Jailbird

by Kurt Vonnegut

Hardcover, 1979

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Genres

Collection

Your library

Publication

Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence (1979), Edition: 1st, Hardcover, 246 pages

Description

This wry tale follows bumbling bureaucrat Walter F. Starbuck from Harvard to the Nixon White House to the penitentiary as Watergate's least known co-conspirator.

Media reviews

The Indexer

Jailbird is KV's surrealistic yet stunningly pertinent account of the part he played, under the alias of Walter F. Starbuck, as the least significant—and hitherto entirely unknown—conspirator in the villainies of Watergate. No, it isn't. It's a love-affair with language and ideas.

User reviews

LibraryThing member figre

There is a tendency, in some instances, when one is reading a Kurt Vonnegut novel, to feel that one has already read that novel. And I started with that sense while reading Jailbird. He makes it seem so easy. He makes it seem so smooth. He makes it seem like you have read this before. And, with

this tale, you may think you have, indeed, read all this before. In a way, the book feels as though Vonnegut is just taking the themes of Slaughterhouse V and Cat’s Cradle and, gosh, since they worked so well before, let’s try them again. Hints of Bokononism proliferate, and the Second World War shows up again. And, as I have already stated, Vonnegut makes it all seem so easy, one can quickly fall into the trap of thinking he’s already done this.

Maybe he has. But this is a different story, and a different outcome, and a different (but similar) meaning. The intertwining of Watergate and McCarthyism gives the story a different edge – a different meaning to what is going on. And the story really begins to grab when the tale of Sacco and Vinzetti is brought in. (Don’t know who Sacco and Vinzetti are? Look them up. I’m serious; this is an important part of American history you’ll want to know. Go ahead – we’ll all wait here a minute. [“So how’s it going with you? Oh, don’t worry; they’ll be back in a minute. They just went to Google to look up Sacco and Vinzetti.”] Oh, back. See, aren’t you glad you spent the time?”) Yes, they are real, they are an important part of history, of Socialism and how our wonderful country can, every once in a while, really come a cropper and, as Vonnegut tells it, they have as much to do with McCarthy and Watergate as anything. (Of interest, had it been written today, I am sure many people would be calling it an indictment against the current regime.)

This is a typical (if there is such a thing) Vonnegut book – one that almost seems silly. But the humor pays, and the reading pays, and the better understanding of events that have shaped us pays. It pays all of us to notice.

Show Less

13 more

LibraryThing member dczapka

It's not shocking that in Palm Sunday, the "autobiographical collage" Vonnegut compiled/wrote immediately after publishing Jailbird, he grades this book as an A.

While this one came first, Jailbird shares a great deal in common with 1985's Galápagos -- specifically, that both novels take place over

the course of one very star-crossed day (with numerous forwards- and backwards-looking references, of course), and that both deal with the nastiness of human nature in a surprisingly endearing way. Here, we have Walter F. Starbuck, who epitomizes the good man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time throughout his life, who begins the novel leaving prison after serving his sentence for his involvement in Watergate and ends it about to return to prison for concealing a will.

In between, we meet a huge amount of horrible people, and some good ones too, all of whom have contributed to Walter's downfall. Despite it all, he's still a good man (a Vonnegutian man, no doubt), and the novel is saved from potential jadedness by the devil-may-care sweetness of its main character. Still, that such awfulness happens to such a good man is troublesome, and by the end, that's the entire point.

Human horridness never looked so good.

Show Less

LibraryThing member fuzzy_patters

Jailbird begins as a story about a man who has been jailed for having a very insignificant part in the Watergate scandal. Because of this, he is housed in a jail for white collar criminals near Atlanta, Georgia. The story traces his past beginning with his childhood as the son of two servants for

the wealthy McCone family and continues on to tell about his life as a Harvard student and role in the HUAC hearings among other things.

I found the book to be characteristic of Vonnegut in that it is filled with his trademark wit and dark humor. The reader wants to root for the protagonist to find some sort of fulfillment in life in a world that Vonnegut portrays as being very silly and senseless. Through humorous portrayals of the US government and corporations, Vonnegut provides a scathing mockery of the US economic system and how inhuman we all become within it.

