The Satirical Sage
On Kurt Vonnegut and Life's Accidents
This is my asshole. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Okay, I’ll concede that maybe it’s rude to start an article off by exposing myself like a caffeine-loaded wellness influencer sunning their perineum. To be honest, it wasn’t even my idea. I stole it from famed writer and humorist Kurt Vonnegut. If you’re unfamiliar, Vonnegut wrote 14 novels and tons of other short stories, plays, and non-fiction. Widely considered one of the greatest modern American satirists, he died in 2007. So it goes.
He was drawing his asshole long before I was even born. His looked like this:
I encourage you to really sit and focus on the circle at the center - it draws you in like a hypnotist’s pendulum. Really let your gaze sink into it. Do that now.
Made you look! Again! If we’re keeping score (and I definitely am) that’s three times in one article you’ve looked at a butthole. A butthole field goal.
It’s not just you - I was immediately hooked when I first saw it. A weird thing to have happen when discussing assholes, but hey, that’s life! It’s funny, irreverent, and disdainful of most societal expectations and if you’ve ever encountered me three tequilas deep at a party ranting about the poor selection of snacks, you’ll know these are three of my favorite qualities. After seeing it, I had no choice but to read damn near every word Vonnegut has written, voraciously chewing his various sentences like a hungry dog who’s just knocked the Thanksgiving turkey off the counter.
The drawing has resonated with more than just me. A simple Google search shows that certain academics herald it as the precursor to the modern 💩 emoji, people love it enough to get it tattooed on their bodies and, naturally, there are plenty profiting by printing it on t-shirts, coffee mugs, and decorative pins. An online print-on-demand butthole gift shop - what better place to find your North Star? One of Kurt’s quotes is on the brown nose here:
“Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.”
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five
Really strikes right to the heart of the whole American consumer culture, doesn’t it? It makes me notice the small red oak Buddha figurine on my shelf that I got from who knows where and think more deeply about what I’m buying and why I’m buying it. I mean, is it supposed to be making me calmer, relaxed, more Zen? As a passive decoration, I gotta admit, it hasn’t been working. You might be looking at a similar object of your own right now.
That’s the genius of Vonnegut. The satire is much deeper than some funny pictures. Despite the fact that much of his writing is from the 1960’s to 80’s, it remains poignantly relevant to the modern American landscape. Here are three more thought-provoking quotes of his if you’re unfamiliar with his work:
On Being Happier
That’s one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones.
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five
This should hit home for all Earthlings. We mull over our own flaws, shortcomings, mistakes constantly. How many more times does my prefrontal cortex need to conjure up the memory of Kindergarten Rick pushing the girl I loved down a giant hill because it was the only way I knew to show affection? Apparently at least once more. And that was twenty-five years ago - I’ve layered on mistakes, gaffes, and blunders in the time since like a Michelin chef crafting the world’s tallest Failure Lasagna.
This quote is a reminder to try harder to break that cycle. The main character would later go on to reflect on this piece of advice thinking, “he might have chosen as his happiest moment his sundrenched snooze in the back of the wagon.” That sounds mighty good to me, too. I just need to find a wagon.
Slaughterhouse Five is the book that launched Vonnegut to fame. It’s about his experience of the firebombing of Dresden in WWII, an event he survived while a prisoner of war housed in the city. I promise it’s more playful than the subject matter implies. Some of that style definitely influences my own writing so if you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, I’d highly recommend picking up this book. It’s a classic for a reason.
On the Randomness of Life
I was a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all.
Kurt Vonnegut, Sirens of Titan
As I wrote a few weeks ago, your plan sucks. I spent years bashing my head into the same obstacles trying to build a filmmaking business. Turns out, all it took was a random Zoom call with a lovely British woman to open my eyes and completely alter my path forward. Quite the accident, though I wouldn’t call myself a victim. This quote is a reminder to embrace the serendipity and the unexpected in life.
Sirens of Titan is only the second book Vonnegut wrote and was published in 1959, a decade before Slaughterhouse Five. It leans heavily into the science fiction themes that were popular at the time while still lambasting many parts of American culture and human life in general.
On Perspective
I think I am trying to clear my head of all the junk in there - the assholes, the flags, the underpants. I am trying to make my head as empty as it was when I was born onto this damaged planet fifty years ago. The things other people have put into my head, at any rate, do not fit together nicely, are often useless and ugly, are out of proportion with one another, are out of proportion with life as it really is outside my head.
Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions
I wish there was a way to vacuum out our heads like we clean dust from our floors. The daily bombardment of thoughts and ideas from external sources - social media, TV, our email inboxes - is relentless. I’d like to have a fresh installation of my brain. I imagine it’d be a lot like buying a sleek new iPhone, untainted by all the applications and notifications, a screen that doesn’t have all these cracks running through it yet.
If something like this were possible, we’d be able to experience things for the first time again. With a bit of foresight and appreciation, it would help us to concentrate on the good times, the simple ones. The way the sunlight reflects on a lake, meeting a loved one, or even a sundrenched snooze in a wagon.
Dude, when I read that hook, I was like, "WOAHH, WHERE IS THIS GOING?"
But as I think about it, I realise that such a reaction probably best captures your writing style. It grabs your attention and holds it. Marvellous.
I've seen Kurt Vonnegut's name in numerous bookshelves, but I only now understand his writing. Going to check him out!
You made me look 😆 So it goes.
Excellent curation piece, Rick. Your satirical writing, puns, and metaphors (I love Failure Lasagna) had me grinning throughout the piece.