I'm not that big of a book reader, but he was the best author alive... there aren't many more authentic good authors out there anymore.

Wow, talking shit about someone when the body isn't even cold. Classy.

Exactly how is this "talking shit"?

I didn't like the guy's work, which is soft considering some of the stuff you've pulled out of your ass.

And I'm simply poking fun at college kids.

I do happen to like Vonnegut's books, but I don't think Jason's comment was criticizing Vonnegut. More just making fun of the pseudo-intellectual college kids who tend to read him.

Jesus, Jason... that's fucked up. Stick to wisecracks about Che t-shirts to make points like that.

Neil, if you want to make fun of superficial blowhard authors who are only read by psuedo-intellectual high school and college kids, and not taken seriously by anyone else, take a few shots at Ayn Rand's corpse. Unlike Vonnegut, her base actually fits the description you lay out.

Vonnegut is shown as the Night Editor for the Cornell Daily Sun for the December 8, 1941 edition. He was not however on duty when the news of Pearl Harbor came in. Rather, he was the nightr editor for the December 5, 1941 edition. When the Daily Sun went to publication for the December 8 edition, the typesetter - in his haste - failed to update the masthead....

I know, I know... but geez, the discussion was getting kind of heavy...

When Charlie Norwood died, I didn't say "hicks in the Xurbs are crying." I kept my mouth shut, like you should have.

Never say anything about someone dead, unless it's good.

Kurt Vonnegut is dead. That's good.

How's that for classy, Rusty?

Regardless of the politics, Vonnegut's work (and I too read it in college, of course) was the first exposure I ever had to thinking beyond the obvious, to begin thinking way outside the box, to questions and to simply sit and ponder about things in a counter-intuitive fashion... to, quite literally, look beyond the mass-marketed message, whether in politics, business practices, relationships, etc.

Many (many sadly!) years later, such influence as Vonnegut's literature, along with my very carefully, laboriously aquired ability to think beyond the mainstream messages we get streamed in out faces all day long, continuously have me doing stuff like, say, taking hours out of my day to stop and question "business as usual"... things such as business practices in our public school system here locally. (See today's SGR blog entry for an example.)

What's not to like in this process? Particularly for the Libertarian mind-set?

Rusty,

I apologize if you took offense to it, but it was not intended to be a knock on Vonnegut by any means.

You've said some very vile things about close friends of mine and I chose to take the issue up with you in private.

Steve,

If Rand died today you could easily make the same remarks about her and libertarians.

Grayson,

There are quite a few posts today in the libertarian blogosphere celebrating Vonnegut.

Oh I bet there are Jason, but who wants to wade through 'em all? Not me!

Jason,

Rev. Sharpton is on the way down now to get you fired from JasonPye.com.

Who knew Rusty was such a thin-skinned baby?

http://www.radicalgeorgiamoderate.org/2007/04/12/de-linking-peach-pundit

Someone get Rusty some cheese to go with that Whine!

I've said this elsewhere, but I'll say it here for posterity. The comment about Vonnegut was offensive to me, but my reaction wasn't proportional to the slight, and I apologize for that.

oh holy lord...

i'm a libertarian and i make fun of libertarians perhaps more than anybody i know. the least anybody can do is have a sense of humor. liking or not liking somebody's work is a subjective thing, and making a joke about COLLEGE KIDS in the wake of his death is different than "talking sh#t" about the author himself "when the body isn't even cold." cry me a freakin river, seriously. (cue justin timberlake song of similar nomenclature).

words mean things people.