I liked this book even though I doubt that Vonnegut and I would agree on a lot of things politically. Regardless of how you feel about the American version of the capitalist system, you have to admit that at many times Vonnegut does point out some of the absurdities of it. Likewise, as I previously mentioned, he does write in such a way as to make you want to root for the protagonist and hope that he gets some sort of justice in his life even though, after comparisons are frequently made to Sacco and Vanzetti, that this isn't likely to happen for him.

Show Less

LibraryThing member Smiley

Some interesting paradoxes, along with Vonnegut's usual dose of satire. The hero rises in the world because a rich man takes him in as a child to play chess before there were chess computers. Sorned for reporting wrongs during the McCarthy era, he keeps his mouth shut in the middle of Watergate to

the same result.

Show Less

LibraryThing member BooksForDinner

70' KV... Loved this one. A minor Watergate conspirator, power, greed, and a cameo by Kilgore Trout to boot!

LibraryThing member patrickmalka

Even if you just read the prologue, you've read, in my opinion, one of the most beautifully written passages in 20th century American lit. I was reading this on a street corner on an obscenely warm July evening and literally got chills when he started describing the falling snow. So brilliant.

LibraryThing member dtn620

I began reading this book just after finishing Anna Karenina and I am glad I did. It was essentially everything Anna Karenina was not (in a good way).

The prose was classic Vonnegut, light, fast paced and strangely hilarious. I look at Vonnegut as many look upon their grandfathers. There are the

same corny jokes you've come to expect and despite their corniness you can't help but laugh and be pleased with them.

Jailbird was particularly interesting and at the same time confusing for me. The tale gets wrapped up in just as many historical events as it does fictional and there is also the mention and inclusion of many notable figures from the past 100 or so years.

In the end it doesn't matter where fact and fiction cross or where they diverge. The book was fun and seemingly lighthearted and like Vonnegut always does he make some serious points.

Here is a quote, that given our current economic crisis seems perfect:

"The economy is a thoughtless weather system-- and nothing more. Some joke on the people, to give them such a thing."

I think we are slowly realizing that we are the butt of this joke

Show Less

LibraryThing member Arctic-Stranger

One of Vonneguts broadsides at American Culture, and lack of morals. I had a hard time caring about the protagonist, so I really didnt care what happened to him.

Lower tier Vonnegut.

LibraryThing member Darrol

This book is a little harder to read than some. More of a traditional fictional autobiography. Some of Vonnegut's own mythical autobiography comes through.

LibraryThing member NickConstantine

Jailbird like most of Vonnegut’s novels, is a tightly woven series of events that create a hilarious and enjoyable story. Walter F. Starbuck is a white collar prisoner falsely accused of crimes associated with the Nixon presidency. His only wrongdoing was having an office within earshot of many

conversations he should not have heard. The book opens on the day when he is finally released from jail and he collects his belongings from the future Kilgore Trout. Through a series of silly and coincidental run ins and relationships Walter finds himself floating though a zany adventure. I love Vonnegut for his crazy style and his tight stories. They are full of commentary on humanity, and Vonnegut’s meta writing about the writing being read is a very creative and unorthodox way to tell a story. I personally think Jailbird is the most tightly woven of Vonnegut’s plots and is great fun for readers.

Show Less

LibraryThing member cvalin

This was definitely not my favorite Vonnegut book, but I've never read a Vonnegut story that I didn't enjoy. I prefer his more off-the-wall stuff, and most of this book was pretty grounded in reality with the exception of the exaggerated corporation known as RAMJAC. Like most of his books, it

starts out a lot like looking at a bunch of puzzle pieces without knowing what kind of picture it's supposed to make, and part of the enjoyment is watching that picture come together.

Show Less

LibraryThing member DanielSTJ

This was a bit of a letdown of a book. It started off strong and then kind of went off the wire. Overall, I did not feel that it was even close to being as impressive as some of the other Vonnegut novels that I have read. For this reason, I only give it two stars. I don't recommend it.

LibraryThing member tigru

As good as every other Vonnegut book I read. Always good to think with the mind of somebody else as Vonnegut always makes me.

I admire his writing skills and his ability of weaving his stories into actual history - showing what a reader might consider as relevant but hasn't discovered yet.

LibraryThing member JRobinW

I liked his writing and his quirky story line. I've heard many talk about his books, mostly "Slaughterhouse-Five". Because my friends have told me I HAVE to read Vonnegut I may have set my expectations too high for this one. It's what was available in our small, rural town.

Fewer