
The Writer’s Crusade
Kurt Vonnegut and the Many Lives of Slaughterhouse-Five
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $14.58
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jim Frangione
-
By:
-
Tom Roston
About this listen
The story of Kurt Vonnegut and Slaughterhouse-Five, an enduring masterpiece on trauma and memory.
Kurt Vonnegut was 20 years old when he enlisted in the United States Army. Less than two years later, he was captured by the Germans in the single deadliest US engagement of the war, the Battle of the Bulge. He was taken to a POW camp, then transferred to a work camp near Dresden, and held in a slaughterhouse called Schlachthof Fünf where he survived the horrific firebombing that killed thousands and destroyed the city.
To the millions of fans of Vonnegut’s great novel Slaughterhouse-Five, these details are familiar. They’re told by the book’s author/narrator, and experienced by his enduring character Billy Pilgrim, a war veteran who “has come unstuck in time”. Writing during the tumultuous days of the Vietnam conflict, with the novel, Vonnegut had, after more than two decades of struggle, taken trauma and created a work of art, one that still resonates today.
In The Writer’s Crusade, author Tom Roston examines the connection between Vonnegut’s life and Slaughterhouse-Five through his work, his personal history, and discarded drafts of the novel, as well as original interviews with the writer’s family, friends, scholars, psychologists, and other novelists including Karl Marlantes, Kevin Powers, and Tim O’Brien. The Writer’s Crusade is a literary and biographical journey that probes fundamental questions about trauma, creativity, and the power of storytelling.
©2021 Tom Roston. Published in 2021 by Abrams Press, an imprint of ABRAMS, New York. All rights reserved (P)2021 by Blackstone PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
-
Mother Night
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Kurt Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of grey with a verdict that will haunt us all. Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense.
-
-
“We are what we pretend to be”
- By Robert on 09-04-12
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Fates Worse Than Death
- An Autobiographical Collage
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kurt Vonnegut presents in Fates Worse than Death a veritable cornucopia of his thoughts on what could perhaps best be summed up as "anti-theology", a manifesto for atheism that details Vonnegut's drift from conventional religion, even a tract evidencing belief in the divine held within each individual self--the deity within each individual person present in a universe that otherwise lacks any real order.
-
-
Vonnegut is profound
- By Sarah on 02-03-20
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
The Undertow
- Scenes from a Slow Civil War
- By: Jeff Sharlet
- Narrated by: Jeff Sharlet
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unmatched guide to the religious dimensions of American politics, Jeff Sharlet journeys into corners of our national psyche where others fear to tread. The Undertow is both inquiry and meditation, an attempt to understand how, over the last decade, reaction has morphed into delusion, social division into distrust, distrust into paranoia, and hatred into fantasies—sometimes realities—of violence.
-
-
I'm just not feeling this one....
- By J. Richmond on 08-04-23
By: Jeff Sharlet
-
Cinema Speculation
- By: Quentin Tarantino
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Quentin Tarantino
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In addition to being among the most celebrated of contemporary filmmakers, Quentin Tarantino is possibly the most joyously infectious movie lover alive. For years he has touted in interviews his eventual turn to writing books about films. Now, with Cinema Speculation, the time has come, and the results are everything his passionate fans—and all movie lovers—could have hoped for. Organized around key American films from the 1970s, all of which he first saw as a young moviegoer at the time, this book is as intellectually rigorous and insightful as it is rollicking and entertaining.
-
-
A letdown I didn't see coming.
- By polycow on 11-03-22
-
Timequake
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Arthur Bishop
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
According to Kurt Vonnegut's alter ego, the old science fiction writer Kilgore Trout, a global timequake will occur on February 13, 2001, at 2:27 p.m. It will be the moment when the universe suffers a crisis of conscience: Should it go on expanding indefinitely or collapse and make another great big BANG? For its own cosmic reasons, it decides to back up a decade to 1991, giving the world a 10-year case of deja vu, making everybody and everything do exactly what they'd done during the past decade.
-
-
Arias only make hopeless situations worse
- By Darwin8u on 12-28-17
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Making Darkness Light
- A Life of John Milton
- By: Joe Moshenska
- Narrated by: Joe Eyre
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Milton was once essential reading for visionaries and revolutionaries, from William Blake to Ben Franklin. Now, however, he has become a literary institution - intimidating rather than inspiring. In Making Darkness Light, Oxford professor Joe Moshenska rediscovers a poet whose rich contradictions confound his monumental image. Immersing ourselves in the rhythms and textures of Milton’s world, we move from the music of his childhood home to his encounter with Galileo in Florence into his idiosyncratic belief system and his strange, electrifying imagination.
