Vonnegut Jr., Kurt

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Reads Cat's Cradle

New York, NY, USA: Caedmon Recordings, 1973. First Edition. “Perhaps, when we remember wars, we should take off our clothes and paint ourselves blue and go on all fours all day long and grunt like pigs. That would surely be more appropriate than noble oratory and shows of flags and well-oiled guns.”—Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Cat’s Cradle. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922-2007), was an American novelist who was known for his masterful blending of satire, science-fiction, dark humor, and black comedy. Vonnegut’s works include masterpieces like: Player Piano (1952); The Sirens of Titan (1959); Mother Night (1962); Slaughterhouse-Five (1969); Jailbird (1979); and Bluebeard (1987) just to name a few. Offered today is the 1973 vinyl record Kurt Vonnegut Jr. reads Cat’s Cradle. Originally published in 1963, Cat's Cradle is told with deadpan humour and bitter irony. Kurt Vonnegut reads excerpts and highlights of his cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it. Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding 'fathers' of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he's the inventor of 'ice-nine', a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. The search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three eccentric children, to a crazed dictator in the Caribbean, to madness. Felix Hoenikker's Death Wish comes true when his last, fatal gift to humankind brings about the end, that for all of us, is nigh. From the back of the LP sleeve Issac Asimov (1920-1992) legendary science-fiction author writes about Vonnegut: “Kurt Vonnegut is the heir of a long and honorable tradition. For one thing, he is a science fiction writer in that he writes of societies different from ours, of technological capacities we don't yet have, of universes whose rules are other than those of ours. In its broad sense, that goes back a long way. In the time of the Roman Empire, Lucius Apuleius wrote romances dealing with flights to the Moon. In the 4th Century B.C. Plato wrote of the strange society of legendary Atlantis. In the 9th Century B.C., Homer sent his hero, Odysseus, through a misty sea filled with monsters and witches. All of this can be considered science fiction in the broad sense. Kurt Vonnegut is also a satirist, a keen observer of the follies of mankind and of the hypocrisies of its leaders. This, too, goes back a long way. What was the ancient Greek fable-teller, Aesop, for instance, if not a satirist? His brief fables dealt with animals supposedly; with lions, foxes and asses; but surely that was only a way of getting people to listen and be entertained and then, only later, feel the barb Aesop had pointed at them.” Ultimately, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. reads Cat’s Cradle is not only a unique rarity from one of the finest writers of the 20th century, but also is an iconic LP of the great writer himself reading his iconic work. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who managed the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England with Bill Butler (1934-1977, the famed American-expatriate bookseller & publisher). From the late 1960s through the early 1970s, Unicorn proffered & published many outstanding productions by WSB, J.G. Ballard et al., some of which have become the scarcest, all-but-unobtainable Beat-&-Beyond collectibles (see an example with our item no. 8217). After prevailing against censorious harassment efforts, Unicorn closed & Butler died in short order. Cupidi went on to found the Public House Bookshop in Brighton, which had a long & successful run but is also now closed, & he still resides there. We have been honored to obtain what Cupidi has termed "The Last Hurrah," all the remaining treasures of Unicorn & Public House, some of which have become the stuff of myth. Vinyl LP (12”) still sealed in plastic wrap: first edition. Record in presumably as new condition; sleeve in relatively fine-very fine condition with minor wear to fine edges, moderate spotting/staining to front and back, and slight discoloration due to age-toning. As New / Fine-Very Fine. [Item #8267]

Price: $300.00