Before winning international fame with Cat8217s Cradle and SlaughterhouseFive, Kurt Vonnegut was a master of the drugstore paperback and the popular short story This authoritative collection of his brilliant early work opens with Player Piano (1952), a Metropolislike parable of breakneck technological innovation and its effect on those it robs of their livelihoods The Sirens of Titan (1959), the interplanetary adventures of the world8217s wealthiest and most despised man, is both a pulpfiction space opera and a satire on the vanity of human striving The confessions of a GermanAmerican double agent well placed among the Nazi elite, Mother Night (1962) is a cautionary tale with a famous moral: 8220We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be 8221 Here too are six of Vonnegut8217s best short stories, gems that display his matchless talent for hilarious invention and caustic social criticism A companion volume, Kurt Vonnegut: Novels Stories 196382111973, collects Cat8217s Cradle God Bless You, Mr Rosewater SlaughterhouseFive Breakfast of Champions and three short stories, including 8220Welcome to the Monkey House 8221LIBRARY OF AMERICAis an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation8217s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America8217s best and most significant writing The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acidfree paper that will last for centuries