By: Joe Moshenska
-
Mother Night
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Kurt Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of grey with a verdict that will haunt us all. Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense.
-
-
“We are what we pretend to be”
- By Robert on 09-04-12
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Fates Worse Than Death
- An Autobiographical Collage
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kurt Vonnegut presents in Fates Worse than Death a veritable cornucopia of his thoughts on what could perhaps best be summed up as "anti-theology", a manifesto for atheism that details Vonnegut's drift from conventional religion, even a tract evidencing belief in the divine held within each individual self--the deity within each individual person present in a universe that otherwise lacks any real order.
-
-
Vonnegut is profound
- By Sarah on 02-03-20
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
The Undertow
- Scenes from a Slow Civil War
- By: Jeff Sharlet
- Narrated by: Jeff Sharlet
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unmatched guide to the religious dimensions of American politics, Jeff Sharlet journeys into corners of our national psyche where others fear to tread. The Undertow is both inquiry and meditation, an attempt to understand how, over the last decade, reaction has morphed into delusion, social division into distrust, distrust into paranoia, and hatred into fantasies—sometimes realities—of violence.
-
-
I'm just not feeling this one....
- By J. Richmond on 08-04-23
By: Jeff Sharlet
-
Cinema Speculation
- By: Quentin Tarantino
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Quentin Tarantino
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In addition to being among the most celebrated of contemporary filmmakers, Quentin Tarantino is possibly the most joyously infectious movie lover alive. For years he has touted in interviews his eventual turn to writing books about films. Now, with Cinema Speculation, the time has come, and the results are everything his passionate fans—and all movie lovers—could have hoped for. Organized around key American films from the 1970s, all of which he first saw as a young moviegoer at the time, this book is as intellectually rigorous and insightful as it is rollicking and entertaining.
-
-
A letdown I didn't see coming.
- By polycow on 11-03-22
-
Timequake
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Arthur Bishop
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
According to Kurt Vonnegut's alter ego, the old science fiction writer Kilgore Trout, a global timequake will occur on February 13, 2001, at 2:27 p.m. It will be the moment when the universe suffers a crisis of conscience: Should it go on expanding indefinitely or collapse and make another great big BANG? For its own cosmic reasons, it decides to back up a decade to 1991, giving the world a 10-year case of deja vu, making everybody and everything do exactly what they'd done during the past decade.
-
-
Arias only make hopeless situations worse
- By Darwin8u on 12-28-17
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Making Darkness Light
- A Life of John Milton
- By: Joe Moshenska
- Narrated by: Joe Eyre
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Milton was once essential reading for visionaries and revolutionaries, from William Blake to Ben Franklin. Now, however, he has become a literary institution - intimidating rather than inspiring. In Making Darkness Light, Oxford professor Joe Moshenska rediscovers a poet whose rich contradictions confound his monumental image. Immersing ourselves in the rhythms and textures of Milton’s world, we move from the music of his childhood home to his encounter with Galileo in Florence into his idiosyncratic belief system and his strange, electrifying imagination.
By: Joe Moshenska
-
Minor Feelings
- An Asian American Reckoning
- By: Cathy Park Hong
- Narrated by: Cathy Park Hong
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong fearlessly and provocatively blends memoir, cultural criticism, and history to expose fresh truths about racialized consciousness in America. Part memoir and part cultural criticism, this collection is vulnerable, humorous, and provocative—and its relentless and riveting pursuit of vital questions around family and friendship, art and politics, identity and individuality, will change the way you think about our world.
-
-
Essential
- By Realness on 03-04-20
By: Cathy Park Hong
-
Cosmic Trigger II: Down to Earth
- By: Robert Anton Wilson
- Narrated by: Oliver Senton
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Volume Two of the series presents the metaphor of the Bridge and the lessons of Bob’s early life that brought him to the wisdom of the Model Agnostic’s perspective. In Bob’s typical wide-ranging narratives, we learn, among other mind-blowing anecdotes, about the similarities between the Pope of Rome and the Wizard of Oz. Don’t miss this explosion of thought, when for the second time, Bob pulls the Cosmic Trigger.
