Slaughterhouse-Five: or, The Children's Crusade by Vonnegut, Kurt - 1969

New York: Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence, 1969 First edition, first printing. Signed by Vonnegut with self-caricature. Publisher's bright blue cloth, lettered in red and gold, black endpapers; in the original dust jacket designed by Paul Bacon, stamped in black, red and bright blue, photograph of Vonnegut by Bossi to the rear panel. Near fine, spine lightly rubbed with minor fading; in a like unclipped and lightly toned jacket. A very attractive copy and desirable copy with author's caricature. Pieratt and Klinkowitz AH1. Perhaps Vonnegut's best known novel, Slaughterhouse-Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim's experience as an American soldier in Europe during World War II. The plot centers on the Allied bombing of Dresden, Germany, in 1945, an event Vonnegut experienced himself during the war. A combination of historic and science fiction, Slaughterhouse-Five also features the fictional planet Tralfamadore, where Pilgrim, a man who is "unstuck in time" and involuntarily traveling between time and space, is taken captive after his daughter's wedding. As the The New York Times wrote in its 1969 review, "It sounds crazy. It sounds like a fantastic last-ditch effort to make sense of a lunatic universe. But there is so much more to this book. It is very tough and very funny; it is sad and delightful; and it works.". Signed by Author. First Edition.. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Dust Jacket Included.