It's interesting you mentioned that you outgrew Vonnegut.  To a degree, I also felt that I outgrew Vonnegut.  I guess I just associate his books so strongly with that period of my life.  But, like you, I still have all of his books...and always will.   

Mark


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "M. Madler" <mrmadler@mc.net>
> Mark Eichelberger wrote:
> \The first thing I heard when I woke up this morning was the news of his 
> death. Kurt Vonnegut's writing had an enormous impact during my teens 
> and early twenties. The darkness of his humor was something I could 
> really relate to during those years.
> So it goes, indeed.
> 
> ***My late teens to mid-20s can be described as my Vonnegut period as 
> well, which I then later outgrew although I hung on to my paperback 
> copies of his books for years.
> One of my favorite passages from "Slaughterhouse Five" was when Vonnegut 
> described his time working as a police reporter at the old City News 
> Bureau in Chicago.
> My first full time reporting job was at City News, so I knew that he had 
> gotten it right.
> 
> 
> 
> 
>