''Palm Sunday'' is a 1981 collection of short stories, speeches, essays, letters, and other previously unpublished works by author Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

In addition to original material, ''Palm Sunday'' contains the following works (written by Vonnegut unless otherwise stated): *"Dear Mr. McCarthy" (letter) *"Un-American Nonsense" (essay) *"God's Law" (speech) *"Dear Felix" (letter) *"An Account of the Ancestry of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr, by an Ancient Friend of His Family" (formal essay by John G. Raunch) *"What I Liked About

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...

" (speech) *"When I Lost My Innocence" (essay) *"I Am Embarrassed" (speech) *"How to Write with Style" (essay) *Self-interview from ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Phi ...

'' *"Who in America is Truly Happy?" (essay) *"Something Happened" (review of

Joseph Heller Joseph Heller (May 1, 1923 – December 12, 1999) was an American author of novels, short stories, plays, and screenplays. His best-known work is the 1961 novel ''Catch-22'', a satire on war and bureaucracy, whose title has become a synonym for ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

) *"The

Rocky Graziano Thomas Rocco Barbella (January 1, 1919 – May 22, 1990), better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing hi ...

of American Letters" (speech) *"The Best of Bob and Ray" (Vonnegut's introduction to a book by Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding) *" James T. Farrell" (funeral speech) *"Lavina Lyon" (funeral speech) *"The Class of '57" (song lyric by Don and

Harold Reid Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts a ...

of the

Statler Brothers The Statler Brothers (sometimes simply referred to as The Statlers) were an American country music, gospel, and vocal group. The quartet was formed in 1955 performing locally, and from 1964 to 1972, they sang as opening act and backup singers fo ...

) *"The Noodle Factory" (speech) *"

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

" (speech) *"How Jokes Work" (commencement address) *"Do Not Mourn!" (funeral speech by Clemens Vonnegut, written for his own funeral) *"Thoughts of a

Free Thinker Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds opinions should be formed on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism. It may also refer to: Organizations * De Vrije Gedachte, the Dutch freethinkers association "The Free Thought" Pub ...

" (commencement address) *"

William Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...

" (speech) *"The Big Space Fuck" (short story) *"Fear and Loathing in Morristown, N J" (speech) *"Dear Mr X" (letter by Nanette Vonnegut) *"Jonathan Swift" (Vonnegut's rejected introduction to a new edition of Swift's ''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

'') *"The Chemistry Professor" (treatment for a musical comedy based on '' Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'') *"Louis-Ferdinand Céline" (Vonnegut's introduction to paperback editions of Céline's last three novels) *"

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

Revisited" (Vonnegut's introduction to a new edition of ''

Slaughterhouse-Five ''Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'' is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life and experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to h ...

'') *" Flowers on the Wall" (song lyric by

Lew DeWitt Lewis “Lew” Calvin DeWitt Jr. (March 12, 1938 – August 15, 1990) was an American country music singer, guitarist, and composer. He was a founding member of The Statler Brothers and the group's original tenor. Biography For most of his car ...

of the

) *"Palm Sunday" (sermon)

Grades

In Chapter 18, "The Sexual Revolution," Vonnegut grades his own works. He states that the grades "do not place me in literary history" and that he is comparing "myself with myself." The grades are as follows: *''

Player Piano A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern i ...

'': B *''

The Sirens of Titan ''The Sirens of Titan'' is a comic science fiction novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., first published in 1959. His second novel, it involves issues of free will, omniscience, and the overall purpose of human history. Much of the story revolves around ...

'': A *'' Mother Night'': A *''

Cat's Cradle Cat's cradle is a game involving the creation of various string figures between the fingers, either individually or by passing a loop of string back and forth between two or more players. The true origin of the name is debated, though the fi ...

'': A+ *''

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater ''God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine'', Kurt Vonnegut's fifth novel, was published in 1965 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston and as a Dell mass-market paperback in 1970. A piece of postmodern satire, it gave context to Vonnegut's ...

'': A *''

'': A+ *''

Welcome to the Monkey House ''Welcome to the Monkey House'' is a collection of 25 short stories written by Kurt Vonnegut, published by Delacorte in August 1968. The stories range from wartime epics to futuristic thrillers, given with satire and Vonnegut's unique edge. The s ...

'': B− *'' Happy Birthday, Wanda June'': D *''

Breakfast of Champions ''Breakfast of Champions, or Goodbye Blue Monday'' is a 1973 novel by the American author Kurt Vonnegut. His seventh novel, it is set predominantly in the fictional town of Midland City, Ohio, and focuses on two characters: Dwayne Hoover, a Midl ...

'': C *'' Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons'': C *''

Slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such ...

'': D *'' Jailbird'': A *''Palm Sunday'': C 1981 short story collections Short story collections by Kurt Vonnegut Essay collections {{anthology-book-stub

Contents

Grades