Steven Godin's Reviews > Welcome to the Monkey House

Twenty-five short stories from the 50s and 60s of which I'd say more than two-thirds were top-notch. Some of my faves were - Who I am This Time?, Welcome to the Monkey House, Miss Temptation, More Stately Mansions, All the King's Horses, Go Back to your Precious Wife and Son, & The Manned Missiles. Nothing overly complex about these stories, told in a nice crisp accessible prose, with such a diverse range of themes throughout; from war to contemporary settings of house makeovers, the theatre, bathroom salesman, charmed love, juvenile delinquents, and private schools; to sci-fi stories of anti-aging potions, games of human chess, ethical birth Control pills, and air force pilots rocketed to space. And, of course, it wouldn't be Vonnegut without a big dollop of his brilliant slick satire. This was my ninth book of his, and I'd put it in my top three - for now anyway. Also worth saying, there are writers who I don't think much of as human beings but I still love their work, whereas with KVJ he was absolutely one of the good guys you'd so want to be pals with.