“Slaughterhouse-Five, one of the world’s great antiwar books, is a tragicomedy that takes us deep into the fires of history and human consciousness. In this story of an American airman who survives a horrific bombing raid over Dresden and has grotesque visions after being taken prisoner by the Germans, Kurt Vonnegut’s universal themes of war as myth; free will versus fate; retrospective knowledge; and redemption are brilliantly brought to bear on a gripping narrative full of comedy and horror.

For all its wild humor, satiric wit, and apocalyptic vision, Vonnegut’s classic is a haunting tale of war. From the author’s horrific experience of the Dresden bombing in World War II to the events after, this narrative is peopled with unforgettable characters; alternate universes that seamlessly weave together with their parallel counterparts, and beautiful quotes that stay with you forever.

A staple of American literature, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is a devastatingly funny and poignant statement on war. Billy Pilgrim, an American soldier in World War II, recounts his life as he is caught up in the infamous firebombing of Dresden, Germany. The first novel to win the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and a personal favorite of Vonnegut, who called it “the best book I ever wrote,” Slaughterhouse-Five provoked controversy when it was first published in 1969 has since become one of the most celebrated works of twentieth-century fiction.

In this groundbreaking work, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s legendary novel is at once funny, frightening, and deeply moving. It is set in a slaughterhouse on the eve of World War I, where Billy Pilgrim, an American prisoner of war, travels back and forth from his experience as a soldier in World War II to earlier memories of his life on the famous Mid-West island where he grew up.

About Slaughterhouse-Five Book

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time, Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous firebombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim’s odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we fear most.

A postmodern classic and one of the best-known books about World War II, Slaughterhouse-Five is a satirical vision of war from a German prisoner. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. tells the riveting story of Billy Pilgrim, whose life takes a surreal turn when he’s taken as a human subject and experimented by scientists on the brink of destruction in WWII Germany.