I finished book 16 which was Kurt Vonnegut’s, “We Are What We Pretend To Be”. This is a book put out after his death that contains his first and last works, neither of which was published before.

His first work, a novella titled “Basic Training” was written in 1950. Young Haley Brandon lost his mother. His father was long long gone so he went to live with his Mother’s brother, the General. The widowed General, and his 3 daughters as well as a farmhand ran his farm. He was loving, but very strict with a rigid timetable for everyone’s chores. Haley wanted to go to music school, but a spell working on the farm was in store for him instead.

The author’s last work was, according to his daughter Nanette, the beginning of a novel that was never finished. Gil Berman is a comedian who had some trouble with drugs and rehab. A lot of entertainers lead similar lives and have similar circumstances. The character of Gil also came from the authors toxic circumstances of his later life.

Both stories were good and definitely the same sort of work one would expect from Kurt Vonnegut.