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|summary=A collection of all kinds of letters by the Amarican writer Kurt Vonnegut, whose works of fiction are often categorised as science fiction.

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This collection, edited by writer and journalist Dan Wakefield, one of Vonnegut’s good friends, is partitioned into chapters according to the decade in which the individual letters were written. The chapters are initiated with summaries of key events in Kurt’s life. One learns about how his father urged him to take less 'frivolous courses' at Cornell, as a consequence of the relatively recent Great Depression having hit the Vonnegut household rather hard. As time moves on, his various ventures (including inventing games, and establishing a SAAB dealership) are assumed and dropped, as he affixes himself more and more on the scene of impactful American writers.

In answering his brother’s question about why people need to know something about an artist’s life before even bothering to gain a more comprehensive appreciation, Vonnegut offered a written explanation, stating that artists need to be known about, at least a bit, as their work is ultimately part of conversations with people they hope to reach. Job applications, fierce objections and words of encouragement to friends and family make up a volume that, in my opinion, does a better job than a biography might at allowing me to get to know Vonnegut.

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