What Mark Twain was to the 19th century, Kurt Vonnegut was to the 20th. Both are among the finest examples of the American Satirists. He was, and is, a beloved fixture of American literature. When Vonnegut died in 2007, members of the Alplaus Volunteer Fire Department in New York lowered the flag to half mast, hung the funeral shroud, and rang a fire bell in accordance with the traditional 5-5-5 alarm used to honor fallen brothers.
Slaughterhouse-Five is a satirical 1969 work about a WWII soldier’s journey through time. Ranked the 18th greatest English novel of the 20th century by Modern Library, it is by far Vonnegut’s most influential and popular work.
But there’s another list it graces.
Slaughterhouse-Five is 46th on the ALA’s 100 Most Banned Books of 2000-2009 (Up from #67 for 1990-1999 and #29 for the most banned classics).
Why all the fuss over a time-traveling WWII yarn that involves alien abduction?
Read on and Share the Knowledge:
http://bbark.deepforestproductions.com/column/2011/08/07/banned-books-awareness-slaughterhousefive/
**UPDATE TO THIS STORY: The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library announced on Thursday that it will be giving away 150 free copies of Slaughterhouse Five to interested students from Republic, Missouri’s high school.
According to a link on the website’s main page: “We think it’s important for everyone to have their First Amendment rights. We’re not telling you to like the book… we just want you to read it and decide for yourself.”
Please visit the following link for more information: http://www.vonnegutlibrary.org/