This collection of stories were written in the 1950's ..long before Kurt Vonnegut became one of our country's finest satirists or writers of black humor. The stories cover a wide range of subjects and sometimes lack the tremendous sidesplitting insight one expects when they sit down to read one of Vonnegut's novels. Therin lies a key point...these stories were written as a quick source of income to help Vonnegut be able to pay for his later novels that are so great. Having said that, the stories here which range from science fiction to domestic dilemmas are enjoyable and sometimes thought provoking stories. Some of the characters are quite memorable such as the music obsessed high school band director George M. Hemholtz who shows up in a number of the stories here. Some of the better stories here include A Present For Big Saint Nick, The No-Talent Kid, Souvenir, Lovers Anonymous, and 2BR02B but each of them offers a few little nuggets or something to make them enjoyable. Considering these stories were written so long ago, many have held up very well. This might not be CLASSIC Vonnegut, but you can pull hints of it out of Vonnegut's Bagombo Snuff Box and if you are a die-hard Vonnegut Fan this one will be too much to pass up!

This book offers an entertaining set of Vonnegut's previously uncollected short stories, most of which were written in the 1950s and early 1960s. While the quality of the tales is not as good as those in his previously published Welcome to the Monkey House, anybody who is a fan of Vonnegut's work, or even someone who simply likes good stories, will enjoy this book.

Yet like all good fiction, Vonnegut's work is as valuable for its insights as for its ability to entertain. While the stories collected here are in a variety of genres, one theme does emerge from them - the hunger for distinction. From the title story to "The Package", "The Powder-Blue Dragon" to "Runaways," many of the stories are about people seeking something that distinguishes them from the rest of their world, usually somthing that is artificial or external to who they are. That these searches usually end in folly for the characters appears to illustrate Vonnegut's point - it is who we are as people that matters, not the trinkets we buy or the poses we adopt. Though hardly radical today, it is a point that offers an interesting contrast to the consumer-driven age that spawned such tales.

There is a definite reason where the introduction bewares of this being Pre Vonnegutan days. There's the beginning of a master, some twists but that's all. Vonnegut is best known for his quirky, cynical twist on society. If anything in a lot of these stories he supports it. Especially when in "Lovers Anonymous" when he went on about magic markers and report cards, (you have to read it in order to know what I'm talking about.)

The only KV I've read is "Cat's Cradle" and that was 30 years ago. I noticed that my divine and discerning elder daughter carrying round various Vonnegut volumes so, ..., I snapped it up.

The contents are short stories from mainly the fifties that Vonnegut got published in various magazines of the day. The stories read like typical Vonnegut, though in short format, you can tell Vonnegut focuses more on characters than on plot. I found it enjoyable. My one critique is that many of the stories were very very similar. As if he published one in Cosmo, and they called him and said "we like that! give us more as close to that as possible!"