-
-
Huge RAW Fan
- By Qabick on 07-03-20
-
The Hitler Virus
- The Insidious Legacy of Adolf Hitler
- By: Peter Wyden
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In spring 1945, as the Russians moved on Berlin and it became clear the Nazi cause was lost, Adolf Hitler assured his most trusted henchmen that even if he were to die, "the seed of National Socialism will grow again one day [in]…a radiant rebirth." Several times after the war, the distinguished author Peter Wyden, himself a victim of the Nazis, returned to Germany to discover, to his dismay, that Hitler's prediction was all too true. In this unsettling audiobook, Wyden documents the reality that the "Hitler virus" is still very much alive.
-
-
Well written but factually flawed
- By Catalyst on 12-25-20
By: Peter Wyden
-
Recollections
- An Autobiography
- By: Viktor E. Frankl
- Narrated by: S. D. Cousins
- Length: 2 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in 1905 in the center of the crumbling Austro-Hungarian Empire, Viktor Frankl was a witness to the great political, philosophical, and scientific upheavals of the 20th century. In these stirring recollections, Frankl describes how as a young doctor of neurology in prewar Vienna, his disagreements with Freud and Adler led to the development of "the third Viennese School of Psychotherapy", known as logotherapy; recounts his harrowing trials in four concentration camps during the War; and reflects on the celebrity brought by Man's Search for Meaning in 1945.
-
-
The next step after Mam's Search for Meaning
- By Michael DeNobile on 07-30-21
By: Viktor E. Frankl
-
Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With cutting wit, fierce conviction, and surprising empathy, Vonnegut explores a diverse range of topics including society, politics, sex, literature, and mortality. Fans who believe they've read all of Vonnegut's work will be delighted to find the author speaking frankly about timely and relevant new topics - with an amusing yet insightful style that's instantly recognizable.
-
-
Vonnegut At His Best
- By Peter W. Kalnin on 12-09-23
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Super Soldiers
- A Salute to the Comic Book Heroes and Villains Who Fought for Their Country
- By: Jason Inman
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran and former host of All Access, DC Comics' web show, Jason Inman, discusses the influence war has had on some of the most memorable superheroes in comics.
-
-
Not what I expected
- By dgm on 03-25-21
By: Jason Inman
-
I, Asimov
- A Memoir
- By: Isaac Asimov
- Narrated by: Jon Lindstrom
- Length: 24 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Arguably the greatest science fiction writer who ever lived, Isaac Asimov also possessed one of the most brilliant and original minds of our time. His accessible style and far-reaching interests in subjects ranging from science to humor to history earned him the nickname "the Great Explainer". I. Asimov is his personal story - vivid, open, and honest - as only Asimov himself could tell it.
-
-
This great book is now an unabridged release!
- By NM on 12-16-20
By: Isaac Asimov
-
Mad at the World
- A Life of John Steinbeck
- By: William Souder
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first full-length biography of the Nobel laureate to appear in a quarter century, Mad at the World illuminates what has made the work of John Steinbeck an enduring part of the literary canon: his capacity for empathy. Angered by the plight of the Dust Bowl migrants who were starving even as they toiled to harvest California's limitless bounty and appalled by the country's refusal to recognize the humanity common to all of its citizens, Steinbeck took a stand against social injustice - paradoxically given his inherent misanthropy.
-
-
Well Researched, Good for Die Hard Steinbeck Fans
- By aaron on 11-22-20
By: William Souder
-
Batman Unauthorized
- Vigilantes, Jokers, and Heroes in Gotham City
- By: Dennis O'Neil - editor, Leah Wilson - editor
- Narrated by: Colby Elliott
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Compiled by a veteran writer of the comic series, this collection of essays explores Batman’s motivations and actions, as well as those of his foes. Batman is a creature of the night, more about vengeance than justice, more plagued by doubts than full of self-assurance, and more darkness than light. He has no superpowers, just skill, drive, and a really well-made suit.
-
-
Eccentric Essays Batman!
- By arthur m ball on 10-24-14
By: Dennis O'Neil - editor, and others
-
The World Is My Home
- A Memoir
- By: James A. Michener
- Narrated by: Alexander Adams
- Length: 21 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Literary legend James A. Michener was "a Renaissance man, adventurous, inquisitive, unpretentious and unassuming, with an encyclopedic mind and a generous heart" ( The New York Times Book Review). In this exceptional memoir, the man himself tells the story of his remarkable life and describes the people, events, and ideas that shaped it.
