Hocus Pocus

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was born in Indianapolis, in the United States, descending from German emigrants who arrived in the country in the nineteenth century.
Under his father's influence, he studied biochemistry at Cornell University, although he was more interested in the humanities. He enlisted in the Army in 1943.
Shortly after his mother's suicide, he was sent to Europe, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.
His squadron was eventually decimated by German forces. As a prisoner of war, he went to Dresden, Germany, where he lived in a slaughterhouse and worked in a food factory.
In 1952 he published Player piano, his debut novel.
Critics were disconcerted, from the beginning, by a writer who did not fit into the most canonical genres or the most fashionable styles.