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Also by Charles J. Shields:

Lorraine Hansberry, January 2022
Hardcover / e-Book
And So It Goes, November 2011
Hardcover / e-Book
Mockingbird, May 2006
Hardcover

AND SO IT GOES
By: Charles J. Shields

Kurt Vonnegut: A Life

Henry Holt & Company
November 2011
On Sale: November 8, 2011
528 pages
ISBN: 0805086935
EAN: 9780805086935
Kindle: B0051O9Y6G
Hardcover / e-Book
Add to Wish List

Non-Fiction Biography

The first authoritative biography of Kurt Vonnegut Jr., a writer who changed the conversation of American literature

In 2006, Charles Shields reached out to Kurt Vonnegut in a letter, asking for his endorsement for a planned biography. The first response was no ("A most respectful demurring by me for the excellent writer Charles J. Shields, who offered to be my biographer"). Unwilling to take no for an answer, propelled by a passion for his subject, and already deep into his research, Shields wrote again and this time, to his delight, the answer came back: "O.K." For the next year—a year that ended up being Vonnegut's last—Shields had access to Vonnegut and his letters.

And So It Goes is the culmination of five years of research and writing—the first-ever biography of the life of Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut resonates with readers of all generations from the baby boomers who grew up with him to high-school and college students who are discovering his work for the first time. Vonnegut's concise collection of personal essays, Man Without a Country, published in 2006, spent fifteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and has sold more than 300,000 copies to date. The twenty-first century has seen interest in and scholarship about Vonnegut's works grow even stronger, and this is the first book to examine in full the life of one of the most influential iconoclasts of his time.

Media Buzz

All Things Considered - November 19, 2011