God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

Or Pearls Before Swine

  • 4.2 (12 ratings) ·
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  • 1 Currently reading
  • 16 Have read
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Kurt Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut
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  • 4.2 (12 ratings) ·
  • 50 Want to read
  • 1 Currently reading
  • 16 Have read

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Last edited by IdentifierBot
August 5, 2010 | History

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

Or Pearls Before Swine

  • 4.2 (12 ratings) ·
  • 50 Want to read
  • 1 Currently reading
  • 16 Have read

Second only to Slaughterhouse-Five of Vonnegut's canon in its prominence and influence, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965) presents Eliot Rosewater, an itinerant, semi-crazed millionaire wandering the country in search of heritage and philanthropic outcome, introducing the science fiction writer Kilgore Trout to the world and Vonnegut to the collegiate audience which would soon make him a cult writer.

Trout, modeled according to Vonnegut on the science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon (with whom Vonnegut had an occasional relationship) is a desperate, impoverished but visionary hack writer who functions for Eliot Rosewater as both conscience and horrid example. Rosewater, seeking to put his inheritance to some meaningful use (his father was an entrepreneur), tries to do good within the context of almost illimitable cynicism and corruption.

It is in this novel that Rosewater wanders into a science fiction conference – an actual annual event in Milford, Pennsylvania – and at the motel delivers his famous monologue evoked by science fiction writers and critics for almost half a century: "None of you can write for sour apples... but you're the only people trying to come to terms with the really terrific things which are happening today." Money does not drive Mr. Rosewater (or the corrupt lawyer who tries to shape the Rosewater fortune) so much as outrage at the human condition.

The novel was adapted for a 1979 Alan Menken musical. The novel is told mostly thru a collection of short stories dealing with Eliot's interactions with the citizens of Rosewater County, usually with the last sentence serving as a punch line. The antagonist's tale, Mushari's, is told in a similar short essay fashion. The stories reveal different hypocrisies of humankind in a darkly humorous fashion.

Publish Date
Publisher
Doubleday
Language
English

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
September 8, 1998, Dial Press Trade Paperback, Dial Press Trade Paperbacks
in English
Cover of: God bless you, Mr. Rosewater
God bless you, Mr. Rosewater: or, Pearls before swine
1991, Dell
in English
Cover of: God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: Or Pearls Before Swine
April 1986, Doubleday
in English
Cover of: God bless you, Mr. Rosewater
Cover of: God bless you, Mr. Rosewater

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Book Details


First Sentence

"A SUM OF MONEY is a leading character in this tale about people, just as a sum of honey might properly be a leading character in a tale about bees."

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL7438578M
ISBN 10
0385283342
ISBN 13
9780385283342
Library Thing
816623
Goodreads
1111637

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amazon.com record

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
August 5, 2010 Edited by IdentifierBot added LibraryThing ID
April 24, 2010 Edited by Open Library Bot Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs.
April 16, 2010 Edited by bgimpertBot Added goodreads ID.
October 17, 2009 Edited by WorkBot add edition to work page
April 29, 2008 Created by an anonymous user Imported from amazon.com record