{"product_id":"9781598531503","title":"Kurt Vonnegut: Novels \u0026 Stories 1950-1962: Player Piano \/ the Sirens of Titan \/ Mother Night \/ Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003eBefore winning international fame with \u003ci\u003eCat’s Cradle \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eSlaughterhouse-Five\u003c\/i\u003e, Kurt Vonnegut was a master of the drugstore paperback and the popular short story. This authoritative collection of his brilliant early work opens with \u003ci\u003ePlayer Piano\u003c\/i\u003e (1952), a \u003ci\u003eMetropolis\u003c\/i\u003e-like parable of breakneck technological innovation and its effect on those it robs of their livelihoods. \u003ci\u003eThe Sirens of Titan \u003c\/i\u003e(1959), the interplanetary adventures of the world’s wealthiest and most despised man, is both a pulp-fiction space opera and a satire on the vanity of human striving. The confessions of a German-American double agent well placed among the Nazi elite, \u003ci\u003eMother Night \u003c\/i\u003e(1962) is a cautionary tale with a famous moral: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” Here too are six of Vonnegut’s best short stories, gems that display his matchless talent for hilarious invention and caustic social criticism.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA companion volume, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKurt Vonnegut: Novels \u0026amp; Stories 1963–1973\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, collects \u003ci\u003eCat’s Cradle\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eGod Bless You, Mr. Rosewater\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eSlaughterhouse-Five\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eBreakfast of Champions\u003c\/i\u003e; and three short stories, including “Welcometo the Monkey House.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Library of America","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47049070379248,"sku":"9781598531503","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781598531503_p0.jpg?v=1763812910","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781598531503","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}