Kurt Vonnegut: unpublished work released through Kindle
A Vonnegut novella titled 'Basic Training,' about a young man visiting an eccentric relative, is available through Kindle only.
Writer Kurt Vonnegut was still working at General Electric in the company's publicity department when he tried to sell 'Basic Training.'
Buzz Orr/AP
A never-before-seen work by Kurt Vonnegut was published last week by Rosetta Books to be sold exclusively through the Amazon Kindle store.
The novella, titled “Basic Training,” is said to be autobiographical and centers on protagonist Haley Brandon, who visits a relative known as the General who is determined to win Haley over to his perception of American values.
“Basic Training” was rejected by the publications “The Saturday Evening Post” and “McCalls” when Vonnegut shopped his work around in the 1940s. He was still working at the publicity department of General Electric at the time and was not yet well-known as a writer.
The book is being published as a Kindle Single and is available for purchase for $1.99.
Molly Driscoll is a Monitor contributor.