Adapted for a magnificent George Roy Hill film three years later (perhaps the only film adaptation of a masterpiece which exceeds its source), Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) is the now famous parable of Billy Pilgrim, a World War II veteran and POW, who has in the later stage of his life become "unstuck in time" and who experiences at will (or unwillingly) all known events of his chronology out of order and sometimes simultaneously.

Traumatized

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An authorized portrait of the influential twentieth-century American writer draws on first-person accounts and Vonnegut's private letters while offering insight into his youth, the inspirations for his work, and his enduring literary impact. Kurt Vonnegut remains one of the most influential, controversial, and popular novelists of the twentieth century. While millions know him as a counterculture guru, antiwar activist, and satirist of American culture,...

William Faulkner was a literary genius, and one of America's most important and influential writers. Drawing on previously unavailable sources -- including letters, memoirs, and interviews with Faulkner's daughter and lovers -- Jay Parini has crafted a biography that delves into the mystery of this gifted and troubled writer. His Faulkner is an extremely talented, obsessive artist plagued by alcoholism and a bad marriage who somehow transcends his...

Essays on nineteenth-century American fiction writers that suggest a depth and richness marked by both national expansion and regional division. Includes coverage of neglected writers, marking the first meaningful assessment of their lives and roles in the literary and cultural history of the United States. Contains discussions of two genres, the detective story and the supernatural tale.