-
-
If you're not a huge fan, don't bother
- By Karin Bergsten-Buret on 06-23-19
-
Paranormal
- My Life in Pursuit of the Afterlife
- By: Raymond Moody MD, Paul Perry
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The grandfather of the NDE (near death experience) movement, Raymond Moody has, in the words of Dr. Larry Dossey, author of The Power of Premonitions, "radically changed the way modern humans think about the afterlife." Paranormal, essential listening for fans of Dannion Brinkley and Jeffrey Long, is "a thrilling and inspiring literary experience. Anyone who is not grateful for Moody's immense contribution to human welfare ought to check his pulse."
-
-
Engaging memoir of near-death researcher
- By tru britty on 03-20-20
By: Raymond Moody MD, and others
-
The Art of Memoir
- By: Mary Karr
- Narrated by: Mary Karr
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anchored by excerpts from her favorite memoirs and anecdotes from fellow writers' experience, The Art of Memoir lays bare Karr's own process. (Plus all those inside stories about how she dealt with family and friends get told - and the dark spaces in her own skull probed in depth.)
-
-
Brilliant!
- By A. Potter on 01-18-16
By: Mary Karr
What listeners say about The Writer’s Crusade
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A Guy from Northeast USA
- 11-21-21
Very Misleading Title
Title is Clicbait. This book is a Biography Of Vonnegut, A Polemic on PTSD and an Exploration of Slaughterhouse Five. You can find better books on each separately.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Thomas
- 11-16-21
Tour de force
An incredibly powerful journey through one if the greatest novels of the 20th Century, its author and our evolving understanding of war and the trauma it leaves behind. Highly recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dean
- 12-15-21
Great for Vonnegut Fans
I don’t think too many people who don’t like Kurt Vonnegut would listen to this one. But for fans of the author it’s a great insight into his life, and the context around his most famous book. At times it reads a little more academic than I expected, and at other times it dives into human interest stories about veteran readers and writers- all beautifully told. At the end of the day, it’s a good book about a book. So if that’s what you’re looking for, look no further.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 01-17-22
Surprisingly attention grabbing
Held me from first to last word. I had forgotten a lot of the original book by Vonnegut, but as Mr. Frangione worked his words into paragraphs I began to remember and comprehend more than I did when I first read it back way back. Glad I had to opportunity to listen and work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Squill
- 04-29-23
Feels like they lost the plot
I came here to learn about writing slaughter house 5. I got that in tiny chunks but then a lot about ptsd and the advances in diagnosing that. I’m not saying that is a bad thing, I’m glad I learned about it but that’s not what I was looking for in this book. But oh well
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Buretto
- 01-18-22
Interesting supplement for Vonnegut fans
The book has a lot in its favor, and should be quite interesting background for anyone who is a fan of Kurt Vonnegut. That's an endorsement. That being said, the enduring memories of the book are, first, the author's philosophical argument (essentially with himself) about whether a rumor being true changes Vonnegut's legacy. Probably more time than is needed is taken to determine it doesn't, or shouldn't. And secondly, extended case studies about PTSD, tenuously tied to the story with mentions that the people in question admired Vonnegut's work. Now, it's obvious that PTSD is inextricable from a story purportedly about the writing of Slaughterhouse-Five. And a fair amount of background is needed. But let's just say Chapter 10 could do with a bit of paring down. Altogether an entertaining listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cedric R. Ross
- 05-13-23
This book explored the depth in great form
I was impressed by the evidence, the resetting of expectations, the clarity of terms such as PTSD. Most of all, I was satisfied that in the end, the author left the most important conclusions up to the reader. What I had not expected was the accounts of the contributors who expanded my understanding of what trauma is. Finally, I appreciated the advice to read Slaughterhouse Five more than once because it may have new meaning as you age. I can do that!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- kutzkai
- 02-13-22
Loved It
I have loved Kurt Vonnegut ever since he first wrote Slaughterhouse Five which was published in 1969. A science fiction-infused anti-war novel. It follows the life and experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to his time as an American soldier and chaplain's assistant during World War II, to the post-war years, with Billy occasionally traveling through time. A film adaptation of the book was released in 1972. Most everything Kurt has written, I am a fan. Sadly we lost Kurt in 2007 but his books will live on. Jim Frangione does a good job narrating. You can find this in the Audible Plus catalogue.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- TB1
- 07-19-22
Inspiring
I loved every aspect of this book. It's purpose is to reflect the light and life of a great author and a great book. But after letting it settle for a while, I realized it is its own great work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!