A collection of sixteen previously unpublished short stories by Kurt Vonnegut, written early in his career. 

Written before Vonnegut's better-known novels, these stories already contain much of the humour, social criticism and philosophical unease that would come to define his fiction. In The Epizootic, an epidemic of suicides becomes a grotesque commentary on wealth and economic desperation, while With His Hand on the Throttle examines the compulsive pursuit of expansion and control. Everything is set largely in the world of mid-century offices, small towns, factories and domestic interiors, the stories follow insurance executives, ambitious businessmen, frustrated workers and assorted eccentrics negotiating the absurdities of capitalism, conformity, love and personal ambition. 

Accompanied by Vonnegut's own illustrations and a foreword by Dave Eggers, the collection offers an interesting look at a writer developing his particular combination of satire, tenderness and suspicion toward the American dream.

Delacorte Press, 2011. First edition hardcover with illustrated dust jacket. Very good condition, with minor shelf wear.