{"product_id":"the-writers-crusade-kurt-vonnegut-and-the-many-lives-of-slaughterhouse-five-9781419744891","title":"The Writer's Crusade: Kurt Vonnegut and the Many Lives of Slaughterhouse-Five","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJournalist Tom Roston's \u003ci\u003eThe Writer's Crusade\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of Kurt Vonnegut and \u003ci\u003eSlaughterhouse-Five\u003c\/i\u003e, an enduring masterpiece on trauma and memory.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A book about time; or, put another way, a book about how Pilgrim (and Vonnegut) became unstuck in time and how this 'unsticking' created \u003ci\u003eSlaughterhouse-Five\u003c\/i\u003e . . . Roston [casts] himself as part literary scholar and part psychoanalytic sleuth.\" --\u003ci\u003eWashington Post \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Kurt Vonnegut was 20 years old when he enlisted in the United States Army. Less than two years later, he was captured by the Germans in the single deadliest US engagement of the war, the Battle of the Bulge. He was taken to a POW camp, then transferred to a work camp near Dresden, and held in a slaughterhouse called Schlachthof Fünf where he survived the horrific firebombing that killed thousands and destroyed the city. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e To the millions of fans of Vonnegut's great novel \u003ci\u003eSlaughterhouse-Five, \u003c\/i\u003ethese details are familiar. They're told by the book's author\/narrator and experienced by his enduring character Billy Pilgrim, a war veteran who \"has come unstuck in time.\" Writing during the tumultuous days of the Vietnam conflict, with the novel, Vonnegut had, after more than two decades of struggle, taken trauma and created a work of art, one that still resonates today. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Writer's Crusade, \u003c\/i\u003eauthor Tom Roston examines the connection between Vonnegut's life and \u003ci\u003eSlaughterhouse-Five\u003c\/i\u003e. Did Vonnegut suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? Did Billy Pilgrim? Roston probes Vonnegut's work, his personal history, and discarded drafts of the novel, as well as original interviews with the writer's family, friends, scholars, psychologists, and other novelists including Karl Marlantes, Kevin Powers, and Tim O'Brien. \u003ci\u003eThe Writer's Crusade\u003c\/i\u003e is a literary and biographical journey that asks fundamental questions about trauma, creativity, and the power of storytelling. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJournalist \u003cb\u003eTom Roston\u003c\/b\u003e worked at \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eVanity Fair\u003c\/i\u003e and was a senior editor at \u003ci\u003ePremiere\u003c\/i\u003e for more than a decade. His work has appeared in the\u003ci\u003e New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNew York\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, LitHub, and more. He is the author of two previous books, \u003ci\u003eI Lost It at the Video Store: A Filmmaker's Oral History of a Vanished Era\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Brooklyn.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Harry N. Abrams","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50445076594962,"sku":"9781419744891","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_6a58e58a-dffd-4b88-9ccb-53ebf6053ad9.jpg?v=1729695169","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-writers-crusade-kurt-vonnegut-and-the-many-lives-of-slaughterhouse-five-9781419744891","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}