{"id":17300,"date":"2014-12-30T11:55:05","date_gmt":"2014-12-30T16:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/?p=17300"},"modified":"2014-12-30T11:55:05","modified_gmt":"2014-12-30T16:55:05","slug":"15-things-the-library-of-america-didnt-need-to-tell-me-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/2014\/12\/30\/15-things-the-library-of-america-didnt-need-to-tell-me-about\/","title":{"rendered":"15 things the Library of America didn’t need to tell me about"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been reading the notes at the back of the Library of America’s 2012 compilation Kurt Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1950\u20131962<\/em>, because a) I get a kick out of that kind of thing and b) I’ve already read all of the novels and stories themselves. And I’m surprised by what the editors thought needed to be explained to me so I’d understand Vonnegut’s allusions.<\/p>\n

\"KurtVonnegutNovelsandStories\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are some things the Library of America thought I wouldn’t get without explication.<\/p>\n

Rube Goldberg machine
\nRosicrucians
\nHoratio on the bridge
\nBlack Maria
\nJim Thorpe
\nMaxfield Parrish
\nTweety and Sylvester
\nLe Sacre du Printemps<\/em>
\nThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion<\/em>
\nMata Hari
\nAdolf Eichmann
\nMaxfield Parrish
\nCyklon-B
\nWerner von Braun
\nMaggie and Jiggs<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I did need to be told, however, that a Helen Twelvetrees is a “cocktail of Southern Comfort, ginger ale, and blackberry concentrate,” because I only know of her as a movie actress from the ’30s. But then, I don’t drink. I presume the non-teetotalers out there already know about it.<\/p>\n

That being said … am I wrong to believe that anyone likely to pick up a copy of Kurt Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1950\u20131962<\/em> is already aware of each of those people and things, making such explanations unnecessary? Or am I, unlike H. L. Mencken, over<\/em>estimating the intelligence of the great masses?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been reading the notes at the back of the Library of America’s 2012 compilation Kurt Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1950\u20131962, because a) I get a kick out of that kind of thing and b) I’ve already read all of the novels and stories themselves. And I’m surprised by what the editors thought needed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[106],"class_list":["post-17300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-kurt-vonnegut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17300"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17308,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17300\/revisions\/17308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}