dann geht sein Sohn nach Vietnam - und Pilgrim selbst wird auf überraschende Weise zum "Pilger zwischen den Zeiten". Kurt Vonnegut, Zeuge des "größten Massakers in der Geschichte Europas", verarbeitete sein Trauma in diesem Roman, der zum Kultbuch der Anti-Vietnam-Generation wurde.

Experience Kurt Vonnegut's gripping dystopian masterpiece, "2 B R 0 2 B," in this immersive audiobook adaptation. Set in a chilling future where population control is strictly enforced, those who wish to live must find a volunteer to die. A thought-provoking tale of sacrifice, bureaucracy, and the cost of utopia, this short story captures Vonnegut's signature dark humor and sharp social commentary.

Kurt Vonnegut (November 11, 1922-April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels, including his most famous, Slaughterhouse-Five, published in 1969. His works include fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction pieces. In the following May 1994 recording, Vonnegut addresses the graduating class of Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.

This darkly humorous short story transports listeners to an overcrowded future where anti-aging drugs have created a society where nobody dies and multiple generations are forced to cohabitate. Follow the dysfunctional Ford family as they navigate life under the iron rule of 172-year-old Gramps, whose possession of the family apartment gives him absolute power. When young Lou plots to overthrow the family hierarchy, chaos ensues.